Have you ever
thought there is a connection between diet and climate change? Does meat
consumption influence global warming?
According to a BBC
News, “Can eating less meat help reduce climate change?”, our appetite for
meet is a major driver of climate change and global meat consumption has
already reached unhealthy levels.
We know that
processed meat, including bacon, sausages, hot dogs, salami and beef jerky as
well as canned and meat-based sauces, are very likely to cause cancer. The
World Health Organization (WHO) is very sure about this. Some specialist has
proved that red meats are also “probably carcinogenic” but there is limited
evidence. So should we avoid eating meat to keep health and to slower global warming?
Personally speaking,
I think we should cut down rather than give up red and processed meats. Avoiding
meat is not an appropriate strategy against cancer and the focus should be
alcohol, smoking and body weight. It is better to avoid processed meat and eat
less red meet. Meat can provide us much protein, B vitamin, mineral, as well as
other nutrition. We should always eats some meat for healthy benefits. Eating
some lean meat, like beef, chicken, rather than fat, is a good choice both for
body shape and healthy diet. We should also eat more fruits and vegetables to
take in enough fiber. Exercise is essential to keep us physically active though
out life.
So what’s your
opinion? Would you like to make any change about your diet habits?
Reference
Laura w., (November 24, 2015). Can eating less meat
help reduce climate change? BBC News. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-34899066
Once I first heard about the official announcement from WHO, I was a bit confused and feel pathetic about the consumers, like us. Because this is not a new issue, it have been there all the time but somebody have been trying hard to hide the truth from us and, and that is the meat companies. I heard how they have lobbied the congress not to pass the law on processed meat restriction. It is quite a shame of us living in the world under fabrication.
ReplyDeleteI like bacon, sausages and salami, but I do not eat them often. So I do not think this processed meat can be a substantial factor to increase the risk of cancer for me. However, what I am aware the most is vegetables that are contaminated with pesticides and herbicides. These chemicals are very dangerous and commonly used in farming in Thailand.
ReplyDeleteThe evidence is strong that meat is a major contributor to global warming as well as being unhealthy in large amounts. Although I agree with Ning that cutting down is preferable to giving up meat, I also think we must be honest about what this means. We do not need to eat meat to be healthy; we eat it because we love the taste.
ReplyDeleteThat is, we kill other animals, a lot of them, for no better reason than that we like the taste of their cooked up muscles, kidneys, livers and other tasty bits. If we eat meat that we do not need to eat, we have to accept that we think it's morally OK to kill to satisfy a lust for tasty food.
In contrast, as Tan's latest blog post, "Turning mosquitoes harmless," points out, we have much stronger reasons for killing mosquitoes - we have to kill them to protect ourselves from deadly diseases, so in self-defence, there can be no moral problem with these killings, although as Tan's post notes, genetic modification might soon provide far more effective solution.
And if we think it is OK to kill other animals because we love their taste with a nice bottle of red wine, or with a large Pepsi (yuck), what do we think makes all this killing OK? And as I've suggested before, do we have any good reason for treating human animals differently to the way we treat porky, beefy, finned or feathered animals when it comes to mass killing to satisfy a carnal appetite for flesh?