Bye bye MEAT! How will the post-meat future look?

[MrCurry]

Goodbye burgers. Farewell roast lamb. Sayonara moussaka!

In a future in which climate change is actually being addressed, instead of just being talked about, isn’t it inevitable that one of the first changes imposed on our habits will be that meat is off the menu, first for the majority of mealtimes and eventually entirely?

The UN says that energy usage changes are nowhere near enough for countries to meet their net zero carbon goals, drastic changes in land use are needed and that means growing vegetables in place of raising livestock. However unimaginable it may seem to dedicated meat eaters, that seems to makes it inevitable that through pricing or other factors such as social stigma, meat will become first an expensive luxury and then maybe unobtainable to normal people.

Helsinki already announced the city will no longer serve any meat in public events and surely other organisations will soon see this as low hanging fruit to start meeting their carbon reduction obligations.

So if change is inevitable, how will it go? Will McDs and others transition fully to plant based burger alternatives? Will deep fried crickets replace chicken satay sticks at the local Chinese? Will the grandkids of our kids generation consider us savages for having eaten actual animals when their everyday experience shows them how completely unnecessary and profligate it was?

 

[glitch hiker]

Meat is perfectly healthy and provides nutrition vegan diets cannot. It can also be farmed in a healthy way; restoring the land. Deal with industrial factory farming, don't lecture people on what they should eat

 

[JimW]

My smug face beaming at you across a dining table FOREVER

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

I'm sure this thread will go well with calm, reasonable agruments from all sides.

 

[UnderOpenSky]

Meat is perfectly healthy and provides nutrition vegan diets cannot. It can also be farmed in a healthy way; restoring the land. Deal with industrial factory farming, don't lecture people on what they should eat

Well exactly. That fertility has to come from some where. If not from animal products, it will be farmland set aside to grow fertiliser. Or use chemicals.

 

[ddraig]

Meat is perfectly healthy and provides nutrition vegan diets cannot. It can also be farmed in a healthy way; restoring the land. Deal with industrial factory farming, don't lecture people on what they should eat

What nutrition is that then? And where do the animals whose flesh/meat supplies it get the magic nutrients from?

 

[Flavour]

It absolutely needs to happen and very very quickly indeed. Good on Helsinki. The growth in veg/vegan establishments -- at least in "cosmopolitan" cities -- is heartening, and I think vegan options are sort of a given on a lot of menus in the UK at this point. I'd just end all subsidies to farmers who keep large numbers of animals overnight. Fuck 'em.

Yes there will be the usual stuff about the rich still being able to afford it and blah blah blah -- same goes for a lot of stuff. Don't care.

 

[skyscraper101]

Gotta say, I'm into the Beyond Burgers, McPlant Burgers, Vegan Katsu Curries and Veggie Richmond Sausages. If they could keep the plant based meat alternatives as convincing as those things, then I'm all for it.

 

[Sue]

Gotta say, I'm into the Beyond Burgers, McPlant Burgers, Vegan Katsu Curries and Veggie Richmond Sausages. If they could keep the plant based meat alternatives as convincing as those things, then I'm all for it.

See I'm the opposite -- they're way too meat-like for me. If people like them and it encourages them to eat less meat, then that's great though I'm not sure about how much processing and all that goes into them and how environmentally bad that may be?

 

[8ball]

Gotta say, I'm into the Beyond Burgers, McPlant Burgers, Vegan Katsu Curries and Veggie Richmond Sausages. If they could keep the plant based meat alternatives as convincing as those things, then I'm all for it.

Beyond Burgers are good. Not tried the others. Heard good things about the Veggie Richmond Sausages, which surprised me given the state of the meat ones.

 

[8ball]

Meat is perfectly healthy and provides nutrition vegan diets cannot. It can also be farmed in a healthy way; restoring the land. Deal with industrial factory farming, don't lecture people on what they should eat

Yeah, big hit on biodiversity from that kind of farming. Moving to better farming methods would inevitably mean less meat about generally, but hey ho, better than soil erosion, ecosystem collapse etc. Would be a steak just as a special birthday treat, much like not that long ago.

 

[Monkeygrinder's Organ]

Well it's obvious which way this is going to go. I think though that in relation to climate change a debate around the basic philosophy of eating meat or the particular circumstances it might be beneficial are missing the point a bit really because as a society we're about a million miles away from the point where that's really important. Maybe reduce meat eating by 80% or so and then worry about that stuff.

