this post was submitted on 20 Jul 2023
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[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Eating the rich is by far the most eco-friendly approach as it can dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

I vehemently disagree with this statement.

We need to compost the rich and use that as a soil amendment to grow heirloom vegetables.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

This crucially important caveat they snuck in there:

"Prof Scarborough said: “Cherry-picking data on high-impact, plant-based food or low-impact meat can obscure the clear relationship between animal-based foods and the environment."

...which is an interesting way of saying that lines get blurry depending on the type of meat diet people had and/or the quantity vs the type of plant-based diet people had.

Takeaway from the article shouldn't be meat=bad and vegan=good - the takeaway should be that meat can be an environmentally responsible part of a reasonable diet if done right and that it's also possible for vegan diets to be more environmentally irresponsible.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

That’s both absolutely true and a massive distraction from the point. An environmentally friendly diet that includes meat is going to involve sustainable hunting not factory farming. In comparison an environmentally friendly vegan diet is staples of meat replacements and not trying to get fancy with it. It’s shit like beans instead of meat, tofu and tempeh when you feel fancy. It means rejecting substitutes that are too environmentally costly such as agave nectar as a sweetener (you should probably use beet or cane based sweetener instead).

So in short eat vegan like a poor vegan not like a rich person who thinks veganism is trendy

[–] [email protected] -1 points 1 year ago

Yes, I think it’s vital to avoid thinking in absolutes over carbon footprints if we are to make real progress. We can argue endlessly over the “necessity” of consuming meat, but that becomes a distraction. Many things are not “necessary”, but most people are not realistically going to live in caves wearing carbon neutral hair shirts.

We need to continue increasing transparency on the impact of different animal products, so consumers can make informed choices. While also accepting they may not always be perfect.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago

That is a lie.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

I was just talking about this idea with a friend. We decided it would be political suicide in the US for anyone to suggest eating less meat.

People would literally rather see the world burn than give up their chicken nuggets.

I'm not even hardcore vegetarian. I looked at the situation and agreed it's hard to ethically justify eating meat. So I started eating less. I'm down to pretty much just "sometimes I get a pizza slice with a meat topping if there's nothing good without meat". Maybe I'll cut that out too one day.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

People can't think critically over why they prefer meat over vegetables. They just think they do it because hurr durr meat tastes better or you need protines.

If they actually think about the fact that they have been eating meat for every meal since they were a child they might understand that it is just a habit they have formed.

I strongly suggest to those people to try to have 1 dinner a week without meat or fish. It has nothing todo about taste and all about habits and what you are used to.

Try to challenge yourself a little bit and you might get a better perspective over these things.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

"study finds eating meat is bad"

no sh*t

[–] [email protected] 0 points 11 months ago

Who cares how much meat I eat when there's a billion cars, 2 billion factories and 1000 greedy billionaires burning the world to the ground?

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

In this thread: Shit loads of people who will say they care about the climate crisis on one day, then say they don't care about the 18.5% of global carbon emissions that the meat industry causes the next day because they can't get over the decade worth of anti-veganism jokes and memes that they've constantly repeated uncritically.

Individual habits MUST be changed to solve this part of the problem, there is literally no way around that. Getting triggered and writing screeds because you've spent decades getting caught up in hate over food choices won't stop the planet burning.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (3 children)

OK, but what if instead of going vegan, I just don't have kids. Because adding more people to the world also creates more greenhouse gasses.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Instead of going vegan or not having kids, I died when I was 5. Because living also creates more greenhouse gasses.

In fact, having a small footprint is just a matter of choosing how miserable you're willing to make your life.

Unfortunately the Earth cannot sustainably support so many people living COMFORTABLY, and eating WHATEVER WE LIKE. The more people, the more miserable is the globally sustainable way of life.

Curbing population growth - not Thanos-like, but through education and availability of contraceptive methods - is the only way we can all have the cake (and the meat) and eat it.

Many wealthy countries have their population declining. Maybe if we get to the same level of wealthiness everywhere, less people would engage in procreation.

In any case, if we just do nothing and the doomsday evangelists are even nearly right, extreme weather, plage and famine caused by climate change will indeed curb the population. Eventually it reaches equilibrium.

In this case, the faster we get to the edge of the abyss, the quicker the situation will solve itself.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

having a small footprint is just a matter of choosing how miserable you’re willing to make your life.

In many areas yes, but not when it comes to food. A plant based diet is in no way miserable. There are still too many places with bad kitchens making it seem that way, but that's just a lack of skill on their part.

I'd say my food experience rather became less miserable when I stopped eating meat, and my footprint decreased by a lot.

Eventually it reaches equilibrium.

In this case, the faster we get to the edge of the abyss, the quicker the situation will solve itself.

If you open the window to ventilate for 20 minutes that's different from replacing the air in your room in 2 nanoseconds. The violent shockwave of the latter will probably damage your stuff and harm your health.

Similarly, the speed of climate change matters a lot. It is required for plants and animals to migrate and adapt, for people to migrate and adapt, for infrastructure to be built. It makes all the difference between a devastating blow and adaptation, while the reached equilibrium is the same in both cases.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

What if you don't have kids and just make an effort to reduce intake of animal products knowing it contributes to global collapse and also represents a modern holocaust.

Animal products don't have to be as all or nothing as having kids.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 1 year ago

100 corporations contribute 71% of all emissions, and I'm supposed to stop eating the pork I bought from a local farmer? Fuck that noise!

