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.
(Score: 1, Offtopic) by Whoever on Thursday March 23 2017, @02:21PM (4 children)
Doesn't it taste like chicken?
(Score: 5, Funny) by Phoenix666 on Thursday March 23 2017, @03:10PM (1 child)
A common misconception. Kiwis taste like mutton, Britons like cod, and Americans like bacon. Chinese are the best but you're hungry again an hour later.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Thursday March 23 2017, @08:52PM
We all taste like pork.
Three are also reports from the Marquesas Islands of Polynesia, where human flesh was called "long pig." [wikipedia.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 23 2017, @04:51PM (1 child)
I've read twice that when asking cannibals what humans taste like (it is probably a common question for them) they say pork. Humans taste like pigs. figures doesn't it?
(Score: 2) by rts008 on Thursday March 23 2017, @07:27PM
Yes, there is a reason that human meat is sometimes called 'long pork'.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 23 2017, @02:21PM (8 children)
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.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 23 2017, @02:54PM
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
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)
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.
sudo mod me up
(Score: 1) by nitehawk214 on Thursday March 23 2017, @08:42PM (1 child)
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.
"Don't you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?" -Loiosh
(Score: 2) by TheRaven on Friday March 24 2017, @08:12AM
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.
sudo mod me up
(Score: 2) by tibman on Thursday March 23 2017, @07:09PM
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)
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
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.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 23 2017, @02:27PM (22 children)
I wonder how much of it is due to money - I bet a more detailled look at the figures would see consumption dropping off in 2008 after the financial crash. Meat is expensive, plenty of people in the US now living off microwave noodles and beans.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by sjames on Thursday March 23 2017, @03:01PM (6 children)
That probably has a lot more to do with it than anyone would care to admit.
(Score: 5, Informative) by nobu_the_bard on Thursday March 23 2017, @03:25PM (2 children)
Asked what prompted them to eat less beef, 37 percent of consumers surveyed cited its price as the No. 1 reason in research published in January by Mintel, a consumer research firm. Thirty-five percent of the respondents said they were eating more protein from other sources, like chicken or tofu. But more than a quarter ascribed the change to their concern about cholesterol and saturated fats.
(Emphasis mine)
The next two paragraphs, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association blames increased focus on exports (thus, less local supply) and more heated competition from other meats (particularly chicken and pork), as well as increasing prices due to feed cost increases.
(Score: 2) by SomeGuy on Thursday March 23 2017, @03:52PM (1 child)
Price is a huge issue. The last 5 or 10 years prices have gone through the roof. Even a small package of market hamburger costs a fortune compared to other meats at places like Publix.
It's no surprise that people don't buy as much any more. What will happen next is the industry will probably pull a Mozilla and stop selling beef because their automated metrics say "no one wants it any more".
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 23 2017, @04:00PM
Having recently gone to the US for a weekend vacation and picking up some lean ground beef to make some food with.
It was quite a bit more expensive.
Canada, for pound of lean ground I pay about $4. In the US cheapest I found was $6.40. This was in Vermont.
(Score: 2) by Sulla on Thursday March 23 2017, @04:26PM
When I started cooking for myself I found that it was a lot easier to work Pork/Chicken into dishes than it was to do so with Beef. I also find the taste of Beef less satisfying than the other two. That Beef is more expensive makes the decision all the easier.
I can only speak for myself and those I know, but I make a lot more combination dishes (skillets/stir frys/fried rices) than I do traditional steak and potatoes. I am a caregiver for my grandmother, she scoffs when we make Pork/Chicken because Beef is so cheap compared to when she had to buy it and can't understand anyone not prefering Beef. So generational changes?
Ceterum censeo Sinae esse delendam
(Score: 1) by nitehawk214 on Thursday March 23 2017, @08:48PM
Which is why politicians subsides the fuck out of beef production. You keep people with shit-tier burgers and they will vote.
"Don't you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?" -Loiosh
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Friday March 24 2017, @08:54AM
(Of course, the family was talking shit, the broccoli wasn't that expensive at all, and it would have been trivial to afford a better meal from home-cooked meat and vegetables, they were simply lazy and didn't want to admit it.)
