The Amazon is burning because the world eats so much meat
While the wildfires raging in the Amazon rainforest may constitute an "international crisis," they are hardly an accident.
The vast majority of the fires have been set by loggers and ranchers to clear land for cattle. The practice is on the rise, encouraged by Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil's populist pro-business president, who is backed by the country's so-called "beef caucus."
While this may be business as usual for Brazil's beef farmers, the rest of the world is looking on in horror.
So, for those wondering how they could help save the rainforest, known as "the planet's lungs" for producing about 20% of the world's oxygen, the answer may be simple. Eat less meat.
Ofc the US is ranking as "shitty as hell" when it comes to this metric too. When will they ever surprise in a positive way? For being "the greatest experiment on earth" they sure are shit in many, many ways.
Post edited by Spiritual_Chaos on
"Mostly I think that people react sensitively because they know you’ve got a point"
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
Given your graph posted above in this page, that shows that the USA is one of very few nations that eats as much meat per capita as it is, I find the title of this graph misleading. If it's "Animal-based vs. Plant-based", compare "Animal-based vs. Plant-based", not the most extreme version of animal-based (the standard American diet).
Also, after visiting the site (https://plantricianproject.org/food-math-101), I have more comments. -The only source for anything to do with land-use yields are two books - one called "Diet for a Small Planet" written in 1971 by Moore, one called "Diet for a New America" written in 1987 by Robbins. -"Diet for a Small Planet" is falsely claimed to be written in 1982 - it was in fact written in 1971, which is important because... -The sourcing explains, "[Moore's] numbers were 3.25 acres which equals 2.5 football fields; so we used a more conservative two football fields assuming that some agricultural efficiencies have been gained since 1982." While I don't know about the agricultural efficiency changes between those two dates, Our World in Data tells a story of massive efficiency boosts - https://ourworldindata.org/yields-and-land-use-in-agriculture
Finally, how many people does this mean we need to convince to move to a plant-based diet? And how are the efficiencies if we can't get everyone on board? What about the cost to repurpose the land for new crops, who bears those? And why should chicken coops decide to close down and pivot to kale? In terms of the abundance of livestock we have today, should we slaughter them all and have a big barbecue, to at least prevent the ongoing expulsion of methane (would vegans participate in that? It's ethically motivated), or will the new vegans adopt pet cows? How will we mitigate protein deficiencies and dietary training when we can't get that right even when we can chemically alter food so it tastes good - how are you going to sell a fat kid on arugula and tofu when he's used to KFC that his parents fed him regularly? And how much time have we got again?
Obviously I've got a mix of real and rhetorical questions on here, but I think my sentiments of 'not keeping my fingers crossed for a future based on current evidence' are quite clear.
'05 - TO, '06 - TO 1, '08 - NYC 1 & 2, '09 - TO, Chi 1 & 2, '10 - Buffalo, NYC 1 & 2, '11 - TO 1 & 2, Hamilton, '13 - Buffalo, Brooklyn 1 & 2, '15 - Global Citizen, '16 - TO 1 & 2, Chi 2
EV
Toronto Film Festival 9/11/2007, '08 - Toronto 1 & 2, '09 - Albany 1, '11 - Chicago 1
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
1 thing...the price of meat here in Canada has to be forcing people to eat less meat.
Have you compared the price of vegetables on a protein basis? I am very fitness-oriented and very conscious of my protein intake, and it would cost me a fortune, almost double, to get the same level of protein without meat.
We do meatless meals 2-3 times a week and we are trying to take it another step forward, but it's tough.
Really? How many grams of protein a day are you shooting for? I only eat seafood once every week or two, otherwise I find it easy and pretty cheap to get my protein with dairy and plant based food. Meat seems pretty spendy.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
It's always interesting to me when someone makes a true statement like "Eating less meat helps protect the planet from climate change", and then other people get on the post and start talking about how much they like meat. Well yeah, OK fine, but what does that have to do with the fact presented in the statement?
