4 ms·

Third world countries with starving children aren't going to turn down mostly vegetarian food. It's actually a good opportunity to create a larger market for ve

• pjc50 11y ago
  In the third world, meat is going to be an aspirational good. It's also more likely to be locally produced from your own or neighbour's animals.
• adrianN 11y ago
  Passing laws that prohibit factory farming of animals and thus raising the price of meat quite a bit would probably go a long way.
  • latch 11y ago
    From a pure market point of view, I'd prefer they got rid of subsidies (direct and indirect) first.
  • zaphar 11y ago
    You have a catch-22 though. Such a law is probably politically untenable. Due to lobbying and the simple fact that Americans love their meat. In order to pass you you probably have to win a culture war first.
    • hga 11y ago
      And one should think twice about engaging in a war, cultural or other, with the people who supply your food. There are many ugly ways that could end very poorly.
• dspillett 11y ago
  > First World countries are another matter though. Meat is often a staple. Heck, some consider it a God given right rather than just a staple! Meat in some places is considered a status symbol: being able to afford the biggest and/or the best quality steak being a sign of wealth and therefore success. This is one of the reasons why meat consumption in some eastern countries which previously had a much more veg/fruit/carb optimised diet is shooting up: partly because the overall price of meat is falling relative to their earnings so they can afford more of it more often, and partly because of certain western influences spreading the status symbol thing making people want it more than they otherwise might. I eat quite a lot of meat (mainly chicken as it a relatively lean and inexpensive protein source) for four reasons: 1. I like it. 2. I'm told that we process most animal-sourced protein (including eggs and the whey that comes from milk production and ends up in the bars I have to refuel after a a long run or gym session) more effectively than that which comes to us in vegetable matter. 3. Many of the non-animal protein sources, if I eat them in larger quantities, go straight through me like a dose of salts which limits their use as a source of nutrition. 4. I really like it, particularly the varieties that come from pigs.
  • agentultra 11y ago
    What if 6+ billion people around the world had access to the same dietary choices you're able to make tomorrow? We want people to be able to make those choices. How can we if our expectations are to have a meat product be included in every meal? My intuition says that it's rather difficult to raise that many chickens.