Will you change your diet because of Climate Change?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-34899066

The livestock sector produces about 15% of global greenhouse gases, roughly equivalent to all the exhaust emissions of every car, train, ship and aircraft on the planet.
A new report from the think tank Chatham House, Changing Climate, Changing Diets: Pathways to Lower Meat Consumption, argues that without concerted action to address over-consumption of meat, it will be near impossible to prevent global warming from passing the danger level of 2C.

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So it seems like one of the next steps in the effort to prevent carbon emissions is to get the world to eat less meat, and its argued that the public at large will accept this if the facts are adequately explained to them from politicians and the media.

...I'm less than convinced. Choice of food is one of the most personal of choices a person has, and I'll strongly resist government interference in it.

There are many other less personally intrusive ways of lowering emissions, and other ways of counteracting climate change.


That said I'm all for eating more vegetables, but not vegetarian (or god forbid, vegan) dishes - as the article suggests - as there are very few I enjoy. Instead I'd prefer to just eat more and a wider variety of veggies, but this is difficult for other reasons. For example, we wanted to get some white radish recently, but found it simply doesn't exist in our supermarkets nearby (Tesco, Sainsburys, Waitrose, M&S). Veg-heavy and tasty recipes are also fairly hard to find...


TL;DR: Don't stop me eating bacon.

The meat industry is unsustainble in the long term. Too much pollution too many resources used for it. I predict we will switch to artificial meat and insects to satisfy our protein need within a century.

Nope there should be less people not less bacon!

Judgeneo said:

So it seems like one of the next steps in the effort to prevent carbon emissions is to get the world to eat less meat, and its argued that the public at large will accept this if the facts are adequately explained to them from politicians and the media.

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I look forward to how they're going to spin this one. "If you eat meat you're a terrorist pedophile".

All protein derrived from meat and meat related products can be replaced with an ample supply of bananas.


Anyway, would I change? If it became too expensive to put meat on the table, then yes I think I would. As it is we already eat less than we did say 2-3 years ago, definitely eating less beef these days. Chicken when it's on offer as it's outrageously expensive. Also we tend to buy cheaper cuts and cook low and slow too.

The biggest problem I have and that you've eluded to is keeping a good supply of fresh veg. Our local Tesco mini jobber has a terrible fruit and veg section that's often empty, and our local Waitrose hasn't got the best track record for produce longevity, quality or cost.

As far as tasty recipes go, taking a leaf out of Innocent's (Now Bol) Veg Pot ranges is a good start. http://www.bolfoods.com/products/

Soylent Green is people!

Judgeneo said:

...I'm less than convinced. Choice of food is one of the most personal of choices a person has, and I'll strongly resist government interference in it.

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You're already being actively influenced. VAT on certain "luxury" items, duty on alcohol which might soon give way to minimum alcohol pricing, proposed taxes on sugary items to influence people to buy a certain way.

That's before you get to more macro-level steering like EU subsidies to make farmers prefer growing certain crops over others, etc.

All it would take to drop the consumption of pollution-causing meat would be to make those products that contain it to be VATable, and then attract duty and then slowly increase that duty over time. Make it expensive relative to the alternatives and turn it back into the luxury that it was a generation or two ago.

I love red meat, I really do - especially beef and I think well over 90% of the meals I eat contains meat of some description and I'd be loathed to give it up - but if there's a very strong scientific case that doing so is best for the long-term then I wouldn't mind reducing it a bit.

That said, I think the claims for climate change generally are based on incredibly shaky science.

I agree with what Zethor says about the meat industry, as it is, being unsustainable. To add to that, I think that our attitudes towards food in general are unsustainable. We waste monumental quantities of food in this country which would be shameful even if there weren't people starving around the world.

To answer Judgeneo's question, yes, I think I would change my diet. I already have made big changes to my diet over the last six months eating only 1kg to 1.5kg of meat, mostly chicken, per month. Although that change was down to personal preference, rather than fears relating to climate change, I am considering vegetarianism and climate change will hopefully make that decision a little easier.

I think we should make an effort to go back to the way we used to treat meat in the years after the Second World War. Meat wasn't eaten every day and when it was you would make sure that you used every part of the animal so as to reduce waste.

Lab grown beef will be available in next few years. Seems a good solution for burger chains and so on. I would rather have great meat rarely rather than mass produced all the time.

Why don't they start inspiring people by serving a vegan only menu at the next climate change conference?

I'm sure the politicians will still turn up without Lobster, Venison etc.

No chance. I'm more likely to start raising my own livestock than giving up.

Will I change my diet because of climate change = NO

omg Venison cheese burgers are sooo good

maybe when all these corrupt/conspiracy car makers stop fiddling their emission figures pollution may drop a bit?

answering the OP's Q, yeah i'm flexible.

I'd rather drop our population to let fewer enjoy bacon and beef and good healthcare and all those other things than resort to crawling in megaslums fighting over witchety grubs.

And yes, that does mean i'm prepared to not have children to let this happen.

I'm sure they'll just slap a tax on it... Along with sugar and whatever else.

I'm looking forward to the threads about vegetable tax - "People cannot afford to eat sugary foods or meaty foods, so in turning veggie we're now stinking the planet out with Brussel Sprout farts and so the government is now taxing it"!!

As long as we still have bacon, I don't give a toss.

you can have vegi bacon

I'd look to reduce meat consumption but I'd probably not go veggie or vegan - I eat a lot of fish as it is tbh.. (though did have a big portion of beef today).

Frankly if we get rid of cheap mass produced meat and turn it into a luxury item we'd not only be doing the environment a favour but also our native population of benefits wallahs reliant on takeaways and frozen ready meals for their diets might be forced into healthier eating.

dunker said:

you can have vegi bacon

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Wash your mouth out young man!

i dunno, if 10? ppl stopped eating cow would 10 ppl eating more veg fart as much as 1 cow? cows are like serious fart machines, reckon methane levels would be less with human sprout farts.

Second thoughts maybe not .