Comments on Crunchy Chicken: Cut the meat to curb global warming

I think that if government is taking global warmin...

2009-02-15T18:56:00.000-08:00

I think that if government is taking global warming seriously, they should take seriously the impact of meat! But unfortunately this is not the case. More people need to be comfortable with the idea of eating less meat before more of our politicians feel comfortable with it too.

But I love bacon.... and sausage... I know its bad...

2009-02-13T13:41:00.000-08:00

But I love bacon.... and sausage... I know its bad buts its sooooooo good...

2009-02-09T10:35:00.000-08:00

This comment has been removed by the author.

I stopped eating meat (and drastically reduced fis...

2009-02-09T10:34:00.000-08:00

I stopped eating meat (and drastically reduced fish) almost two years ago. I didn't do it because I think eating meat is wrong. I did it because of the reasons you outlined as well as the environmentally irresponsible commercial farming. My husband still eats meat (less than before) and I make sure I buy organic and buffalo meat whenever I do buy it. On a personal level, I feel SO much better not eating meat. It has made me reevaluate my diet and eat even more fruits and veggies. I hope we can all do our part and if not eliminate, at least reduce our meat intake. By the way, I also drive a hybrid, it's pretty funny/sad to how minimal its positive impact is comparated to diet choices. Thanks for the post!

I agree with Jodi A-B. The idea that everybody sho...

2009-02-09T09:27:00.000-08:00

I agree with Jodi A-B. The idea that everybody should eat the same way is silly. There are a lot of countries that do not have the available land in order to support an entirely vegetarian population. In marginal lands, lands with extreme climates etc., meat (responsibly grown/hunted meat) makes sense and, I bet, has a heck less of an environmental impact then something shipped in from who knows where.

Eating locally and vegetarian when there is three feet of snow on the ground for months takes a lot of preparation and I don't think that most folks have the skills, time or are up to it. It's a lot of work. We ate peach pie last night because I had the foresight last August to make peach pie filling when the peaches were ripe. In our culture today, very few people think that way. So what do they do in the winter when it's a choice between california veg, asian soy, or local chicken?

We eat a lot of local veg and fruits in the summer and fall, in winter our veg and fruit intake is less- limited to what I have canned/frozen or what I can still get around here (apples, pears, potatoes, carrots, onions, cabbage.) We eat more meat in winter, it just makes sense to us.

That being said, we don't eat beef or seafood, we eat pork and chicken a few times a week (always local, and when we can afford it- organic), eggs come from the girls at the bottom of the garden and milk is from regional dairies.

Having tried to go vegetarian several times and fe...

2009-02-09T07:07:00.000-08:00

Having tried to go vegetarian several times and feeling pretty miserable every single time, I don't think it's for me physically speaking. Let's face it, my ancestors were hardcore mammoth hunters and foragers rather than Mediterranean farmer folk.

Still, I have cut way back on the meat and red meat is pretty much out except for special occasions. I've been studying Walter Willett's food pyramid, which seems well-backed by research, so that's what we're trying to follow in our home. We have two chickens, so healthy eggs are readily available from animals we know are well-treated (spoiled rotten, really!). We live in Florida, so fish is local and responsibly caught by people we know. Beyond that, we do our best to keep the meat to a dull roar in our meals. That's good enough for us.

Actually, I do not believe those statistics. I be...

2009-02-09T06:00:00.000-08:00

Actually, I do not believe those statistics. I believe they apply to CAFO beef, fed and sickened for 6 months on intensively farmed corn and soybeans.

And there is more to saving the planet than a narrow focus on methane. How do pescetarians justify their choices? Every major fish stock in the ocean is endangered, some critically so. If everyone in the country stopped eating beef (not endangered) and started eating fish, how long would those fish stocks last? A year? Pescetarians are contributing to massive marine extinctions by their food choices.

I still believe eating a modest amount of grass-fed and grass-finished beef is an ethical and healthy choice.

Since the beginning of the year, our family of two...

