How a mere 12% of Americans eat half the nation's beef, creating significant health and environmenta

[hunter]

A new study has found that 12% of Americans are responsible for eating half of all beef consumed on a given day, a finding that may help consumer groups and government agencies craft educational messaging around the negative health and environmental impacts of beef consumption.

Those 12%—most likely to be men or people between the ages of 50 and 65—eat what researchers called a disproportionate amount of beef on a given day, a distinction based on the latest Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which suggest four ounces per day of meat, poultry, and eggs combined for those consuming 2,200 calories per day.

The study, published in the journal Nutrients, analyzed data from the CDC's National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, which tracked the meals of more than 10,000 adults over a 24-hour period. The global food system emits 17 billion tons of greenhouse gases a year, equivalent to a third of all planet-warming gases produced by human activity. The beef industry contributes heavily to that, producing eight to 10 times more emissions than chicken, and over 50 times more than beans.

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https://phys.org/news/2023-08-mere-americans-nation-beef-significant.html

Beef can be raised in ways that respect the environment, the workers, and the animals themselves, unfortunately most of it isn't.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

1. Hmmm. That's interesting.

I do consider myself a beef eater, but as I look back upon recent meals, I realize that I almost never eat beef. Sometimes the odd hamburger, but that's it. Haven't had a steak in years. In the past I regularly enjoyed them. Just haven't been interested in them recently.

I don't make a point of avoiding beef, but I happen to mostly eat chicken, or some kind of seafood, or no meat at all.

[Demobrat]

2. I would love to see what the effects of beef consumption

by that 12% are, health wise.

[Tomconroy]

3. I find that claim to be highly unlikely.

[Irish_Dem]

4. Why? This is a CDC study with a sample size of 10,000 for god's sake.

All you need is a national random sample size of 500 to be quite accurate.

And the CDC is a reputable research organization.

[Tomconroy]

6. Because I see who eats at McDonalds

[Irish_Dem]

7. Last time I had a McD's burger there was not much meat on it.

The older men can afford bigger and more expensive cuts of beef.
Steaks, ribs, roasts, etc.

Young unmarried men don't cook like that.

[Blues Heron]

5. Its like that with a lot of things - ten percent drink half the booze for example

some sort of law of nature of addictive substances

[hunter]

8. Anecdotal, I know, but it seems consistent with my observations of family and freinds.

Let's call it a sample size of fifty.

One of my brothers and my dad are meat-every-day types, mostly beef. My brother is an extraordinarily talented cook and has no problem cooking vegetarian and vegan meals. Beef is not a religion with him, but it does reflect our family's heritage as ranchers and dairymen. (One of my grandfathers would have been a beef evangelist, same as some of my parent's cousins.)

My wife is vegetarian approaching vegan. It's not a religion with her either. She's not telling other people what to eat. I'll eat beef but I'm too lazy to prepare it for myself in daily life. I can't remember the last time there was meat in our refrigerator. It was probably for a holiday meal, pre-covid19 when I was cooking for guests. Sometimes I'll buy meat substitutes for certain recipes.

Personally, I don't believe cheap milk and ground beef are necessities. I think these industries ought to be regulated to reduce their environmental footprints, improve conditions for their workers, and treat animals more humanely, even if it raises costs.

BTW, our local McDonald's and Burger Kings serve meat substitute hamburgers. I look forward to a time when vegetarian fast food hamburgers are the more popular selection because they cost less and most people prefer the flavor.