I eat meat rarely but when I do, that is what I look for as well. But the fact remains, eating less meat/ eating lower on the food chain is better for the planet. If 7.7 billion people ate beef every day, no way would that be sustainable.
Because people are dicks.
I am vegan, but never mention I am to people anymore because invariably they start saying 'I am going to eat a burger, love dead cow. Or bacon give me some pig. hahaha yum yum yum.'
That is awful that people say crap like that to people who don’t eat meat , to me I find that not eating meat is a lot harder than people realize ..
1 thing...the price of meat here in Canada has to be forcing people to eat less meat.
Have you compared the price of vegetables on a protein basis? I am very fitness-oriented and very conscious of my protein intake, and it would cost me a fortune, almost double, to get the same level of protein without meat.
We do meatless meals 2-3 times a week and we are trying to take it another step forward, but it's tough.
Really? How many grams of protein a day are you shooting for? I only eat seafood once every week or two, otherwise I find it easy and pretty cheap to get my protein with dairy and plant based food. Meat seems pretty spendy.
Dairy helps keep the price down, but I'm a bit intolerant so I have to limit dairy somewhat. Yogurt isn't a problem so that's nice because it's inexpensive and has a very good protein/calorie ratio. I shoot for 160g/day but usually fall short.
Good quality meat is expensive, for sure, but tuna packets and CAFO chicken breasts are cheap as shit. Good quality produce is absolutely more expensive than cheap meat and provides less nutritional benefit. To boot, good quality fruits and vegetables are next to impossible to buy in many places, the Midwest being one of them.
It's always interesting to me when someone makes a true statement like "Eating less meat helps protect the planet from climate change", and then other people get on the post and start talking about how much they like meat. Well yeah, OK fine, but what does that have to do with the fact presented in the statement?
I eat meat rarely but when I do, that is what I look for as well. But the fact remains, eating less meat/ eating lower on the food chain is better for the planet. If 7.7 billion people ate beef every day, no way would that be sustainable.
Because people are dicks.
I am vegan, but never mention I am to people anymore because invariably they start saying 'I am going to eat a burger, love dead cow. Or bacon give me some pig. hahaha yum yum yum.'
Smellyman, I can appreciate that, but there are often two sides at play. My family and I all remember when my brother introduced us to his then-girlfriend a few years back, and when she lovingly brought pins for each of us that said "I'm an asshole, I wear fur" (this was the first time she had met any of us or been to our family house). Non-productive cheap jabs are thrown from both parties, and I think we'd all be wise to take on some more personal accountability to keep conversations productive.
I had a real heart-to-heart with my brother a while back about how making people feel shame for living a life eating meat (most of whom were just simply taught this by their parents) isn't conducive to people coming around to his way of thinking. To his credit, he took it to heart and shifted his strategy. He welcomes us at the same table (even if we're eating meat), he makes enough vegan food so we can have some, and he engages us in conversation about how we can introduce reduced carbon footprints by eating less meat (even if we don't feel ready to cut it out entirely). He doesn't preach, he shares and teaches and listens. I truly feel that that kind of civil engagement is desperately needed if we're to make material changes; guilting billions of people into adopting a vegan diet is just not likely to work (even if we had time).
'05 - TO, '06 - TO 1, '08 - NYC 1 & 2, '09 - TO, Chi 1 & 2, '10 - Buffalo, NYC 1 & 2, '11 - TO 1 & 2, Hamilton, '13 - Buffalo, Brooklyn 1 & 2, '15 - Global Citizen, '16 - TO 1 & 2, Chi 2
EV
Toronto Film Festival 9/11/2007, '08 - Toronto 1 & 2, '09 - Albany 1, '11 - Chicago 1
It's always interesting to me when someone makes a true statement like "Eating less meat helps protect the planet from climate change", and then other people get on the post and start talking about how much they like meat. Well yeah, OK fine, but what does that have to do with the fact presented in the statement?
