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Eat less meat: UN climate change report calls for change to human diet

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Re: Eat less meat: UN climate change report calls for change to human diet

#531

Post by frabbit »

Stanish wrote: post #431
Pxtl wrote: post #317

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, as a vegetarian I can do some awesome things with lentils, but I remember the days when I could rub some spice on a pork chop and throw it on the grill and then have something boxed and starchy on the side and have a pretty decent meal. Meanwhile, a good lentil stew is a much more involved project. Much less home-made veggie burger patties which have dozens of ingredients and elaborate preparation processes. Go…

I’ve been vegan for two years now, and I can unequivocally say that cooking and eating are much easier than when I was constantly having to handle meat, clean up more & cook longer because of worries about food borne illness, etc. If you do it long enough it gets way easier as your cooking skills and methods adapt. Some tips I follow: -I highly recommend a CSA for great vegetables, delivered if possible -Start a smal…

-I highly recommend a CSA for great vegetables, delivered if possible I do not. They are (at least where I am) unpredictable in content which increases the burden of planning meals.

Re: Eat less meat: UN climate change report calls for change to human diet

#532

Post by frabbit »

Freak_NL wrote: post #448
koolba wrote: post #339

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> We don't like buying processed foods, and soups without meat are nearly a no-go for me. But hey, I'm limiting consumption so I guess I'm doing my part. I lean toward the carnivore spectrum but there are a couple meatless soups that I enjoy: * New England clam chowder * Corn chowder * Barley mushroom (though it’s even better with meat) * Gazpacho And while I’d never order it if given the option for a “real one”, veg…

> Gazpacho Not really an example of an easy to make recipe (lots of ingredients), but Yotam Ottolenghi's green gazpacho (made with green vegetables and walnuts rather than tomatoes) does really well when you are entertaining guests. It's listed in his Plenty . It's one of those cookbooks you can find in many homes around the globe due to its popularity — and it's all vegetarian.

Ottolenghi has some damn tasty recipes. The aubergines/eggplants here are so good that I find it hard to leave enough for lunch the next day https://www.theguardian.com/food/2019/jul/20/yotam-ottolengh...

Re: Eat less meat: UN climate change report calls for change to human diet

#533

Post by lhl »

wtdata wrote: post #204
lhl wrote: post #109

Almost all conventional/industrial agriculture (plant or animal based) is unsustainable due to the external inputs required (70% from fossil fuels for growing corn! [1]), soil depletion incurred [2], and just plain shipping things around. [3] The alternative is local regenerative agriculture [4], which the Rodale Institute [5] and a recent Quantis (non-peer reviewed) studies [6] point to being potentially carbon net…

Local agriculture won't feed 7 billion people and even worst went the method you are proposing is GMO, fertilizer and pesticide free.

The point is that conventional agriculture (eg, with industrial inputs) is literally unsustainable - there is a 56% food gap in the coming decades. [1]

Also, there's plenty of evidence that small, sustainable farms are both more efficient (in inputs, and land) and more productive in total caloric terms that mono-cropped industrial farming. In the Pretty review I referenced, Table 3 shows the "adoption of agricultural sustainability technologies and practices on 286 projects in 47 countries" increased average % increase in crop yields from 22% to 146%. [2]

Per the FAO [3], globally, small farms continue to dominate in food production and their food production (and economic sustainability) would be improved via an "ecological intensification" approach. [4]

[1] https://www.wri.org/blog/2018/12/how-sustainably-feed-10-bil...

[2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2610163/

[3] https://www.globalagriculture.org/report-topics/industrial-a...

[4] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5478712/

Re: Eat less meat: UN climate change report calls for change to human diet

#534

Post by nharada »

elktea wrote: post #92

There's a good case to be made for humans being primarily meat eaters for much of our history and only eating plants as an alternative to starving - we certainly haven't had time to evolve to eat a vegetarian diet. Agriculture has only been around for a small fraction of our history and the skeletal record clearly shows how disasterous it was for our health. The current 'plant based' fad diet recommendations are back…

I'd consider 9% of all human emissions[1] to be a "major source". Just because it's not the majority doesn't mean it's not important.

[1] https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/sources-greenhouse-gas-emis...

