Eating Less Meat Helps Protect the Planet From Climate Change

benjs said:

Smellyman said:

brianlux said:

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? 

PJPOWER said:

My family and most in my neck of the woods use regenerative ranching practices, so I’m going to eat a steak that my family raised tonight and not feel guilty about it in the least:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/neilyeoh/2018/04/14/going-vegan-eating-sustainable-beef-can-be-good-for-the-environment/

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).

mace1229 said:

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.

benjs said:

Smellyman said:

brianlux said:

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? 

PJPOWER said:

My family and most in my neck of the woods use regenerative ranching practices, so I’m going to eat a steak that my family raised tonight and not feel guilty about it in the least:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/neilyeoh/2018/04/14/going-vegan-eating-sustainable-beef-can-be-good-for-the-environment/

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).

Spiritual_Chaos said:

Meltdown99 said:

The OP of this thread has no problem insulting meat-eaters.  They have done that on many occasions here.  And why do vegans need to tell people they are vegan?  I do not go around advertising I like meat.  My guess vegans who need to tell people they are vegans are just trying to come across as better than others...

Why should I have a problem insulting "meat-eaters"? You choose to support the slaughter of other living beings when you're out for lunch instead of picking the vegetarian/vegan option and with that not supporting that slaughter. The lack of empathy is apparent enough to warrant insult. It's disgusting.

And who are these vegans you are talking about that "need to tell people they are vegan"? Or is this just a stereotype you have built up in your angry little head?

(by the way, vegans are better than you in regards to this topic. Whether they tell you they are vegan or not )

Spiritual_Chaos said:

I, for one, do not appreciate this mocking of a great man and how he speaks, just because he happened to be born born in Austria and not in the US (Where Skynet was developed by the way, and who launched its nuclear warheads towards Russia starting Judgement Day to begin with. Just so you know).