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posted by janrinok on Monday December 11 2017, @10:06PM   Printer-friendly
from the my-cold,-dead-animal dept.

Like tobacco, carbon emissions and sugar, we can expect the harm to human health and the environment caused by the production and consumption of meat to be mitigated by 'sin taxes'in the next five to ten years.

"Sin taxes" on meat to reduce its huge impact on climate change and human health look inevitable, according to analysts for investors managing more than $4tn of assets.

The global livestock industry causes 15% of all global greenhouse gas emissions and meat consumption is rising around the world, but dangerous climate change cannot be avoided unless this is radically curbed. Furthermore, many people already eat far too much meat, seriously damaging their health and incurring huge costs. Livestock also drive other problems, such as water pollution and antibiotic resistance.

A new analysis from the investor network Farm Animal Investment Risk and Return (Fairr) Initiative argues that meat is therefore now following the same path as tobacco, carbon emissions and sugar towards a sin tax, a levy on harmful products to cut consumption. Meat taxes have already been discussed in parliaments in Germany, Denmark and Sweden, the analysis points out, and China's government has cut its recommended maximum meat consumption by 45% in 2016.

Would you pay a "meat tax" or would you change your eating habits?


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 12 2017, @04:47AM (5 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 12 2017, @04:47AM (#608632)

    I don't find that to be true.
    It's been quite some time since I paid more than $0.50/pound for veggies|fruit.
    ...and in that case it was an elective choice; there was other stuff cheaper.
    I often get produce for as low as $0.20/pound.

    At Thanksgiving, the price of canned veggies gets good.
    I picked up some 14oz/15oz cans for $0.37 (quantities limited).
    For most of the year, the best price I can find is $0.49--and a portion of what's in the can is water.

    Processed/junk food is definitely more expensive than buying whole food in the produce aisle.

    ...and it hasn't been mentioned yet but meat is not necessary for good health.
    The only nutrient you can't get from a plant-based diet is vitamin B12.
    An egg or dairy product now and then can supply all you need.
    (Your body is amazingly frugal with the B12 it gets.)

    -- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]

  • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 12 2017, @07:30AM (4 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 12 2017, @07:30AM (#608668)

    Incorrect.

    You can get B12 from various plant-related, most notably some fungal sources.

    The problem is you can't get enough for the whole world. Not if you flattened every forest in Canada.

    We could go vegan, worldwide, tomorrow. A lot of people would just plain die of malnutrition, that's all.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 12 2017, @10:27AM (3 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 12 2017, @10:27AM (#608688)

      I've heard that myth and I went looking for corroboration.
      I didn't find any.

      What I did find, instead, refuted the myth.

      B12 in Plant Foods - by Jack Norris, Registered Dietitian - Last updated: October 2015 [googleusercontent.com] (orig) [veganhealth.org]
      plants have no B12 requirement for any function, and therefore have no active mechanisms to produce or store B12. When B12 is found in them it can be due to contamination which is not reliable.
      [...]
      no fermented plant food in Western countries has been found to contain relevant amounts of vitamin B12 analogues

      -- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 12 2017, @04:34PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 12 2017, @04:34PM (#608776)

        Try again.

        http://www.southmill.com/mushrooms-myth-facts/ [southmill.com] (April 2016)

        Even if you think that's too low an amount, it's a hop, skip and jump in breeding terms from being adequate.

        The bigger point: B12 isn't the real problem in the sense of some insurmountable challenge. It's a sideshow compared to the agronomic reality of production quantities of plant-based nutrients versus world population.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 12 2017, @04:37PM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 12 2017, @04:37PM (#608778)

        Fungi are not technically plants, so that might account for the discrepancy between what you and the parent AC are arguing about.

        https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fungus [wikipedia.org]

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 12 2017, @08:24PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 12 2017, @08:24PM (#608900)

          The point that the researcher in my link was making is that production of B12 by a CO2-breathing non-animal would be an investment in resources with zero return for the organism.

          ...and any B12 found in|on a non-animal is contamination (from an animal source).
          From the AC responder's link:

          The majority of B12 is in the surface of the cup of the mushroom

          ...so, that appears to be settling from the air.

          There has also been speculation that microorganisms can produce B12 via fermentation.
          The researcher in my link investigated that and found no substantiation for that claim.

          ...and, if you were really old (as I am), you would remember a time when we were taught there were only 2 kingdoms: plants and animals.

          -- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]