2009-02-09T04:39:00.000-08:00

Since the beginning of the year, our family of two has tried to convert his diet to a simpler, more organic one. We've had several successes, like having taken the habit to go to the organic part of the supermarket first, or ordering regularly organic vegetables. I must say all of this was from my impulse, and my hon obliged quite easily. This, until I started to speak about reducing our meat intake. No reason has been heard by this meateater, and I've had the "big eyes" (aka the "we'll go to the organic store until your heart content, but don't touch to my beef !" look).
Well.
I'm trying to reduce anyway, and it worked a little, but I don't think we'll become vegans before the next decade... :o)

I find the meat free topic very interesting.
I ...

2009-02-08T19:48:00.000-08:00

I find the meat free topic very interesting.
I don't eat meat/animal products for breakfast or lunch, but do at dinner.
Both my husband and my daughter gladly eat meat (I buy local and organic).

I refuse to eat soy "products"...it makes no sense to eat "food products" instead of food imo.
If you're going to eat soy products grown in Brazil, flown to NA to be processed and packaged and then shipped to wherever you live...you might as well have a local chicken..just my 2 cents though.

I like to think that the fact that I don't drive at all, and eat a local/organic diet offsets the animal products...
I tried for a VERY short period doing a vegetarian diet w/o soy and all local...it sucked.
I found local beans...but there are no rice growers that I could find in Vancouver...
if anyone from BC or WA has any recommendations I'd love them though!!

I do argue with myself again and again on this iss...

2009-02-08T15:22:00.000-08:00

I do argue with myself again and again on this issue. I eat a 95% veggie diet. Once every other month or so, I eat meat--usually when I'm in the US...surprise, surprise.

I aim to make it free range and local, if possible. I do think that meat will have a place in our society if we live sustainably, but it will go back to being a once-in-a-while thing.

I think pasture-raised beef is great to improve biodiversity, encourage local business, keep my food miles short, etc (something that my lentils can't always do), but the methane does worry me.

Once my £2 a day challenge is over, I might get myself some local lamb. Ethical meat does NOT fit into this challenge--we're now eating a mostly vegan diet.

Ultimately, waste, Carbon dioxide production, ozon...

2009-02-08T10:42:00.000-08:00

Ultimately, waste, Carbon dioxide production, ozone gases, you name it are the result of people. people cause polution. ues some produce more than others and if we all cut down then, yes less polution, but think about it: unless you sit in a corner all day and vegetate, you're poluting!! the answer: kill people. yes, if each and every one of us can go out among the crowds and kill just one person, we could reduce polution to near zero levels. Start a kill thy neighbor program, or do a drive bye bye...run over someone today.

Two of my daughters and their SO's and children ar...

2009-02-08T09:13:00.000-08:00

Two of my daughters and their SO's and children are vegan. My husband and I have cut our meat consumption to just two meals per week, fish two meals and the rest of our meals are vegetarian. There are local beef and chicken suppliers that we have tried. It really isn't difficult and it is so much more healthful for you and the environment.

I haven't eaten meat in over 25 years. My daughter...

2009-02-08T04:56:00.000-08:00

I haven't eaten meat in over 25 years. My daughter has never had meat in all 16 years of her life and thinks the idea of eating animals is revolting. We all live perfectly normal, healthy lives and haven't died from lack of protein. Crazy, eh? Ha ha. I'm visiting your blog for the first time via Experiements in Efficiency. I love it! Love it!

My meat intake varies wildly. Sometimes I can go w...

2009-02-08T04:31:00.000-08:00

My meat intake varies wildly. Sometimes I can go weeks at a time without eating any meat, and then other times I'll eat meat 3-4 meals in one week.

Mostly I try to eliminate meat to reduce the acne breakouts I get that seem to erupt when I do eat meat, oh, and to reduce the overall expense of groceries. I've tried to drastically reduce my intake of fish due to concern over overfishing, etc. Once a year I'll go to Red Lobster and feast on seafood, just to keep an appreciation for what the oceans do provide us all.

1800 miles/year = 36 miles/week, which means that,...

2009-02-08T01:16:00.000-08:00

1800 miles/year = 36 miles/week, which means that, for most people, carpooling ONCE per week would have the same impact as eliminating all of the meat from their diet. The average car, BTW, gets driven ~5x that much during a year. Nice blog.