I eat meat rarely but when I do, that is what I look for as well. But the fact remains, eating less meat/ eating lower on the food chain is better for the planet. If 7.7 billion people ate beef every day, no way would that be sustainable.
Because people are dicks.
I am vegan, but never mention I am to people anymore because invariably they start saying 'I am going to eat a burger, love dead cow. Or bacon give me some pig. hahaha yum yum yum.'
Smellyman, I can appreciate that, but there are often two sides at play. My family and I all remember when my brother introduced us to his then-girlfriend a few years back, and when she lovingly brought pins for each of us that said "I'm an asshole, I wear fur" (this was the first time she had met any of us or been to our family house). Non-productive cheap jabs are thrown from both parties, and I think we'd all be wise to take on some more personal accountability to keep conversations productive.
I had a real heart-to-heart with my brother a while back about how making people feel shame for living a life eating meat (most of whom were just simply taught this by their parents) isn't conducive to people coming around to his way of thinking. To his credit, he took it to heart and shifted his strategy. He welcomes us at the same table (even if we're eating meat), he makes enough vegan food so we can have some, and he engages us in conversation about how we can introduce reduced carbon footprints by eating less meat (even if we don't feel ready to cut it out entirely). He doesn't preach, he shares and teaches and listens. I truly feel that that kind of civil engagement is desperately needed if we're to make material changes; guilting billions of people into adopting a vegan diet is just not likely to work (even if we had time).
it's today's version of christians yelling 'you're going to hell!" at atheists.
"Oh Canada...you're beautiful when you're drunk" -EV 8/14/93
I'm a firm believer in that meat, among many other things we're told not to eat, is actually good for us and our diet. The problem we usually eat far more of those items than we actually need. Most of us meat eaters could probably cut our meat intake in half and still be too much. I went vegan for about 6 months a few years ago, it was only hard for about the first few weeks honestly. I went on a strict vegetable diet and lost 50 lbs in about 3 months. The nice part was I could eat until I was full every meal and still lose weight every week. The hard part is trying to do a diet like that short term, like for a week at a time to maintain the weight I lost. Once I got in the groove it was easier, going back on for a week is a lot tougher.
I'm a firm believer in that meat, among many other things we're told not to eat, is actually good for us and our diet. The problem we usually eat far more of those items than we actually need. Most of us meat eaters could probably cut our meat intake in half and still be too much. I went vegan for about 6 months a few years ago, it was only hard for about the first few weeks honestly. I went on a strict vegetable diet and lost 50 lbs in about 3 months. The nice part was I could eat until I was full every meal and still lose weight every week. The hard part is trying to do a diet like that short term, like for a week at a time to maintain the weight I lost. Once I got in the groove it was easier, going back on for a week is a lot tougher.
I need to lose weight. in a big way. however, i feel i could eat 20 pounds of vegetables and never feel full.
"Oh Canada...you're beautiful when you're drunk" -EV 8/14/93
I'm a firm believer in that meat, among many other things we're told not to eat, is actually good for us and our diet. The problem we usually eat far more of those items than we actually need. Most of us meat eaters could probably cut our meat intake in half and still be too much. I went vegan for about 6 months a few years ago, it was only hard for about the first few weeks honestly. I went on a strict vegetable diet and lost 50 lbs in about 3 months. The nice part was I could eat until I was full every meal and still lose weight every week. The hard part is trying to do a diet like that short term, like for a week at a time to maintain the weight I lost. Once I got in the groove it was easier, going back on for a week is a lot tougher.
I need to lose weight. in a big way. however, i feel i could eat 20 pounds of vegetables and never feel full.
I literally ate my meals out of serving bowls. I did a lot of stir fry veggies and just a touch of oil from a spray and some seasonings. Eat a mixing bowl full of that and you’ll get filled.
