4 ms·
> When I was growing up How many people were on this rock then? Was it anywhere near 8 billion people as it is now, or was it a fraction of the number? > it's
by myshpa 3y ago
> When I was growing up
How many people were on this rock then? Was it anywhere near 8 billion people as it is now, or was it a fraction of the number?
> it's definitely more expensive and involved to even temporarily switch
The price of meat and healthy whole foods in the US is heavily distorted by lobying [0] and by subsidies ($38 billion each year to subsidize the meat and dairy industries, but only 0.04 percent of that (i.e., $17 million) each year to subsidize fruits and vegetables) [1].
[0] https://fortune.com/2023/07/21/why-healthy-food-so-expensive-in-america-blame-farm-bill-congress-always-renews-make-burgers-cheaper-salad-gene-baur/ https://fortune.com/2023/07/21/why-healthy-food-so-expensive...
[1] https://scet.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/CopyofFINALSavingThePlanetSustainableMeatAlternatives.pdf https://scet.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/CopyofFINALSavi...
- dgroshev 3y agoFor comparison, US meat market revenue is about $125bn [0] and dairy is about $41bn [1]. Which means a rise in meat prices if subsidies are rebalanced towards veg, but not an orders of magnitude rise. [0] https://www.statista.com/outlook/cmo/food/meat/united-states https://www.statista.com/outlook/cmo/food/meat/united-states [1] https://www.statista.com/statistics/196420/us-farm-income-from-dairy-products-since-2001/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/196420/us-farm-income-fr...
- myshpa 3y ago> a rise in meat prices if subsidies are rebalanced towards veg Good to know ... let's do it then. But those are just the subsidies ... we're still ignoring the negative environmental and health externalities of meat production. What price should we put on that?