67 pointsby doener2 days ago16 comments
  • danielbln2 days ago
    All "haha, but it's tasty!!!!" jokes aside, and even ethics and morality aside (which is tough, because we cause a LOT of suffering here), growing meat is just incredibly inefficient. We have to sustain so much additional biological machinery just to chop off some muscle tissue at the end, even if we assume everything of the cow will be used eventually, it's just incredibly wasteful.
    • close042 days ago
      The problem is that we don't factor in the externalities adequately in the price of most products.

      Building and operating an amusement park is also incredibly inefficient just to get a giggle. If every product would be priced in a way that includes all externalities you'd see a shrink in the industries with the highest (negative) impact.

      I'm setting aside the Pandora's box discussion about allowing only the rich the luxury of destroying the environment.

    • prox2 days ago
      I know someone who works in agriculture reform and the lobby against any change is tough

      Like they get outspend to an incredible degree. You are not choosing, they are telling you what to choose. It doesn’t mean change isn’t possible but you are swimming against a powerful current called Lobbying and Marketing/Influencing.

    • dinfinity2 days ago
      Something oft forgotten: cheese made from cow milk is actually really inefficient too. Chicken and pork meat rank lower than cheese from cow milk in environmental impact.
      • BobaFloutist2 days ago
        Chicken is one thing, since chicken meat is actually quite eco-friendly.

        Not sure about pork, to be honest.

    • mindok2 days ago
      Cow poo and periodic trampling are an incredibly important part of topsoil development in a number of ecosystems - eg prairies.
    • closewith2 days ago
      By this approach, life is inherently wasteful. Resource use is not only necessary, but a human right. Deciding for others what is and isn't worth the use is immoral.
      • danielbln2 days ago
        What kind of statement is that? Is it my human right to blow CFCs into the air? Maybe, yet we generally disallow that because it would ruin the fun for everyone else. Your right to use resources ends where my impact begins.

        Additionally, pointing out inefficiencies is a good thing and something we should do more of, because that's how we optimize.

        • closewith2 days ago
          CFCs are prohibited, like other toxic substances, because they are unequivocally detrimental to everyone. Energy use, agriculture, and husbandry are not.

          > Your right to use resources ends where my impact begins.

          No, it doesn't. If it did, no-one would be able to zero any resources as the planet is a zero-sum resource pool.

          I have the right to use resources even where it impacts other. The limits we place on resource use are and should be only in extremis where that impact reaches a level that is particularly harmful.

          Many agricultural practices meet this condition and have been banned. Many more should be. However, that does not extend to dictating that resources cannot be used for husbandry.

          Following your logic, I should be able to prohibit you using computers recreationally, prevent you from travelling in powered vehicles, prevent you from having children. Each of those has a far higher contribution to resource use than husbandry.

          > Additionally, pointing out inefficiencies is a good thing and something we should do more of, because that's how we optimize.

          Life is not an optimisation problem. Don't waste yours approaching it this way.

          • danielbln2 days ago
            You're conflating acknowledging inefficiency with advocating for totalitarian control. I pointed out that meat production is wasteful that's just a fact. Your response is to claim I must therefore support banning computers and children?!

            That's not how optimization works. We can improve systems without descending into authoritarian micromanagement. By your logic, we should never fix anything because someone might take it too far.

            • closewith2 days ago
              > I pointed out that meat production is wasteful that's just a fact.

              There are wasteful (and horrific) forms of husbandry, but it's not a fact that meat production is wasteful. That's an opinion that's contingent on the assertion that meat is not worth the resources used for production.

              > Your response is to claim I must therefore support banning computers and children?!

              Yes, I am showing you the absurdity of your statement. Exactly the same logic can be used (and is used by those with extremist opinions like your own) to show that reproduction, computing, travel, medicine, art is wasteful, because it's subjective whether any result is worth the resources required.

              > That's not how optimization works. We can improve systems without descending into authoritarian micromanagement. By your logic, we should never fix anything because someone might take it too far.

              To be clear, your statements above are already taking it too far by declaring for others what they should be able to spend their resources on.

              • const_cast2 days ago
                The fallacy here is that we're somehow, magically, required to move on to more extreme forms of the same logic.

                No we're not. We can decide to stop at any time. We don't have to be logically consistent in how we decide rules. And, in fact, we aren't.

                Consider, for example, free speech restrictions in the US. You can't yell "fire!" in a theater. Why not? Because it incites distress, and can cause harm.