Re: Eat less meat: UN climate change report calls for change to human diet

#535

Post by elktea »

asokoloski wrote: post #402
elktea wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Our stomach pH is very low, comparable to carrion eaters and some carnivores. "It is interesting to note that humans, uniquely among the primates so far considered, appear to have stomach pH values more akin to those of carrion feeders than to those of most carnivores and omnivores" https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal... Our requirements for DHA and B12 indicate a diet rich in both - both fou…

We do require B12, but "found almost exclusively in animal foods" leaves out something important. B12 is produced by bacteria, and is found in natural, untreated water sources, as well as dirt. Our bodies are adapted to preserve B12 in a very elaborate way, (because it is a water-soluble vitamin), meaning that we can survive on the trace amounts found in untreated water and the dirt that sticks to vegetables. This is…

I'd like to focus on your assertion: "A plant-based diet with B12 and DHA supplementation is much healthier than an omnivorous one."

I'd not bet my health and my children's development on a novel way of eating without fantastic proof. Have you got any?

Re: Eat less meat: UN climate change report calls for change to human diet

#536

Post by marcus_holmes »

mklarmann wrote: post #474
marcus_holmes wrote: post #463

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm fascinated that the solutions to climate change appear to line up neatly with the things that hippies have been saying for years (capitalism needs to be replaced with a state-managed global economy, nuclear power is bad, vegetarianism is good, bicycling is good, plant more trees). Particularly the nuclear power option. That one makes no sense. Concrete is a major source of CO2 emissions. In some places, it contri…

This report was generated by the IPCC on request of the international community at the COP in Paris, after they pointed out, that no information was available about 1.5 degree target (the first special report), and food and land was missing (second special report). There is a third one coming about the arctic as far as I remember.

the IPCC science team, or the IPCC "advice for politicians" team, who have a sizeable contingent of green activists?

Re: Eat less meat: UN climate change report calls for change to human diet

#537

Post by elktea »

dnhz wrote: post #324
TheBeardKing wrote: post #304

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We've been trying to cut our meat consumption, but the cooking complexity is exactly my issue. We're lazy but healthy eaters, meaning our regular entrees are a meat and a couple veggie sides. We also do low carb, mainly because it's just easier to limit calorie intake that way. Most of the dinner work is usually cutting and preparing vegetables. When we cut meat, it cuts the main portion of the entree, which can some…

Healthiest way to go about it is to go low-fat, high carb. The body uses glucose for energy most easily. Whole-foods plant based diets, as shown in documentaries like Forks Over Knives, have been shown to let people lose weight and reverse diseases like diabetes. A cooked carb like a potato or rice is like 1 calorie/gram, including the water. Oil is 9 calories/gram. Without oil, sheer food volume and fiber will make…

The body will preferentially use alcohol before glucose. I recommend a 100% alcohol based diet.

Re: Eat less meat: UN climate change report calls for change to human diet

#538

Post by ObscureMind »

DiseasedBadger wrote: post #520
ObscureMind wrote: post #373

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> That said, we have zero chance of fixing our corrupt political system We do have a chance. It's not going to be long until a critical mass of individuals understand that democracy is a system that legitimizes coercion, and that taxation is theft and generates poverty. We just need one more generation until that happens. When people reach that conclusion, they will move their money away from fiat currencies and they…

If putting your money in crypto prevents you from paying taxes, it's you who'd go to jail. If any government saw a dip in taxes, they'd just pass a law requiring an "internet driver's license". Then require your wallet number. Such licenses are already common, outside the US. So, less anarcho anything. More jail time, and then forced labor, and then one again paying taxes. Sorry.

[dead]

Re: Eat less meat: UN climate change report calls for change to human diet

#539

Post by philwelch »

0xffff2 wrote: post #507
ihattendorf wrote: post #476

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> New England clam chowder Are clams not considered meat? Also any good New England Clam Chowder has bacon in it.

This is a weird cultural thing that I encounter every now and then. Some cultures only consider flesh from land animals to be "meat". People from these cultures also often call the diet I would call "pescatarian" "vegetarian".

This rule applies to certain Catholic traditions, eg abstaining from meat on Fridays.

Re: Eat less meat: UN climate change report calls for change to human diet

#540

Post by philwelch »

asdfman123 wrote: post #472
dragonwriter wrote: post #451

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You want to find a rare issue with bipartisan support? Try raising the price of food and seeing how people like it. Food stamps are designed to raise the market clearing price of food as a subsidy to agriculture (they’ve since become a means-tested welfare program as well , while retaining the original purpose); they have fairly strong political support, which definitely shows a partisan divide. The Dairy Price Sup…

Actually, we started subsidizing farms to compete against the Soviet Union during the cold war, to demonstrate the superiority of "capitalism." They served their purpose well, but now they're almost impossible to remove. http://freakonomics.com/podcast/farms-race/

Farm subsidies started during the New Deal. I believe one effect of those subsidies was to maintain a reserve of farm capacity that was used in WWII to provide needed food aid to our allies, including the Soviets.
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