But to clarify a bit, the people who read HN are generally privileged enough to make a choice about what they eat.
150 years from now, people will wish all they have to do is limit steak consumption. It’s far below the very least we can today, but it’s something.
Important note: I never said “go vegan today” or anything close to that. I said, limit steak consumption to a few times a year.
Ha ha, nope.
But yes, let's demonise the food we've evolved to thrive on. It's mental that this has become a controversial idea worth censoring.
And if you are worried about plant matter and all the land used for it and transportation emissions around it, what do you think the major of animals eat? They are confined to sheds, not green pastures. They eat plants shipped to the farms, and they eat a hell of a lot more than humans do. Eating the animal means we take a fraction of the total calories the animal consumes. It is completely inefficient. More here: https://ourworldindata.org/food-choice-vs-eating-local
No one denies we evolved eating meat. But that is the pasted. We can do better in the future. "Tradition" is a word worth censoring.
You're saying, we should change the way we eat so we can keep our cars?
> Buying beans instead of meat at the grocery store is not a hard problem, and one any of us can immediately do.
Buying beans and then buying supplements also because you can't live only on beans, or plants. You need to supplement minerals and nutrients that you can't get from plants.
Or you can eat a balanced diet that includes meat, eggs or dairy along with mostly plants and not expose yourself to the danger of malnutrition.
Food of any variety can be locally produced, or it can be sourced through industrial supply chains. Animal and plant products can both have an embedded cost in terms of carbon emissions, water, and usage of arable land. That is to say, a cow, a chicken, and a bunch of potatoes can all be locally sourced, and the costs of production for the cow are going to be much higher.
Moreover, the food we "evolved to thrive on," was likely primarily nuts, seeds, fruits, insects, rodents, and occasionally larger animals like antelope (which would have been eaten nose-to-tail), not fatty steaks from domesticated animals.
Citation needed. My sources mention the fact that we've evolved bigger brains when we've moved from low-density foods such as vegetables to high-density fatty foods, which is what distinguishes our diet from what primates eat. Meat is fatty, vegetables are not. In fact, vegetables are "fatty" for ruminants, as they have specialised bacteria that convert plant matter to fatty acids. We do not.
https://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/evidence-f...
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/fat-not-meat-may-...
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK53561/
Just a couple articles from a 30 second Google search. The fat == bad, or worse, meat == bad is a modern argument that has nothing to do with our evolution or our physiology.
Here's the thing no one wants to admit: modern meat is bad for the planet, and we humans thrive on meat. We don't know how to reconcile the two, so we keep promoting and pushing towards worse and worse diets. Sorry, a vegan diet for everybody isn't the answer. There is no simple answer.
Here's a citation: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK482457/
Moreover, this makes sense. Hunter-gatherer life was not easy, and ancient humans scraped by on what they could get. This likely entailed eating a lot of fat and protein sources that today are considered distasteful, like insects, rodents, lizards, and organ meats.
There's a lot of keto/paleo/primal bro-science floating around that people use as a post-hoc justification for a diet that is destroying the planet. But if you really want to live like our ancestors, you should be eating grubs, rats, roots, seeds, and tripe in addition to the occasional steak.
0% of people in this thread suggested a vegan diet for everybody other than you.
I specifically said reduce steak consumption to a few times per year — it’s less than the least you should do, but if you can’t do that, then will you actually do anything?
Hope the people 3 generations from now like eating bugs!
Personally I hope insect protein becomes more widespread, makes more sense to me nutritionally than completely avoiding animal nutrients for chemical vegetable pastes people want to promote as meat substitute these days.
I like to wear shorts more than I like to wear pants. So I wear shorts on the weekend because I can’t wear shorts to work. My goal is pants reduction because total pants reduction is infeasible.
So no, reduction of meat consumption today isn’t implying that total veganism is the goal.
Also, are you eating much insect protein yourself or are you more hoping other people will do it one day?
The latter. The only insect protein I can find for human consumption is far more expensive than the pasture-raised organic meat I primarily eat. Sadly, I'm too used to modern Western cuisine to stomach eating an insect that hasn't been ground down to fine powder, but I will definitely buy some if/when prices are more reasonable.
Enjoy your steak.
“GHG emissions from transportation make up a very small amount of the emissions from food and what you eat is far more important than where your food traveled from.”
(Source: https://ourworldindata.org/food-choice-vs-eating-local)
Yes, I am recommending people reduce their addiction to cars as well.
But honestly, planet is likely a lost cause for humanity, so “Let them eat steak!” I guess.
And if you think humanity is thriving today, I’ve got a bridge to sell you.