                By that logic, shouldn't we also ban all mean words? I mean, they might incite distress, and they can cause emotional harm, and even physical harm if someone gets too offended.

                But wait, wait... isn't "mean", in it of itself, subjective? So then doesn't this mean that this same logic could go for any arbitrary words, technically? Okay, then we should ban all words, right?

                No. Wrong. We shouldn't do that. Everything is a case-by-case basis. WE decide when to continue and when to give it up. Not you, not logic.

                • closewith2 days ago
                  I think you should re-read your comment and then re-read this thread.
                  • const_cast2 days ago
                    No I read it correctly - my point stands. Extrapolating things out doesn't just magically work.
                    • closewitha day ago
                      You are agreeing with me.

                      > The fallacy here is that we're somehow, magically, required to move on to more extreme forms of the same logic.

                      Yes. It's inherently subjective whether animal husbandry is worth the input resources and each person can decide for themselves is it's worth it or wasteful, as with every other example (travel, medicine, etc).

                      > By that logic, shouldn't we also ban all mean words? I mean, they might incite distress, and they can cause emotional harm, and even physical harm if someone gets too offended.

                      Yes, again you're agreeing with me. We collectively choose the boundaries of acceptable behaviour and practices. We have speed limits but don't ban cars, we regulate e-waste disposal but don't prohibit computers, and we can and should forbid cruel and environmentally damaging practises in husbandry, but not ban meat production.

                      The person I'm replying to is making the opposite argument, that husbandry is inherently wasteful and therefore should be subject to regulation. That is the is–ought fallacy, which I pointed out using reducto ad absurdum.

                      So again, re-read the thread.

  • albertgoeswoof2 days ago
    On an individual level you have two choices:

    - eat meat, and accept the impact to the environment, health risks, and mass unethical treatment of livestock

    - stop eating meat, and accept that some of the foods you grew up eating, you can't eat any more

    • federiconafria2 days ago
      I think there is a third option, factor in the externalities and treat it as a luxury. The cost we are paying for it is not currently reflected on the final price.
      • sotix2 days ago
        My grandparents and great grandparents in Greece used meat as a garnish a few times per week for dinner. The most meat they would have was at the end of the Lenten fast on Easter where they would have a big piece of lamb. Otherwise, it was the occasional smaller pieces of ground meat on top of vegetable-heavy dishes.
      • brador2 days ago
        Fourth: Find or create alternatives that taste just as good without the high environmental impact.
    • franga20002 days ago
      Putting such absolute choices in front of people basically never works. Those conductive to such and argument have already become vegetarian.

      But there's a much bigger percentage of people that would be willing to eat meat less, without fully stopping. Turn meat into a delicacy you indulge in, not the default base to prepare every meal on. Try some indian food, or stuff from other cuisines that rely less on meat. Make that twice a week, you'll probably enjoy it, maybe even save some money.

      • aziaziazi2 days ago
        Sure it's absurd to imagine that people make 0/1 choices, however it's also absurd to reject a 3-line shortened proposition because it seems absolute.

        > Those conductive to such and argument have already become vegetarian

        Choices are more complicated than "being conductive", for exemple

        - opinion change: you're not totally against the idea but not convinced neither. If you're open minded, learning something new or being witness of a context change can make you reevaluate.

        - Motivation: there's thinks in your life that occupy your brain and you don't feel free to start another change now, but you might being more disponible to self-actualisation later.

        - Event-Trigger: An inspiring talk, movie, or discussion with a friend sometimes trigger you to reconsider your position. I know cold showers aren't that hard and they're great for the body and the mind. I never had to courage to start that new habits but a convincing and motivating HN post might be the trigger to a routine.

      • znpy2 days ago
        > Putting such absolute choices in front of people basically never works.

        Indeed. Faced with that absolute choice, I'd pick eating meat and dismiss the entire line of reasoning about meat.

        And quite frankly I wouldn't even feel guilty about it: I'm pretty sure I'm already doing more than the average to lower my emissions. As a trivial example: I pretty much use public transport all the time and don't have a car. This alone probably puts me above the average american vegan driving an SUV to go from their suburbs to anywhere, in terms of carbon footprint reduction.

    • peterashford2 days ago
      or three, just eat less meat
      • prox2 days ago
        A UN study showed that if everyone on earth would be going from 7 days a week meat to 6 would do wonders for the climate.

