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SoylentNews is people

posted by cmn32480 on Thursday March 23 2017, @02:17PM   Printer-friendly
from the soylent-ftw dept.

The last decade or so has brought ample evidence that Americans are gradually changing their diets, driven by health concerns and other factors.

But a new study points to one change that is starker than many have thought: Americans cut their beef consumption by 19 percent — nearly one-fifth — in the years from 2005 to 2014, according to research to be released on Wednesday by the Natural Resources Defense Council.

The environmental group found that consumption of chicken and pork fell as well, though less drastically, as Americans ate more cheese, butter and leafy greens.

The council is hailing the plummeting popularity of beef as a victory in the fight against climate change, because greenhouse gases are produced when cattle are raised. The group estimates that the resulting reduction in pollution would equal the emissions of 39 million cars, or about one-sixth of the number of cars registered in the United States in 2015. (Some of those environmental benefits, the group says, were erased by increased consumption of other foods that also create emissions.)

The research, which is based on data from the Agriculture Department and calculations using the same methodology as the Environmental Protection Agency, found that changes in the overall American diet reduced emissions by the equivalent of pollution from 57 million cars — despite population growth of about 9 percent.

I switched to eating people. Mmm, tasty.


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  • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 23 2017, @02:21PM (8 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 23 2017, @02:21PM (#483214)

    It's only good when it's mostly fat, it's hard to chew unless it's basically still uncooked, and it doesn't digest easily.

    It's junk meat.

    Anytime people worship a food as being the pinnacle of good eats, you know it's got to be crap; humans have this strange affinity for making nonsense out to be the best thing ever.

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  • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 23 2017, @02:54PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 23 2017, @02:54PM (#483228)

    The way it's raised, in a feedlot, on grain, is the problem. It doesn't have to be that way. There are breeds of cattle that produce fine tender meat on grass alone. That's how it should be.
    http://blog.americangrassfedbeef.com/grass-fed-beef-breed-types-and-rare-breeds-eat-em-to-save-em/ [americangrassfedbeef.com]

  • (Score: 2) by riT-k0MA on Thursday March 23 2017, @03:05PM

    by riT-k0MA (88) on Thursday March 23 2017, @03:05PM (#483237)

    I'm not so sure. I've eaten Eland [wikipedia.org] and after the first bite I understood why an entire race of people worshipped it.

  • (Score: 2) by TheRaven on Thursday March 23 2017, @05:07PM (2 children)

    by TheRaven (270) on Thursday March 23 2017, @05:07PM (#483288) Journal

    There's a huge variation in quality of beef. I suspect that part of the reason for the decline has been the focus on size at the expense of quality in a lot of places. Lots of people who will enjoy a decent steak would be put off beef if they're only offered poor-quality meat. When it's bulked out by mixing the mince with extra fat (or, in many cases, with sawdust, sorry extra textured cellulose), or by force-feeding the animals so that their meat is watery, then it's likely to be far less attractive compared to alternatives.

    Disclaimer: I'm vegetarian, so this is mostly from distant memory.

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    • (Score: 1) by nitehawk214 on Thursday March 23 2017, @08:42PM (1 child)

      by nitehawk214 (1304) on Thursday March 23 2017, @08:42PM (#483384)

      Not just quality of product, but quality of preparation.

      Some cheap cuts braised or smoked and it is delicious eats.

      A lot of people that hate a certain kind of food just don't know how to prepare it. Or, rarely eat that food because they know they can't prepare it right. I love sushi, but I know not to try to make it at home, I would just mess it up.

      --
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      • (Score: 2) by TheRaven on Friday March 24 2017, @08:12AM

        by TheRaven (270) on Friday March 24 2017, @08:12AM (#483566) Journal

        I love sushi, but I know not to try to make it at home, I would just mess it up.

        You should try it some time. At least the simpler forms are actually very easy to make: the hardest part is that there's about a 30-second window for the rice between undercooked and overcooked.

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  • (Score: 2) by tibman on Thursday March 23 2017, @07:09PM

    by tibman (134) Subscriber Badge on Thursday March 23 2017, @07:09PM (#483345)

    Bumped you up because i don't think you're trolling. Unpopular opinion maybe, not but trolling. Perhaps you haven't had a good steak yet? Or good ribs (with BBQ)?

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 23 2017, @07:33PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 23 2017, @07:33PM (#483358)

    You are ignoring braised cheap cuts of meat.
    Put a pot roast with veggies into a crock pot and cook it for hours.
    It will be fall apart tender and full of flavor.

    • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 23 2017, @08:48PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 23 2017, @08:48PM (#483387)

      Yeah this and tibman's comment. I cook ribs at 250 degrees for 2 or 3 hours depending on the size of the rack, wrapped in foil. Also make sure to get a bbq sauce that's not corn syrup crap like Open Pit is. Sticky Fingers is pretty good. Ribs aren't good unless the meat slides right off the bones. Only brush on the sauce 15 minutes to a half hour before they're done cooking.