I need to lose weight too but I’ve never heard the phrase. Skinny and happy. Just fat and happy. I’m not happy but I’m fat so I’m half way there.
You don't hear that phrase because skinny people don't want bricks thrown at their heads by fatties lol I'm a junk food addict who gets a major dopamine rush from nasty food, but I'm a much happier person now that I'm not fat anymore. As a species we adapt so easily that we become hopelessly inured to situations that make us miserable. I hated myself on a daily basis when I was fat and I didn't even realize it until I wasn't anymore.
It's always interesting to me when someone makes a true statement like "Eating less meat helps protect the planet from climate change", and then other people get on the post and start talking about how much they like meat. Well yeah, OK fine, but what does that have to do with the fact presented in the statement?
I eat meat rarely but when I do, that is what I look for as well. But the fact remains, eating less meat/ eating lower on the food chain is better for the planet. If 7.7 billion people ate beef every day, no way would that be sustainable.
Because people are dicks.
I am vegan, but never mention I am to people anymore because invariably they start saying 'I am going to eat a burger, love dead cow. Or bacon give me some pig. hahaha yum yum yum.'
Smellyman, I can appreciate that, but there are often two sides at play. My family and I all remember when my brother introduced us to his then-girlfriend a few years back, and when she lovingly brought pins for each of us that said "I'm an asshole, I wear fur" (this was the first time she had met any of us or been to our family house). Non-productive cheap jabs are thrown from both parties, and I think we'd all be wise to take on some more personal accountability to keep conversations productive.
I had a real heart-to-heart with my brother a while back about how making people feel shame for living a life eating meat (most of whom were just simply taught this by their parents) isn't conducive to people coming around to his way of thinking. To his credit, he took it to heart and shifted his strategy. He welcomes us at the same table (even if we're eating meat), he makes enough vegan food so we can have some, and he engages us in conversation about how we can introduce reduced carbon footprints by eating less meat (even if we don't feel ready to cut it out entirely). He doesn't preach, he shares and teaches and listens. I truly feel that that kind of civil engagement is desperately needed if we're to make material changes; guilting billions of people into adopting a vegan diet is just not likely to work (even if we had time).
I can appreciate that too, but I get to live it all the time by mutliple people not just one anecdotally. All this w/o me ever preaching or being a dick. By rule I never tell anybody until they ask and that is when the ridicule starts.
I think it is becoming better lately that people are beginning to understand the benefits to the world, animal welfare etc. but still happens
I go to the gym and do an hour on the treadmill. Not as much as I should but pretty consistently. But I’m definitely overweight. Mine comes from having the munchies every night for some legal in California reason. I kill some Life cereal (dry) while watching Bobs Burgers. Yes. I am 40 years old. Lol. But when I was running half marathons I’d get under 200 pounds and you do definitely feel better. Congrats for losing that weight. I know how hard it is.
I grow my own food to a point . Its hard work . Enjoyable . I still eat meat but i wonder if i need to. Life is short. Getting shorter. I think everyone should grow something to eat.
brixton 93
astoria 06
albany 06
hartford 06
reading 06
barcelona 06
paris 06
wembley 07
dusseldorf 07
nijmegen 07
this song is meant to be called i got shit,itshould be called i got shit tickets-hartford 06 -
Comments
-EV 8/14/93
The Amazon is burning because the world eats so much meat
While the wildfires raging in the Amazon rainforest may constitute an "international crisis," they are hardly an accident.
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/08/23/americas/brazil-beef-amazon-rainforest-fire-intl/index.html
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
https://community.pearljam.com/discussion/281519/the-amazon-rain-forest-is-on-fire-and-no-one-is-talking-about-it/p1
Can never have enough threads on the same topic...of course maybe this is a grab for attention.
I eat Canadian meat...not SA.
https://api.worldanimalprotection.org/
Also, after visiting the site (https://plantricianproject.org/food-math-101), I have more comments.