We haven't eaten beef since my oldest was born 4.5...

2009-02-07T22:20:00.000-08:00

We haven't eaten beef since my oldest was born 4.5 years ago. We don't miss it. And I usually cook vegetarian a couple of times a week. I was walking through the meat section of the grocery store last week and just appalled at the amount of dead animals on display just so we could have the privilege as a society of having meat at a whim. It was really sad. And really gross.

My answer, as usual, will be the unpopular one her...

2009-02-07T22:03:00.000-08:00

My answer, as usual, will be the unpopular one here. But, I would guess, is the answer of more mainstream Americans.

My family eats lots of meat. We eat it at least 5 days a week at dinner, and probably 4 days a week at lunch too (lunchmeats, bacon, etc). Why? We LIKE meat. Also, it's protein. We eat fish, chicken, beef, and pork. We also try to eat peanuts and peanut butter and beans at least once a week so that we can have a meatless meal.

Unfortunately I think that there is still a stigma attached to meatless meals if you're not a vegetarian. I am not a veg. and when I prepare meatless meals my husband is like, "What's wrong? Can't we afford meat?"

I do not waste meat. I have really been trying hard to do the food waste reduction challenge (my first one I didn't peter out on). However, we have a tight family budget, so we have to enjoy our meat the inexpensive way: mass-produced, probably most eco-harmful way.

Also, I have to just say this one time only and I won't revisit it again: I believe in being responsible for the planet God gave us. I believe in using resources wisely and respectfully. However, I am not overly concerned about what the planet will look like 200 or 500 or 900 years from now. I will be gone, into a better place. I will be sad if the planet looks like it did on Wall-E, but I trust that God will provide the resources for people to deal with all of that (knowledge, technology, natural resources, etc.) I know this is not a popular opinion, but it may help some people understand why there are folks out there who aren't trying to sustain their livelihood off of 4 golf-cart batteries. LOL

My family of four eats less than 10 pounds of meat...

2009-02-07T18:15:00.000-08:00

My family of four eats less than 10 pounds of meat a month, total. The 10 pounds we do eat comes from 100% local grass finished beef.

We eat locally raised grass-fed beef. Of course, w...

2009-02-07T15:59:00.000-08:00

We eat locally raised grass-fed beef. Of course, we live in eastern Kansas and there are lots of ranches around, so that makes it easier to get. And we also eat beef only two or three times a week.

The rancher who raises the beef we buy also raises bison. Good stuff.

We eat 2 oz or less per person per week. I justify...

2009-02-07T12:18:00.000-08:00

We eat 2 oz or less per person per week. I justify it becuase I'm supporting local, organic chicken and turkey farmers. If it gets to expensive, then it's just more beans and spuds.

MEA

Thank you for raising awareness about how bad meat...

2009-02-06T22:26:00.000-08:00

Thank you for raising awareness about how bad meat production is for the environment. Reducing our meat consumption is such an important step we could all be taking to help solve global warming, but I think most people are simply unaware of it. I love your blog and look up to you as an environmentalist. :)

p.s. to address today's hot topic: I'm "vegan at h...

2009-02-06T20:59:00.000-08:00

p.s. to address today's hot topic: I'm "vegan at home," meaning that the vast majority of what I eat is vegan (at least %90), whole foods, made from scratch. But I don't impose on others, and when I'm out and about I'm not super restricted. But really I mostly eat at home. So it's still pretty good.

dear crunchy.

I really like you. I've been...

2009-02-06T20:52:00.000-08:00

dear crunchy.

I really like you. I've been reading you for almost two years. somewhat religiously.

but for some reason I can't handle your current profile pic. so very cheesy late seventies. and the way you pretty much only go after the most controversial topics. comment fishing much?

it gets on my nerves. i'm just saying. I feel like I should be honest with you.

I do like you a lot.

I thought/think having fewer children (i.e. ideall...

2009-02-06T20:34:00.000-08:00

I thought/think having fewer children (i.e. ideally 0-2) is the best way to curb global warming.

what? potatoes are 57 times worse for the environm...

2009-02-06T17:56:00.000-08:00

what? potatoes are 57 times worse for the environment than beef? hanh?