Eating meat creates four times more greenhouse gases than being vegan, landmark study finds

BlackRose@slrpnk.net to World News@lemmy.world – 681 points –
Eating meat creates four times more greenhouse gases than being vegan, study finds
independent.co.uk
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It's not the eating it really. It's the farming and processing. I think it's important to be clear so consumers aren't stuck with all the blame.we buy what's cheap and available and their pursuit of that has lead us here.

Of course it's the eating, why would they be farming so many animals so intensively if it wasn't for demand? It's a complete abdication of personal responsibility to say that eating meat is ok but farming it isn't. Maybe you can argue that hunting meat is negligible in terms of impact but there's a reason we don't all hunt, there's not enough of a sustainable population of any game animal that would keep the number of meat eaters we have today fed. Factory farming is a requirement for our current level of consumption.

Interesting thought expirament here. What would happen to all the cattle if we entirely stop eating meat? Are we going to kill them all off so they can't repopulate and feast on more greenery thereby releasing more methane and polluting our atmosphere? Will we sterilize them so they can have babies? Will we set them free and allow them to multiply?

The cows aren't running around and breeding freely like deer. We will simply finish eating them without breeding any more. The entire population will be gone within a single generation.

That's a silly statement. Then let's say driving our cars doesn't either. It's the combustion engine processing the gasoline, but turning the wheel and pressing the pedal does nothing

A plant based diet is cheaper, maybe not as available if you eat out or fast food a lot but that comes down to demand.

https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2021-11-11-sustainable-eating-cheaper-and-healthier-oxford-study

Yes and no. If its just got survival, sure. But if someone is eating grazing meat, they're already in luxury eating territory.

So we have to then consider foods such as "fancy" vegan burger patties and stuff. Which are all crazy expensive, at least over here.

If you choose to compare "fancy plant based capitalism" to reconstructed chicken sludge yes. But then I could compare beans to kobe beef?

Most of the plant based meat-like products are aimed towards meat eaters but a normal plant based diet is cheaper in every part of the world. The poorest people eat way more plants not by choice but because they are economical forced to.