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> For myself, I'm not going to give up the meat I eat once or twice a week because some people across half a continent or half a world can't sit down to eat unl
by seanwilson 6y ago
> For myself, I'm not going to give up the meat I eat once or twice a week because some people across half a continent or half a world can't sit down to eat unless they're served a burger or a steak.
Hmm, meat consumption in Greece has went from 21kg to 72kg per person per year in the last 50 years. The USA is at 124kg, UK is 80kg, France is at 83kg and Spain is at 100kg. That's not a huge difference, and poorer countries want to catch up as they get richer:
https://ourworldindata.org/meat-production https://ourworldindata.org/meat-production
- YeGoblynQueenne 6y agoTrue, meat consumption in Greece has increased in recent years (not least because of the incursion of USA-style fast food like McDonalds) however "As a global average, per capita meat consumption has increased approximately 20 kilograms since 1961" (from your link) so per capita meat consumption has increased in Greece because it has increased everywhere and Greece is still one of the least meat-consuming countries. Also, most meat production in Greece is sheep or goat and pigmeat (data from your link) and not the much more environmentally harmful beef production.
- YeGoblynQueenne 6y agoAlso- Greece went from being one of the poorer European countries to being a relatively well-off country in those 50 years.
- seanwilson 6y ago> Also- Greece went from being one of the poorer European countries to being a relatively well-off country in those 50 years. The problem is, this is a global trend: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-47057341 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-47057341 Who are we to tell e.g. India and China (about 3 billion people in total) to eat less meat as they grow richer?
- YeGoblynQueenne 6y agoWell, I wouldn't. But eating more meat doesn't have to mean intensive farming. Or perhaps it's more complex than what it looks and the reason why Greeks, Indians, Chinese, etc eat more meat as they become more affluent is because their affluence attracts mass industries like industrial farming. In which case it's not a genuine consumer demand to eat more meat but just an effect of there being more of it available and at a cheap price.