My memories of beef and dairy connect seamlessly to childhood memories and to deeply ingrained habits. Eliminating food from cows wasn’t simple, but it also wasn't that difficult.
Thanks for presenting the “cow connection.” I have discontinued using almost all products that come from cows. Dairy products were easy for me because they were difficult to digest. I’ve come to believe that cow’s milk is for baby cows. It has protein that is difficult for many people to process. As you say, there are substitutions for beef these days that are probably healthier for us than cow’s meat. It’s been easier for me to move away from consuming cow products when I consider the health benefits associated with doing so, for us and the environment. There are some good arguments for moving away from a carnivorous diet to a vegan regimen. Doing all of this a little bit at a time is probably the best approach. As the benefits become apparent, the incentive will to do more will increase.
"Doing all of this a little bit at a time is probably the best approach." ... It took me the better part of a decade for me to really switch. First my doctor was talking to me about my cholesterol - and I was against simply taking a manufactured prescription drug instead of first changing my behaviors that increase cholesterol. Yet I found it difficult to change deeply ingrained habits around my diet. I went through a number of marginally successful changes before really changing the habits for what I buy in a grocery store, where I eat out, what I order off a menu, and what I cook at home.
Jim, I’m glad you point out that purity is not the goal. If you reduce your beef intake by 50%, u you reduce your beef-based emissions by 50%. And if the US cut all its GHG emissions by 50%, we would be awesome.
The angle that surprised me is that simply substituting chicken/pork/fish in for all of my beef leads to a significant reduction in emissions--even while eating the same amount of protein from meat. Shifting to less meat reduces emissions further, but the shift away from beef (and lamb) is a larger drop for a typical American diet than the shift away from the rest of the meat. See the graph in an earlier post: https://www.co2mmit.org/p/no-beef-less-meat
As a 20 something, I read the book, Diet For A New America, and stopped eating meat for environmental and ethical reasons. I grew up on a farm in S. IL; my dad raised cows and pigs. I didn’t question until I was drawn to the aforementioned book. So that was more than 30 years ago and engaging folks on this topic has been next to impossible. It was easy for me to quit the diet I’d always known because of the environmental destruction and cruelty of factory farming. For me it was black or white, right or wrong. The simple fact that you have written about and been talking about this subject the way that you do with clarity while sharing your personal take, is so darn great after all these years of wanting it to be given validity by serious people. Thank you!
You clearly align your actions with your values. Thanks. And, thanks for the kind words.
You might also appreciate a recent post by @noahpinion on Substack titled "The way we treat pigs is a sin" at https://substack.com/@noahpinion/p-199946489 A rather powerful additional argument to eat less meat. The OurWorldInData graphic he presents on factory farmed meat by category was surprising to me.
Thanks for presenting the “cow connection.” I have discontinued using almost all products that come from cows. Dairy products were easy for me because they were difficult to digest. I’ve come to believe that cow’s milk is for baby cows. It has protein that is difficult for many people to process. As you say, there are substitutions for beef these days that are probably healthier for us than cow’s meat. It’s been easier for me to move away from consuming cow products when I consider the health benefits associated with doing so, for us and the environment. There are some good arguments for moving away from a carnivorous diet to a vegan regimen. Doing all of this a little bit at a time is probably the best approach. As the benefits become apparent, the incentive will to do more will increase.
"Doing all of this a little bit at a time is probably the best approach." ... It took me the better part of a decade for me to really switch. First my doctor was talking to me about my cholesterol - and I was against simply taking a manufactured prescription drug instead of first changing my behaviors that increase cholesterol. Yet I found it difficult to change deeply ingrained habits around my diet. I went through a number of marginally successful changes before really changing the habits for what I buy in a grocery store, where I eat out, what I order off a menu, and what I cook at home.
We like the non-soy meat alternatives like Beyond Beef. A trick is to brown them enough to bring out the umami flavor.
Jim, I’m glad you point out that purity is not the goal. If you reduce your beef intake by 50%, u you reduce your beef-based emissions by 50%. And if the US cut all its GHG emissions by 50%, we would be awesome.
The angle that surprised me is that simply substituting chicken/pork/fish in for all of my beef leads to a significant reduction in emissions--even while eating the same amount of protein from meat. Shifting to less meat reduces emissions further, but the shift away from beef (and lamb) is a larger drop for a typical American diet than the shift away from the rest of the meat. See the graph in an earlier post: https://www.co2mmit.org/p/no-beef-less-meat
As a 20 something, I read the book, Diet For A New America, and stopped eating meat for environmental and ethical reasons. I grew up on a farm in S. IL; my dad raised cows and pigs. I didn’t question until I was drawn to the aforementioned book. So that was more than 30 years ago and engaging folks on this topic has been next to impossible. It was easy for me to quit the diet I’d always known because of the environmental destruction and cruelty of factory farming. For me it was black or white, right or wrong. The simple fact that you have written about and been talking about this subject the way that you do with clarity while sharing your personal take, is so darn great after all these years of wanting it to be given validity by serious people. Thank you!
You clearly align your actions with your values. Thanks. And, thanks for the kind words.
You might also appreciate a recent post by @noahpinion on Substack titled "The way we treat pigs is a sin" at https://substack.com/@noahpinion/p-199946489 A rather powerful additional argument to eat less meat. The OurWorldInData graphic he presents on factory farmed meat by category was surprising to me.