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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: 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.