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But that needs changes that are much harder to achieve: cultural and behavioral change.

ma2rten 6y ago
I think how hard those things are depends on the timespan. Our current massive meat consumption is a relatively recent phenomenon, which is only made possible by factory farming.
yabudemada 6y ago
Not very hard actually—those who eat lots of meat and dairy have plenty of health issues. A change brought to you in part by natural selection. EDIT: For the downvoters: https://nutritionstudies.org/the-china-study/ https://nutritionstudies.org/the-china-study/ Just one example...
- hirundo 6y ago
  I find these critiques effective: https://deniseminger.com/the-china-study/ https://deniseminger.com/the-china-study/ Natural selection seems to have selected us from ancestors that mostly followed herds of ruminants around and ate them in place of vegetation that we can't digest.
  - yabudemada 6y ago
    Absolutely—but they didn't factory farm and the herds of animals were healthy and in their natural habitat. The grand scope of agricultural waste is pretty disgusting. Just look at North Carolina: https://www.ehn.org/hurricane-florence-floods-north-carolina-hog-farms-2606610607.html https://www.ehn.org/hurricane-florence-floods-north-carolina... Now imagine there was no hog farms and it was all regular plant crops and/or vegetation.
- ericra 6y ago
  Before your edit, I assumed you were not being serious. Regardless of the claim that meat and dairy cause health issues... Bad diets generally do not make people die during the period where they are able to have children. Natural selection has very little effect. Even if it did, the time period it would take for these effects to matter is significantly longer than most people care about when confronting the climate crisis that requires immediate action.
tda 6y ago
But not impossible! Just look at the COVID response. Massive and sudden cultural/behavioral change is actually more achievable than I would have thought last year, as long as the sense of urgency is sufficient.

I think how hard those things are depends on the timespan. Our current massive meat consumption is a relatively recent phenomenon, which is only made possible by factory farming.

yabudemada 6y ago

Not very hard actually—those who eat lots of meat and dairy have plenty of health issues. A change brought to you in part by natural selection. EDIT: For the downvoters: https://nutritionstudies.org/the-china-study/ https://nutritionstudies.org/the-china-study/ Just one example...

hirundo 6y ago
I find these critiques effective: https://deniseminger.com/the-china-study/ https://deniseminger.com/the-china-study/ Natural selection seems to have selected us from ancestors that mostly followed herds of ruminants around and ate them in place of vegetation that we can't digest.
- yabudemada 6y ago
  Absolutely—but they didn't factory farm and the herds of animals were healthy and in their natural habitat. The grand scope of agricultural waste is pretty disgusting. Just look at North Carolina: https://www.ehn.org/hurricane-florence-floods-north-carolina-hog-farms-2606610607.html https://www.ehn.org/hurricane-florence-floods-north-carolina... Now imagine there was no hog farms and it was all regular plant crops and/or vegetation.
ericra 6y ago
Before your edit, I assumed you were not being serious. Regardless of the claim that meat and dairy cause health issues... Bad diets generally do not make people die during the period where they are able to have children. Natural selection has very little effect. Even if it did, the time period it would take for these effects to matter is significantly longer than most people care about when confronting the climate crisis that requires immediate action.

tda 6y ago

But not impossible! Just look at the COVID response. Massive and sudden cultural/behavioral change is actually more achievable than I would have thought last year, as long as the sense of urgency is sufficient.