Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

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

nature.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

571–577 of 577 posts

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

#571

Post by uxcolumbo »

dqh wrote: post #198
jazzabeanie wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From the article: “But it would indeed be beneficial, for both climate and human health, if people in many rich countries consumed less meat, and if politics would create appropriate incentives to that effect.”

For the most part I now only eat meat, eggs, cheese, some nuts, and non-starchy vegetables. Mostly meat, and mostly very fatty meat like Pork belly. At 40 years old i've never been healthier as an adult - I don't buy the argument that meat is bad for you.

Check out pcrm.org for some medical arguments why it's bad for you.

But even if you think it's not bad for you, it's bad for:

- the environment - bad for people having to work in slaughterhouses killing and gutting animals all day - bad for the animal

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

#572

Post by Kaiyou »

AnIdiotOnTheNet wrote: post #407
Kaiyou wrote: post #377

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How would you survive if everything eadible could scream? Also, not sure why the screaming part is important. Plants are alive, too and they do feel pain. They just can't express this, similar to autists.

You'd still choose plants, because otherwise you're eating animals that themselves must feed on plants. Even from a coldly mathematical perspective you cause less suffering eating plants than animals.

Wouldn't you then have to eat predators, so they can't kill other animals? Predators are guilty of causing suffering, plants are innocent.

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

#573

Post by andy_ppp »

andy_ppp wrote: post #415
the_gastropod wrote: post #296

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I have mixed feelings about Beyond Meat: my wife and I love the hot Italian sausage and burgers, but it is really not that healthy. I totally get this, and have similar feelings. But I try to remind my self what Beyond Meat and Impossible Burger are competing with: meat. They have similar saturated fat profiles to their "real" alternatives. I look at these meat alternatives as mostly beneficial for: 1. Meat eaters…

Why do you guys think saturated fat is bad for you? Certainly when fried it's much much healthier as it doesn't decompose into cancerous aldehydes. The science on this is very tainted so I would be very careful about assumptions here. Are there other things apart from saturated fat you are worried about? [1] https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3t902pqt3C7nGN99hV...

For posterity I'll add in this excellent explanation about why we can't run controlled experiments very easily (in nutrition studies): https://peterattiamd.com/is-red-meat-killing-us/

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

#574

Post by magduf »

shlant wrote: post #548
magduf wrote: post #514

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Plant based diets have been practiced by not insignificant portions of the population beginning in the 6th-century BCE with Buddhism and Hinduism. An estimated 20-40% of India is currently vegetarian. Not sure "fad" is an accurate descriptor. In terms of human history, he's right. 6th-century BCE was not very long ago at all: that's less than a mere 3000 years. Humans have been around for over 2 million years. Also,…

> In terms of human history, he's right. 6th-century BCE was not very long ago at all: that's less than a mere 3000 years. Humans have been around for over 2 million years. 3000 years is certainly long enough to take something out of "fad" status. I would challenge you to find another diet that follows specific rules that has been around for longer. > Also, he's right about the skeletal record: archaeology shows that…

Drinking milk is a Western thing, and not normal in India. Also, vegans don't drink milk at all; they're morally opposed to using animals products like that (eggs too), so they want to eliminate that as a calcium source.

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

#575

Post by Kaiyou »

nkozyra wrote: post #404
Kaiyou wrote: post #377

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How would you survive if everything eadible could scream? Also, not sure why the screaming part is important. Plants are alive, too and they do feel pain. They just can't express this, similar to autists.

> How would you survive if everything eadible could scream? That would certainly change the conversation. But given that there is dubious support for plants "feeling" pain in a sentient way, I don't see much reason to entertain it. That said, my diet is mostly fruit, nuts and seeds anyway.

There's dubious support for animals "feeling" pain in a sentient way, too. I can't see why your empathy stops at plants.

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

#576

Post by Stanish »

F-0X wrote: post #559
Stanish wrote: post #431

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

> In general, cut back on foods and condiments rich in salt, sugar, fats Another way to say this is "eat bland food". Literally. Salt, fats, sugars, and acids, are what make food taste good. These distort your taste palette? These _are_ your taste palette...

Not so. I used the word "rich", which you neglected to consider. Natural food has all these flavors already, in quantities much healthier for you. Additionally, letting go of artificial augmentation opens up a world of subtle flavor that is otherwise masked by the extremes.

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

#577

Post by Stanish »

frabbit wrote: post #531
Stanish wrote: post #431

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

In my opinion, this is a benefit, because over time you learn the seasonal harvests. It becomes quite comforting and fun to have your meals change over time. Additionally you are supporting local farmers who do the important and incredibly difficult work of growing diverse crops to sell direct to communities rather than cash crops for corporate sellers.
Post reply on HN