But regardless of the emotion around the topic, there are issues that need address in terms of where we’re getting our meat from, how it’s impacting our bodies, and the amount we consume, an amount that has risen by nearly 70lbs per person annually.
Gee, Wally, we sure do eat a lot!
We've added nearly a thousand calories additional calories per day, much of which is meat, and we're topping out over 220 lbs per person annually, and since it's doubtful that this growth is accompanied by any physiological changes or radical changes in activity levels, perhaps it would be good to roll back the clock to a more reasonable time; especially since this growth has contributed to a slew of negative trends in obesity, cancer rates, diabetes rates, ecological disasters and carbon footprint.
Ward, Wally, Beaver, dinner!
A quick adjustment to the 1950s levels could be accomplished with "Meatless Mondays" and an old school Catholic "fish Fridays". Jen will posting some menus and ideas that can make this easy, cheap and delicious.
It's simple, and is something that can have a profound impact on your waistline, budget, and your energy consumption.
Check this out from the New Yorks Times article from Mark Bittman:
“To put the energy-using demand of meat production into easy-to-understand terms, Gidon Eshel, a geophysicist at the Bard Center, and Pamela A. Martin, an assistant professor of geophysics at the University of Chicago, calculated that if Americans were to reduce meat consumption by just 20 percent it would be as if we all switched from a standard sedan — a Camry, say — to the ultra-efficient Prius.
Similarly, a study last year by the National Institute of Livestock and Grassland Science in Japan estimated that 2.2 pounds of beef is responsible for the equivalent amount of carbon dioxide emitted by the average European car every 155 miles, and burns enough energy to light a 100-watt bulb for nearly 20 days.”
And that’s worth celebrating, so let’s party like it’s 19-55.
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