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2) by Snotnose on Thursday March 23 2017, @04:20PM (4 children)
Came here to say this. Around here it's hard to get ground beef for under $5/lb, a decent steak starts at $7/lb. I can get pork for $2-3/lb, and chicken for $1/lb.
When the dust settled America realized it was saved by a porn star.
(Score: 2) by dyingtolive on Thursday March 23 2017, @04:33PM (2 children)
Your other prices match my area's cost of living, so I gotta ask: Where are you finding chicken for that cheap? Is it real chicken, or that mulched and pressed stuff that's like 40% filler?
Don't blame me, I voted for moose wang!
(Score: 2) by Snotnose on Thursday March 23 2017, @07:08PM (1 child)
San Diego. The $1 chicken is on sale in value packs. Thighs/drumsticks are pretty much anytime, breasts get to $1/lb maybe once a month.
When the dust settled America realized it was saved by a porn star.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 24 2017, @12:26AM
You didn't say how much you have to buy to get the price.
In a recent week, I saw chicken "quarters" (thigh and drumstick, joined) for $0.49/lb in 10-lb bags, frozen.
I see $0.69/lb on that fairly regularly.
Defrost, bake the lot, put the portions in serving-size containers, and freeze them.
Yeah, if somebody can't find chicken for $1/lb or less on a regular basis, a market is taking an incredible markup.
I note that I rarely buy from the Meat department these days.
I tend to get my vitamin B12[1] from eggs or processed food (canned chili, cream of chicken soup).
[1] B12 is the -only- nutrient you can't get via a veggies-only diet.
A once-a-day vitamin pill will supply that for much less than buying animal-based products.
...and, as has been mentioned, that price differential is increasing.
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by EvilSS on Thursday March 23 2017, @04:45PM
(Score: 3, Insightful) by dyingtolive on Thursday March 23 2017, @04:31PM (7 children)
No doubt. A pound of beef is about $5.00 here I think, give or take for how lean it is. Assuming two people could eat a pound worth of meat each in a day, split across meals, that's $300 a month. USDA average for a food budget for two is 550. That's over half of it.
So, there's issues with that estimate, but it's still damn telling. I don't know if people can actually comfortably eat a pound of meat a day. I know I couldn't, but I eat like a bird. Also, yes, that's based on ground beef price alone, but chicken breast is about the same price. Pork is still cheaper. I can get decent pork steaks for less than $2/lbs. But the article is mostly talking about beef, and I don't know how available pork steaks are outside of the midwest either.
That still doesn't change the fact this more closely aligns with the observation that everything else increases in price except your paycheck.
"Oooh yay! People are saving the environment!" "No, you idiot, they're eating dog food and ramen because the dollar menu at McDonald's became the $2.50 meal and that's all they could afford."
Don't blame me, I voted for moose wang!
(Score: 3, Informative) by CoolHand on Thursday March 23 2017, @05:42PM (6 children)
I went vegetarian->Vegan over a year ago due to environmental concerns (then health,ethical concerns helped it stick). Not eating meat for those reasons definitely seems to be on the rise. So, there is definitely at least one person who has complete quit eating meat to save the environment. (and I had nothing to do with posting this story)
Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job-Douglas Adams
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Thursday March 23 2017, @05:54PM (5 children)
At least 2 people. And I have to say, it makes a lot more sense to quit meat for environmental reasons than for "oh the poor animals" reasons. Domesticated animals basically made a deal with humans: The humans help keep them alive, in exchange for being able to eat them later.
And the health benefits are nice too: No beef means no "pink slime" in hamburgers for me!
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 2) by dyingtolive on Thursday March 23 2017, @06:42PM
I mean, the environmental issues are about the only reason (other than price) I could think of that would be why I'd consider changing. And I don't doubt there are people like you and CoolHand, I just really doubt they're any sort of significant majority.
I have cut back on beef as well. I have a steak and ground beef maybe once a month or so when cooking, and maybe go out for a burger (somewhere like Five Guys) maybe twice in that span of time. The rest of the time I'm eating chicken, mostly, with some pork mixed in for fun. Most of the dishes I prefer really work best with chicken, but, man, beef is just silly expensive right now compared with 10 years ago, even.
Don't blame me, I voted for moose wang!