 

[platinumsage]

Poll fail. No option for "I eat meat once or twice a week and see no need to change that".

 

[cybershot]

 

[MrCurry]

Poll fail. No option for "I eat meat once or twice a week and see no need to change that".

You might be interested in the final poll option, if you think carrying on eating once or twice a week is and will always be an option. If things go the way I think they inevitably have to, then even that level of consumption may be unsustainable.

 

[platinumsage]

Yeah, big hit on biodiversity from that kind of farming. Moving to better farming methods would inevitably mean less meat about generally, but hey ho, better than soil erosion, ecosystem collapse etc. Would be a steak just as a special birthday treat, much like not that long ago.

Meat for the wealthy, or for special occasions, like champagne.

 

[platinumsage]

You might be interested in the final poll option, if you think carrying on eating once or twice a week is and will always be an option. If things go the way I think they inevitably have to, then even that level of consumption may be unsustainable.

I think that's loonspud territory.

 

[Voley]

Poll fail. No option for "I eat meat once or twice a week and see no need to change that".

That's where I am too. Used to eat meat daily but pretty happy with the changes I've made.

 

[souljacker]

Will I be allowed to have a small holding and keep pigs and chickens to slaughter myself?

 

[CNT36]

Will I be allowed to have a small holding and keep pigs and chickens to slaughter myself?

For kicks yes. For dinner no.

 

[UnderOpenSky]

Will I be allowed to have a small holding and keep pigs and chickens to slaughter myself?

It's the natural way. You've got to make your own black pudding though.

 

[CNT36]

We will have shit farms producing a bit of meat as a bonus rather than meat//dairy farms with shit as a bonus.

 

[UnderOpenSky]

We will have shit farms producing a bit of meat as a bonus rather than meat//dairy farms with shit as a bonus.

This is actually sort of correct.

 

[souljacker]

It's the natural way. You've got to make your own black pudding though.

No problem with that. I don't want to waste any of the animal.

 

[CNT36]

Or just have more festivals.

 

[Aladdin]

Firstly.. I eat red meat maybe once a week.
Secondly chicken will still be on the menu.

Beyond that?

I think meat will be a staple for a lot of people who dont live in sunny climates where fruit and veg grow easily and plentifully for a long time yet.

And finally... I don't think we will be able to stop global warming. Even if every cow on the planet died tomorrow and every car stopped working.

 

[glitch hiker]

What nutrition is that then? And where do the animals whose flesh/meat supplies it get the magic nutrients from?

a) vitamins, essential fatty acids, complete proteins, all in optimal form for human consumption. Nature is elegant and provides us with what we need and what we know to be beneficial for us. I think that is reassuring and humbling.
b) they produce it metabolically. Cows eat grass which helps produce nutrient rich meats and organs. No magic required

 

[glitch hiker]

It absolutely needs to happen and very very quickly indeed. Good on Helsinki. The growth in veg/vegan establishments -- at least in "cosmopolitan" cities -- is heartening, and I think vegan options are sort of a given on a lot of menus in the UK at this point. I'd just end all subsidies to farmers who keep large numbers of animals overnight. Fuck 'em.

Yes there will be the usual stuff about the rich still being able to afford it and blah blah blah -- same goes for a lot of stuff. Don't care.

What about people who can't maintain health on so restrictive a diet?

Yeah, big hit on biodiversity from that kind of farming. Moving to better farming methods would inevitably mean less meat about generally, but hey ho, better than soil erosion, ecosystem collapse etc. Would be a steak just as a special birthday treat, much like not that long ago.

To meet people's needs we'd need more space if you aren't eating meat because plants are less nutritionally dense. Soil erosion is much more likely when plant agriculture is the focus rather than including livestock. Steak may have been a treat, but that's a particular cut of meat. We could include way more parts of the animal, be less wasteful that way, include more offal which is extremely good for us.

 

[8ball]

What about people who can't maintain health on so restrictive a diet?

Omelettes, eggs, yada yada...

 

[ddraig]

a) vitamins, essential fatty acids, complete proteins, all in optimal form for human consumption. Nature is elegant and provides us with what we need and what we know to be beneficial for us. I think that is reassuring and humbling.
b) they produce it metabolically. Cows eat grass which helps produce nutrient rich meats and organs. No magic required

Are you saying that they can't be got without meat then? Are vegans less healthier than you?