> indoctrinated to think of meat as a staple food Generally agree, although I think this is slightly the wrong way 'round. Meat was definitely a luxury, as rec

> indoctrinated to think of meat as a staple food Generally agree, although I think this is slightly the wrong way 'round. Meat was definitely a luxury, as recently as a century ago. (Speaking of the U.S. here.) Then we had an explosion of a (relatively) wealthy middle-class, who could afford lots of things that were formerly luxuries. And those things became expected, they became part of the culture, and they became commodified. I don't think there's any nefarious conspiracy, it's classic tragedy of the commons: everybody individually wants steak for dinner; the social price doesn't become clear until much later.