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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: 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.
I came. I saw. I forgot why I came.
(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.
I came. I saw. I forgot why I came.
(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.