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 23 2017, @07:51PM (1 child)
I'm pretty sure the original deal was "Feed and shelter me. Let me live a happy animal life, and then you can eat me". Now it seems to be "Keep me in a cage that is too small for me to turn around in. Torture me every day of my life, and then sell my diseased carcass to someone else so they can eat me."
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 24 2017, @05:58AM
http://robotchicken.wikia.com/wiki/Transcription:This_Deal's_Getting_Worse_All_The_Time [wikia.com]
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 24 2017, @01:31AM (1 child)
Actually, no such deal has ever been made, metaphorically or otherwise. A "deal" implies that the animals actually have a more or less equal footing in making this negotiation. In fact, they have no say at all. They don't have collective bargaining rights; and they don't get to walk away from the deal if they find it unsatisfactory. Almost certainly, they don't even know that they are in any kind of a contractual relationship at all. As usual, you are talking out of your ass. You really need to work on that.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Friday March 24 2017, @10:31AM
(Score: 2) by bzipitidoo on Thursday March 23 2017, @04:36PM (1 child)
The steak dinner used to be one of the ways to show off your wealth. Tallness, and to a lesser extent heaviness was a mark of higher status. The correlation with being able to afford quality nutrition was pretty strong. Thinness was definitely a negative. But now the obesity epidemic has changed things. For most people in the West, it's no longer a problem getting enough nutrition, now the problem is getting good nutrition.
The fancy steak restaurant with $100 steaks, waiters and servers in tuxedos, and all this stuffy etiquette never gave me a positive impression. So crass. Went to one once with a 50% off coupon, and still felt like I overpaid.
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Thursday March 23 2017, @07:26PM
Amen to that. I went to Peter Luger's in NYC once. New Yorkers rhapsodize about it. The inside was bloody, the outside was carbonized. The combined effect was so bitter it completely obscured the flavor of the meat. And they wanted a fortune for it.
My brother-in-law and brother out West can run circles around those places and do it with mediocre cuts of meat. They can do it several ways, too, carmelized straight up, with light rubs, or slow-cooked in smokers. You can eat it until you burst.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: -1, Redundant) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 23 2017, @04:00PM (5 children)
Just because you don't agree doesn't mean my comment is trolling.
------------
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.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 23 2017, @06:30PM
You post the same comment two, three, or even four times, then you wonder why you get modded down.
(Score: 2) by tibman on Thursday March 23 2017, @07:23PM (3 children)
Now i feel stupid for modding your other post back up. Please don't repost because you were modded down. It only makes things worse. Just comment on your comment or something if you feel like a mod was unfair. Maybe explain why you have a valid point and not trolling?
SN won't survive on lurkers alone. Write comments.
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 23 2017, @09:33PM (2 children)
Full stop.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Friday March 24 2017, @10:35AM
(Score: 2) by tibman on Friday March 24 2017, @01:32PM
Just so you know, that is spamming. SN admins take spam seriously.
SN won't survive on lurkers alone. Write comments.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by DannyB on Thursday March 23 2017, @04:01PM (7 children)
One way to eat 19% less beef is if burgers contain 19% less beef. Replaced by cheap fillers like grains, flour, cereals, styrofoam, old shoes, etc.
Another way is to have 19% less meals on wheels (starve seniors). 19% less school lunches (starve kids at school). 19% less food stamps (starve kids at home).
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Thursday March 23 2017, @04:44PM (3 children)
Additionally, most restaurants are serving less absurdly ginormous portions. That's a way to improve the bottom line without raising prices.
(they still raise the prices of appetizers, drinks and desserts, but customers are sensitive to the price of main dishes)
(Score: 2) by bootsy on Thursday March 23 2017, @05:15PM (2 children)
This getting less for the same price is sometimes called shrinkflation. We see this a lot with things like chocolate bars.
I very much doubt that the inflation statistics pick this up fully.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Thursday March 23 2017, @05:21PM
Better not to talk about it, since you get health benefits from chugging your only-14-once ice-cream pint!
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Thursday March 23 2017, @06:28PM
The Ministry of Truth says that the chocolate ration has been increased to 20g.
(An increase of -4g.)
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.
