Climate Change/Mass Extinction Megathread

[ulmont]

I do like Beyond Burgers. I'll fry them up and eat them without a bun.
But no one else in the family likes them, so I don't buy them often.

I think Impossible burgers are better than Beyond Burgers; you should give them a shot and maybe let the family taste.

[HisMajestyBOB]

I'll give them a shot, thanks for the recommendation

[Josquius]

In the local paper an amazing story- "These local beaches could be under water if sea levels rise".
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erm.....
If sea levels rise....surely more note worthy will be any beaches that avoid being under water?

[The Brain]

There's probably some artificial beach in Westminster that will be unaffected.

[viper37]

Reducing the amount of cattle grown for consumption will be hardder unless we make major progress on lab grown meat.

The stuff we have now in terms of vegan alternatives - Beyond Meat etc is pretty incredible.

while producing less CO2 and methane, it's also detrimental to the environment, and your health too.  Not a viable alternative, sorry.

If you want to go vegan to tackle climate change, then you should avoid anything that countains soy if you also care about the rest of the environment.

[Neil]

Reducing the amount of cattle grown for consumption will be hardder unless we make major progress on lab grown meat.

The stuff we have now in terms of vegan alternatives - Beyond Meat etc is pretty incredible.

while producing less CO2 and methane, it's also detrimental to the environment, and your health too.  Not a viable alternative, sorry.

If you want to go vegan to tackle climate change, then you should avoid anything that countains soy if you also care about the rest of the environment.

It could be a question of degree.  All human activities are detrimental to the environment.  The question is, are these products am overall improvement in our attempts to manage the environmental effects of our lifestyles? 

Don't let perfection become the enemy of improvement. 

[grumbler]

Reducing the amount of cattle grown for consumption will be hardder unless we make major progress on lab grown meat.

The stuff we have now in terms of vegan alternatives - Beyond Meat etc is pretty incredible.

while producing less CO2 and methane, it's also detrimental to the environment, and your health too.  Not a viable alternative, sorry.

If you want to go vegan to tackle climate change, then you should avoid anything that countains soy if you also care about the rest of the environment.

It could be a question of degree.  All human activities are detrimental to the environment.  The question is, are these products am overall improvement in our attempts to manage the environmental effects of our lifestyles? 

Don't let perfection become the enemy of improvement.

Soybeans are, in fact, one of the least-detrimental crops, since soy plants need little in the way of fertilizers or pesticides, and add nitrogen back into the soil so are excellent in rotation with other crops.  The growth in production of soy has had a detrimental impact on the environment in Brazil, but that's because of poor land planning and the demand for soy as animal feed.  Humans consume only 12% of the soybeans grown, animals consume 75% (the rest is used in biodiesel and soy oils).

So, if you want to go vegan to tackle climate change, then you should prefer anything that contains soy if you also care about the rest of the environment.  You should also encourage genetic modifications to soybean plants to increase yield to meet demand, since the plants are generally unresponsive to fertilizers and the only current way to increase production is to increase land devoted to it.  Reducing demand for beef would also help reduce demand for soy.

[viper37]

Reducing the amount of cattle grown for consumption will be hardder unless we make major progress on lab grown meat.

The stuff we have now in terms of vegan alternatives - Beyond Meat etc is pretty incredible.

while producing less CO2 and methane, it's also detrimental to the environment, and your health too.  Not a viable alternative, sorry.

If you want to go vegan to tackle climate change, then you should avoid anything that countains soy if you also care about the rest of the environment.

It could be a question of degree.  All human activities are detrimental to the environment.  The question is, are these products am overall improvement in our attempts to manage the environmental effects of our lifestyles? 

Don't let perfection become the enemy of improvement. 

Monocultures and soil impoverishment are a huge issue with soy.  As is water consumption, it requires more water than other type of cultures.  Granted, right now, most of the soy we produce (85%) is for animal consumption.  But if we massively start shifting toward this, we will simply replace the one for animal consumption with human consumption with the same results.

Beans and grains are good.  Soy tastes like shit, so Beyond meat&all add a fuckton of salt in their products, which makes them just as bad for your health as a regular burger.

Anyway.  I don't fret too much over my own meat consumption.  I'll certainly not replace it with Beyond meat stuff, but I'm doing a huge effort to integrate more non animal proteins in my diet.

[Zanza]

I think lab grown meat will become viable within the next years and will be a game changer.

[Neil]

Monocultures and soil impoverishment are a huge issue with soy.  As is water consumption, it requires more water than other type of cultures.  Granted, right now, most of the soy we produce (85%) is for animal consumption.  But if we massively start shifting toward this, we will simply replace the one for animal consumption with human consumption with the same results.

Sure, but those issues can be managed.  Ultimately, people have to eat something, so which is less harmful? 

Beans and grains are good.  Soy tastes like shit, so Beyond meat&all add a fuckton of salt in their products, which makes them just as bad for your health as a regular burger.

Just like all heavily-processed foods.  Honestly, I don't think that the health nuts who are super conscious of what they eat are the market for that product. 

[Neil]

I think lab grown meat will become viable within the next years and will be a game changer.

Maybe.  They've been saying 'next few years' for quite a while now.  I'm starting to think that there costs that will hold it back.  Not to mention the problems it'll have with acceptance.  'Bill Gates put a microchip in your steak!' or maybe some anti-GMO screed, only with meat. 

[The Brain]

AFAIK artificial meat still requires more resources to make than plant-based food.

[Valmy]

AFAIK artificial meat still requires more resources to make than plant-based food.

Isn't artificial meat plant based food?

[The Brain]

AFAIK artificial meat still requires more resources to make than plant-based food.

Isn't artificial meat plant based food?

Elaborate.

[Tamas]

AFAIK artificial meat still requires more resources to make than plant-based food.

Isn't artificial meat plant based food?

He did not mean the mushrooms processed to look like meat so vegans don't have to deny themselves the chance to make Instagram posts of their food orders.

He meant actual lab-grown meat.