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Exactly. Not having kids covers my any excess from meat and driving easily.

We’ve been eating meat for millennia, while climate change has only been an issue for a century, yet somehow meat eating is the problem, not the billions of people we have added.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Fossil fuels are the problem, but not eating meat is a juicy, very low hanging fruit.

There is no other way to prevent that much emissions for basically not changing anything. You will still eat 3 meals a day for a similar price.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It’s not nothing to me. Eating isn’t a mere chore, I eat because it is enjoyable. Vegan entrees just are not consistently palatable to me. Take away meat and I’m sorry, but my list of reasons to live will dwindle.

And besides, I’d argue not having kids is an even lower hanging fruit by your reasoning. That even saves money. A lot of money.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Take away meat and I’m sorry, but my list of reasons to live will dwindle.

Seems you haven't had a good veggie dish yet. I totally get how enjoyable food is central for a happy life, but you don't enjoy it because it was killed instead of harvested. I'm pretty sure you have a few veggie foods you enjoy, maybe without realizing they don't contain meat.

And besides, I’d argue not having kids is an even lower hanging fruit by your reasoning. That even saves money. A lot of money.

As said in a nearby comment: Only if you didn’t want to have kids anyways. In which case it should not be counted as a saving.

If you want to have kids but don’t because of climate, that’s probably tougher to stomach than a slight composition change on your plate.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 1 year ago

Seems you haven't had a good veggie dish yet. I totally get how enjoyable food is central for a happy life, but you don't enjoy it because it was killed instead of harvested. I'm pretty sure you have a few veggie foods you enjoy, maybe without realizing they don't contain meat.

Or maybe I have different tastes than you.

I really hate that attitude that because it isn’t much of a sacrifice for you, it isn’t for anyone else. People are different.

Heck, even if I found your one magical dish, I’m not going to eat it for the rest of my life. Even with meat, I choose variety.

As said in a nearby comment: Only if you didn’t want to have kids anyways. In which case it should not be counted as a saving.

If you want to have kids but don’t because of climate, that’s probably tougher to stomach than a slight composition change on your plate.

Oh, so personal preference suddenly matters? Seems you haven’t found the right hobby yet. I totally get how kids are central for a happy life, but you don't enjoy them because they are your kids instead of pets. I'm pretty sure you have a few activities you enjoy, maybe without realizing they don't contain kids.

See how you sound?

How about this, you don’t eat meat, I’ll not have kids? We’ll see in 100 years who had a more meaningful impact on climate change.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I upvoted because this message still didn't reach everyone, but I guess it's just that people are in denial.. like, isn't this obvious? And weren't there already dozens of studies proving it?

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I’ll go completely meat free when the super rich go private jet free.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Other people doing bad things doesn't justify you doing bad things.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Nah Corporations and industries creates 1000x more greenhouse gases than meat and agriculture.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I'm enough of a cu*t as it is. If I went vegan, people wouldn't stand me, I just think I'd lose the friends I have left.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

I don't they they are your friends if what you choose to eat is an issue.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Can't we all just agree 8 billion people is silly? Think about how much of it is just completely redundant. The main focus really should be massive population reduction.

Edit: Also, no, I don't mean killing off anyone, just reducing birth rates will do fine. We know even just a simple high school education reduces birth rates.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 1 month ago

The vegan brigade is back out. I dont care. I'm still eating meat. I always finish my meals and I hate wasted food. I'm not going to feel guilty that your skinny ass survives on fucking leaves, nuts and beans that turns you into an ultrapreachy unbearable cunt. And stop diverting attention from your fucking palm oil and avacado farms

[–] [email protected] -1 points 1 year ago

I haven't clicked through, but I bet they meant "producing meat."

[–] [email protected] -1 points 1 year ago

No food is "problem free" and, much like normal agriculture where different crops cause different problems, different meats (poultry, pig, cow) cause different problems and have different costs.

Are insects a valid protein source? Apparently yes! Am I willing to eat them? Maybe! I've never had the chance to try any, none of the markets I go to stock anything like that.

Ditching all meats for soy and other vegetal proteins? Doable, but more expensive than eating chicken or pig, in my case. Fully getting rid of eggs and milk is also problematic for me because they are even cheaper than the meat itself.

You know what would be really funny? If cattle ranchers were forced to come up with big diapers for all the cows, harvesting the methane and turning that into somewhat cheap extra gas for cooking.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 1 year ago

It's not because of meat it's because of unsustainable farming practices being used on a massive scale. Implement some fucking laws about it and maybe we wouldn't have this problem

[–] [email protected] -2 points 4 months ago (2 children)

What about soy derivates being used as estrogens by the body suppressing testosterone. Plus to keep soy fields you have to spray more pesticides than everything else.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 weeks ago

im a vegan with a soy allergy. not seeing the correlation

[–] [email protected] 0 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (2 children)

In fact, almost 80% of the world's soybean crop is fed to livestock, especially for beef, chicken, egg and dairy production (milk, cheeses, butter, yogurt, etc).

https://wwf.panda.org/discover/our_focus/food_practice/sustainable_production/soy/

No effects of soy/isoflavones on testosterone or estrogen levels in men were noted.(conclusion of 38 clinical studies)

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0890623820302926 :(

[–] [email protected] 0 points 2 months ago
[–] [email protected] -1 points 2 months ago

the vast majority of the soybean product that is fed to animals is the byproduct of producing soybean oil. feeding animals industrial waste is a good use of it.