        Just one day less.

        • BobaFloutist2 days ago
          Try "Meatless Monday" is a much more effective message than animal welfare, since it offers a reasonable path that doesn't require changing everything all at once, and doesn't tie your past actions to guilt.

          People are highly motivated to push back against animal welfare arguments because it makes them feel like bad people. "You can easily make things better by just abstaining once a week" doesn't challenge their identities nearly as much.

        • peterashford2 days ago
          I'm also holding out hope for vat meat. I like meat but I'd really be happier eating it without an animal having to die
    • defrost2 days ago
      There's a third way, at least. eg:

        But even when the authors excluded embedded emissions from sources like transport and packaging, they still found that agriculture generated 24% of GHGs. According to the World Resources Institute, a research group, cars, trains, ships and planes produce a total of 16%.
      
        It finds that animal-based foods account for 57% of agricultural GHGs, versus 29% for food from plants. Beef and cow’s milk alone made up 34%. Combined with the earlier study’s results, this implies that cattle produce 12% of GHG emissions.
      
      It also implies, by the accounting practices of these papers, that clean skins running feral in Northern Australia account for zero emmisions .. particularly if traditionally mustered.

      They aren't fed farmed food, they forage and run wild in the Kimberley and Kakadu, and the environment is well served by routinely rounding them up for dinner and taking pressure from the grasslands.

      More or less the same story for camels and wild donkeys.

    • thrance2 days ago
      Or, if you're utilitarian, you can start by cutting back your meat consumption to reduce your contribution to the aforementioned issues by that much.
      • nandomrumber2 days ago
        And yet, if you want to produce more food: build a green house and increase it's CO2 content.
    • quonn2 days ago
      Wrong.

      - mass unethical treatment (assuming you do not mean the fact that animals are killed) is related to the conditions which are related to price

      - health risks can be minimal depending on the amount and type of meat you eat

      - the CO2 impact again depends on the meat and conditions. Surely chicken in your backyard can be kept without CO2 impacts with some effort.

      - your very existence has a CO2 impact. By your own logic you have two choices …

      • rimunroe2 days ago
        > Surely chicken in your backyard can be kept without CO2 impacts with some effort.

        I’m not sure this is possible, at least not in a typical yard or urban garden. According to one study[1] community gardens in and around cities emit six times the CO2 per serving compared to industrial agriculture. I assume this is roughly applicable to backyard gardens too. I wouldn’t be surprised if this isn’t applicable to livestock—which the study appears to have excluded—but also wouldn’t be surprised if the story is similar with chickens/livestock.

        I imagine that even if it is less efficient to grow your chickens in the back yard, it might be possible to approach or exceed current industrial poultry farms in CO2 efficiency. My hunch is that if those farms get incentivized by penalties on CO2 production it would be impossible though.

        [1] https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/1968...

        • quonn2 days ago
          I said backyard, not some urban garden.
          • rimunroe2 days ago
            Does that seem likely to make a difference? The study covered individual gardens as well. The low-tech gardening practices they mention sound exactly like backyard gardens.
            • quonn2 days ago
              Of course. The whole study is about cities, even the first sentences already make this very clear. It has nothing to do with normal gardens, nothing _at all_.
              • rimunroe16 hours ago
                I may have missed the part in the paper which explains why a backyard garden is dramatically different in efficiency if said backyard is in a city versus the suburbs. Could you clarify or point me to the thing you’re referring to?
      • znpy2 days ago
        > - health risks can be minimal depending on the amount and type of meat you eat

        Health risks from meat is an US-only issue. Here in Europe we have much stricter regulations on meat, so much so that American meat cannot be imported and cannot be sold here. IIRC (might be wrong on this) Canada doesn't allow importing US meat as well?

        Meat is safe for consumption in Europe.

        • hn_throw20252 days ago
          A while back, the EU relaxed restrictions on feeding animals to other animals in order to boost trade. Restrictions that were in place for good reason after the BSE crisis.

          https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jun/22/eu-to-lift-its...

        • burnt-resistor2 days ago
          No. It generally doesn't matter where in the world cows are raised, the important point is the conditions. The health risks cannot be minimized because of antibiotic abuse (antibiotic "superbug" evolution) and pandemic virus evolution of cramming too many animals near people who care for them and wildlife.
      • thrance2 days ago
        > mass unethical treatment (assuming you do not mean the fact that animals are killed) is related to the conditions which are related to price

        Source? I really don't buy that more expensive meat producers kill their animals that much more "humanely". And even if the killing was painless, you're still killing tens of animals per year for the sole sake of a tastier meal.

