World View

Well, now we are being told what to eat.
Veal!!! it's not just for breakfast or lunch, but also for dinner! Geez...

No, we're not being told what to eat, a question is being raised and discussed. And the question is whether to make a recommendation. That's hardly 'telling us what to eat.' Unless, of course, you might feel guilty for not following recommendations, but that's a personal thing.

There are several good arguments for eating less meat. They start with health - many, many Americans eat lots of meat. Many, many Americans are obese. Many, many Americans suffer heart disease and cancer, to name just two. Very, very few vegetarians have serious problems with these issues.

Then there are some real environmental concerns. It's easy to say that the folks who make these suggestions have it in for the poor, third world farmers, but small farms aren't the problem. Industrial scale animal production is. Confined Animal Feeding Operations, they're called, not farms. THOSE are the source of those manure lagoons. And the reason there are so many antibiotics in the food - the beasties are jammed so close together that disease would be rampant otherwise. And they stink unto high heaven, too.

NOW we might start to talk about cow farts contributing to greenhouse gases. And it's easy to laugh, but anything that adds up to about a fifth of the stuff should be considered a fair target for reduction. The Cattlemen's Beef Board shouldn't be considered an objective source of opinion on just how much their product contributes to the problem, either. What's NOT mentioned in the blog is that although methane is present in much smaller amounts than carbon dioxide, it's much, MUCH more efficient than CO2 at trapping heat in the atmosphere.

There's a lot of good science going on in this area, and it's not new on the block. I got a Master's degree in Atmospheric Science 16 years ago and we were talking about it then. But, it's real science, and it doesn't fit well in a blog or response.

Come to think, most Americans would be well advised to just east less, period. Save money, save the planet, live longer and healthier...what's not to like?

1) grow grains
2) feed the grains to the animals
3) kill and eat the animals
= no grains or animals to eat!
Go figure! Been a vege for over 30 years! Get with the program!

There's more to it than methane.

In the US, heads of cattle outnumber humans severalfold. And then there's pork, poultry etc.

We use up 10 times more land for farming than we need to, because of animal farming. That means much less forests, 10 times more pesticides/herbicides/antibiotics/steroids/hormones/other chemicals than we need are pumped into the environment, not to mention their manufacture is also an environmentally degrading process.

We need to not only increase but improve the consumption patterns of protein rich vegetables such as beans. Beans, when fermented, do not induce flatulence. Some beans such as lentils produce no flatulence on regular consumption. Beans offer as much protein/weight as red meat ( and twice as much as sea food), with much less fat and more fibre. Soy beans contain TWICE as much protein as red meat ( almost).

The planet's resources CANNOT support meat consumption for humans. We should reduce the consumption dramatically and see the difference to our health and that of the planet.

How about "Have less children, Save the Environment?" Let's get real - if the whole world goes vegetarian, it won't solve our greenhouse problems. It's not the occasional burger or steak that's causing our greenhouse problems. It's us, and the number of us. As with any statistic, the value of the data begins with the completeness of the survey and the quality of its questions. Garbage in, garbage out.

Another ecoidiot plan.

Also important to remember that cattle provide a whole lot more than burgers. Milk, butter, cheese, yogurt. Inputs into many pharmaceutical products, contact lenses, furniture, leather, toothpaste and on and on come from cattle. Finally, significantly more herbicides and pesticides are needed for a pound of beans than for a pound of meat. Must be careful what we wish for, as sometimes we get it

Funny, lets kill the plants that reduce the carbon and increase oxygen. I think this guy is making this more from a religious belief.

and Eating meat is not unhealthy you food nazis. Eating FAST FOOD in excess is unhealthy. Let your pathetic offspring sit on their fat arses playing xbox is unhealthy. Get a life, if you do not want to eat the meat fine, BUT STAY AWAY FROM MY PLATE you facist control freaks.

the most idiotic idea i have heard since carbon offsets

what the hell!?

Save the planet? why is it dropping out of the Universe? Give me a break.

Let's all become vegetarians so we kill more plant life and make air quality worse. I always knew the UN was worthless... and our stupid government continues to foot most of the bill for the UN.

I can eat what I want. Humans are more important than the planet.

Humans have been raising cattle for centuries. If doing so is such a high % of the "global warming" problem, then why didn't warming start up a few centuries ago? ...because there's MONEY to be made in fear-mongering, isn't there?

it's a shame food is such a 3rd rail in discussing global warming. There is ample evidence that the raising of animals causes massive pollution, and that the amount of energy to produce one pound of meat is radically more than to produce the equivalent in grains or veggies.

i am so sick of republicans telling me how to eat, dont eat this dont smoke here dont do thsi drug dont drink and drive. when wil we stop these republican nazi,s.

It's called fasting. Huge numbers of people fasting for one day, saves food for the year.

As a Harley riding girl in the great cattle raising state of Texas - I say HELL YES to this proposal of shunning meat to help offset the environmental change.

To the daft posters who are blaming the Republicans for this - what part of "BBC" did you not grasp? For those that don't want their stomachs messed with -- it's not your stomach but your taste buds you are succumbing to. Your entire body is at the mercy of 1.5 square inches of taste buds.

Up until the early 1900's, meat was a novelty and not a 3x a day dish. At the same time meat began being regularly consumed, heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, etc., all started escalating. Conspiracy? No...just a fact.

I personally consume a diet of at least 70% water which means I have a lot of salads and juice a lot fresh produce. I have never felt better or been healthier as when I started leaving meat off my plate. And if I happen to be helping the environment as well, all the better.

How can you live on an exhausted planet, Dee? Humans are not more important than the planet, humans will soon become extinct just as the dinosaurs did, but this time we are all helping do it at a much faster rate. C'mon look at the bigger picture you selfish person.

Dee, we must have respect for this fragile planet. It is attitudes like yours that are ruining it for my children and their children, Show some respect to the thing that supports your very small insignificant life.

I bet every last doctor out there would also agree with this idea. Our biology expects the occasional meat based meal but daily meat consumption does great harm in the various ways we all know about.

It might make environmental sense to limit our beef intake but let's face it, everyone loves a good burger and it's got a hold on us. we won't ever stop eating them. If you want to save the environment stop driving your gas guzzling cars and don't worry so much about cow farts.

Funny, lets kill the plants that reduce the carbon and increase oxygen. I think this guy is making this more from a religious belief.

and Eating meat is not unhealthy you food nazis. Eating FAST FOOD in excess is unhealthy. Let your pathetic offspring sit on their fat arses playing xbox is unhealthy.

Couldn't have said it better, honestly Meat is a source of protein which are bodies need, Unhealthy versions of meat are bad for our bodies.

Wanna save the planet?? Then we need to worry about human production, not the production of meet. More people equals more GHG's. Meat may make up 18%, but humans make up what %?? If i had to geuss it would probably be a ridiculous number

well what causes climate change is lifestyle population, which means lifestyles times the population. when population increases, it has an effect on the environment, and the earth probably is supporting too large a human population. But isn't that all the more reason to adopt a sane and rational lifestyle.

if it was a question of health and true sacrifice, then I would wonder, and maybe side with the flesh eaters among us. But our biology does not support the eating of (any) flesh foods, to my best knowledge.