-The only source for anything to do with land-use yields are two books - one called "Diet for a Small Planet" written in 1971 by Moore, one called "Diet for a New America" written in 1987 by Robbins.
-"Diet for a Small Planet" is falsely claimed to be written in 1982 - it was in fact written in 1971, which is important because...
-The sourcing explains, "[Moore's] numbers were 3.25 acres which equals 2.5 football fields; so we used a more conservative two football fields assuming that some agricultural efficiencies have been gained since 1982." While I don't know about the agricultural efficiency changes between those two dates, Our World in Data tells a story of massive efficiency boosts - https://ourworldindata.org/yields-and-land-use-in-agriculture
Finally, how many people does this mean we need to convince to move to a plant-based diet? And how are the efficiencies if we can't get everyone on board? What about the cost to repurpose the land for new crops, who bears those? And why should chicken coops decide to close down and pivot to kale? In terms of the abundance of livestock we have today, should we slaughter them all and have a big barbecue, to at least prevent the ongoing expulsion of methane (would vegans participate in that? It's ethically motivated), or will the new vegans adopt pet cows? How will we mitigate protein deficiencies and dietary training when we can't get that right even when we can chemically alter food so it tastes good - how are you going to sell a fat kid on arugula and tofu when he's used to KFC that his parents fed him regularly? And how much time have we got again?
Obviously I've got a mix of real and rhetorical questions on here, but I think my sentiments of 'not keeping my fingers crossed for a future based on current evidence' are quite clear.
EV
Toronto Film Festival 9/11/2007, '08 - Toronto 1 & 2, '09 - Albany 1, '11 - Chicago 1
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
-EV 8/14/93
Yogurt isn't a problem so that's nice because it's inexpensive and has a very good protein/calorie ratio.
I shoot for 160g/day but usually fall short.
Good quality meat is expensive, for sure, but tuna packets and CAFO chicken breasts are cheap as shit.
Good quality produce is absolutely more expensive than cheap meat and provides less nutritional benefit.
To boot, good quality fruits and vegetables are next to impossible to buy in many places, the Midwest being one of them.
I had a real heart-to-heart with my brother a while back about how making people feel shame for living a life eating meat (most of whom were just simply taught this by their parents) isn't conducive to people coming around to his way of thinking. To his credit, he took it to heart and shifted his strategy. He welcomes us at the same table (even if we're eating meat), he makes enough vegan food so we can have some, and he engages us in conversation about how we can introduce reduced carbon footprints by eating less meat (even if we don't feel ready to cut it out entirely). He doesn't preach, he shares and teaches and listens. I truly feel that that kind of civil engagement is desperately needed if we're to make material changes; guilting billions of people into adopting a vegan diet is just not likely to work (even if we had time).
EV
Toronto Film Festival 9/11/2007, '08 - Toronto 1 & 2, '09 - Albany 1, '11 - Chicago 1
-EV 8/14/93
I went vegan for about 6 months a few years ago, it was only hard for about the first few weeks honestly. I went on a strict vegetable diet and lost 50 lbs in about 3 months. The nice part was I could eat until I was full every meal and still lose weight every week. The hard part is trying to do a diet like that short term, like for a week at a time to maintain the weight I lost. Once I got in the groove it was easier, going back on for a week is a lot tougher.
-EV 8/14/93
I'm a junk food addict who gets a major dopamine rush from nasty food, but I'm a much happier person now that I'm not fat anymore.
As a species we adapt so easily that we become hopelessly inured to situations that make us miserable. I hated myself on a daily basis when I was fat and I didn't even realize it until I wasn't anymore.
I still eat meat but i wonder if i need to.
Life is short. Getting shorter.
I think everyone should grow something to eat.
astoria 06
albany 06
hartford 06
reading 06
barcelona 06
paris 06
wembley 07
dusseldorf 07
nijmegen 07
this song is meant to be called i got shit,itshould be called i got shit tickets-hartford 06 -