(Score: 2) by CoolHand on Thursday March 23 2017, @05:44PM
I don't think you can say 19% less of X is equivalent to a 19% drop overall in beef consumption. In many examples you cited, the persons may acquire and eat beef in some other way. Additonally, all those examples are only a subset of the entire population, whereas the 19% drop was for everyone...
Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job-Douglas Adams
(Score: 2, Informative) by YeaWhatevs on Thursday March 23 2017, @06:18PM (1 child)
Even old shoes, the leather ones anyway, are beef technically.
(Score: 2) by tibman on Thursday March 23 2017, @07:26PM
Tenderized by making children massage the beef with their feet for several years.
SN won't survive on lurkers alone. Write comments.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Azuma Hazuki on Thursday March 23 2017, @06:23PM (6 children)
I am a filthy omnivore, and something about red meat reaches deep into me and flicks some weirdly calming switches, but I also almost never eat beef or similarly large animal anymore. It's not necessary, it's WAY too expensive for me, and if what they say about colon cancer is true it's best to avoid it anyway.
Vegetarianism isn't an option for me yet; tried it and got really anemic and weak and irritable, and that's *with* zinc and B-complex supplements. But as soon as they get lab-grown meat in the market at a reasonable price, odds are I will never eat the products of slaughter again. Even if it's just mince, that's fine, as that's what I use for most meat dishes like my takes on curries or casseroles.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 23 2017, @07:15PM
Completely with you. I find it hard to think how I love my pets and yet subject similar animals (pigs for example) who have family bonds and love for eachother to lifetime of torture in order for me to be able to eat them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KArL5YjaL5U [youtube.com]
Once they get petri dish meat I am done with regular meat.
(Score: 1, Offtopic) by Phoenix666 on Thursday March 23 2017, @07:29PM (1 child)
Then how are you going to thank the animals spirits for giving their lives that you may eat? It completely messes with the karmic balance of the universe, my friend.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 23 2017, @08:55PM
Well, that serves them for not taking out a patent on their genetics!
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 24 2017, @01:12AM (1 child)
Vegetarianism isn't an option for me yet; tried it and got really anemic and weak and irritable, and that's *with* zinc and B-complex supplements
You didn't mention an iron supplement, generally recommended for women.
Iron deficiency is a major cause of anemia. [webmd.com]
Another cause is vitamin deficiency.
That leads me to believe that the brand you were taking was crap--or at least poorly suited to you in particular.
After quitting animal-based foods, the standard replacement for the amino acids necessary to build/rebuild proteins is a combination of a grain and a legume e.g. combining wheat and frijoles. [geisswerks.com]
Sounds like you omitted/skimped on something there.
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Friday March 24 2017, @02:41AM
Iron supplement, probably. I usually have very light periods so I didn't think one was necessary, and was eating lots of spinach too.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 1) by Anonymous Cowherd on Friday March 24 2017, @04:52AM
Such products already exist.
http://www.memphismeats.com/ [memphismeats.com]
http://beyondmeat.com/ [beyondmeat.com]
Can't remember the guy's name but there was this fireman who stopped eating meat because the smell of meat cooking reminded him of a guy who died burning in a fire that the fireman couldn't reach on time.
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 23 2017, @08:52PM
No bitching about millennials and how they're too stupid to even know how to make grilled cheese so how are they going to make a hamburger and how their teeth will fall out from their new-age hipster progressivist vegan diets and how they're not having enough sex?
(Score: -1, Redundant) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 23 2017, @09:38PM
------------------
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.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Gaaark on Friday March 24 2017, @12:07AM
Well, all this talk of expensive meat got me feeding my mealworms again: one stalk of celery divided between 2 farms and cut up. Not expensive.
Popped a live mealworm into my mouth and chomped.
Bleh... It is like poor man's corn: tastes like thick almost tasteless corn kernel-paste, but the outer 'shell' is tough chewing... I'm still chewing it. It does not dissolve away like when baked.
Much tastier baked.
Will have to sample some baked again, soon. Raw is not that tasty, IMHO.
For meat, i like cruising for the 'eat for supper tonight' 50% off stuff.
Learned how to cook Chinese rice, so may have to air Chinese mealworm rice with sriracha sauce... hmmm!!! :)
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---