        > health risks can be minimal depending on the amount and type of meat you eat

        True.

        > the CO2 impact again depends on the meat and conditions. Surely chicken in your backyard can be kept without CO2 impacts with some effort.

        I trust you raise all the animals you eat, and don't feed them with imported grains? Don't be ridiculous.

        > your very existence has a CO2 impact. By your own logic you have two choices …

        You're basically telling anyone who's self-conscious about their environmental impact to kill themselves. Great.

        • closewith2 days ago
          > And even if the killing was painless, you're still killing tens of animals per year for the sole sake of a tastier meal.

          Do you believe that's inherently immoral?

          • thrance2 days ago
            I believe there's a good argument to be made, yes. This video [0] by a philosophy teacher convinced me of it. Unfortunately, it's in french so most here probably won't be able to enjoy it.

            [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaVWbdlAiCQ

            EDIT: he gives these sources that, fortunetaly, are in english:

            https://philpapers.org/archive/HUEDOE.pdf

            https://philpapers.org/archive/HUEDOE-2.pdf

            https://philpapers.org/archive/HUEDOE-3.pdf

            https://philpapers.org/archive/HUEDOE-4.pdf

            Takes the form of a conversation between two people, like the texts of olde.

            • closewith2 days ago
              These come up every now and then, but are explicitly arguing against factory farming, not meat consumption in general. Factory farming is indeed immoral, but is a separate, but related issue to meat consumption.
          • burnt-resistor2 days ago
            Anthropocentrism.

            philosophical viewpoint arguing that human beings are the central or most significant entities in the world. This is a basic belief embedded in many Western religions and philosophies. Anthropocentrism regards humans as separate from and superior to nature and holds that human life has intrinsic value while other entities (including animals, plants, mineral resources, and so on) are resources that may justifiably be exploited for the benefit of humankind.

            Source: https://www.britannica.com/topic/anthropocentrism

            • BobaFloutist2 days ago
              It's hard to argue that we're not in some way unique when we're the only animals having this debate, and every other carnivore or omnivore (and many 'herbivores,' opportunistically) have no such qualms and happily eat all the other animals they possibly can.
      • burnt-resistor2 days ago
        Grossly incomplete.

        The larger risks to us include:

        - Pandemic virus evolution of viruses from complex people<->livestock<->wildlife interactions.

        - Evolving antibiotic resistant bacteria since livestock are given most of the same compounds given to humans simply for economic advantage, and in some cases, to force-feed animals with unsuitable feed like too much corn in too short of a timeframe. Some CAFO farms, their cows would die if not given antibiotics. [0]

        - Water, air, and soil pollution on a large scale. Liquid shit lakes that spread manure into the air with sprayers. Runoff from pesticides and fertilizer used to grow the corn, soybeans, etc. The list goes on.

        And, yes, climate change, animal cruelty, and other concerns.. but like condoning genocides, nothing will be done about it because people want their fucking Costco-sized 40 pack of cheap hamburgers, BMW SUVs, and overwatered perfectly green grass and air conditioning set to 68 F / 20 C in Phoenix AZ.

        0. https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/antimicrobial-stewardship/report-...

      • dude2507112 days ago
        Nuances destroy agendas.
        • znpy2 days ago
          Nuances destroy absolutisms, yes, and it's a good thing because real life has a lot of nuances.
        • const_cast2 days ago
          This comment is the opposite of nuance. They literally argued that everything you do has a CO2 impact, therefore you either shouldn't try at all or should just kill yourself.

          That's, like, the least nuanced and most caveman-brained take on climate change you could possibly develop.

          Also: appealing to edge-cases as a distraction isn't nuance, it's derailing. I can find fucking exceptions to anything. ANYTHING. How many people in the West are growing their own chickens? Give me a fucking break man.

          • quonn2 days ago
            I‘m trying to find something resembling a reasoned argument in your comment, but there‘s nothing except profanity.

            I did not point out exceptions and the chicken example is merely an illustration of one of my points.

            And who says we are talking about the west? Plenty of comments in this thread are talking about pandemics, something that is not known to originate from western agriculture.

            You know what‘s a caveman take? Thinking that there is any chance to convince a meaningful number of people to reduce meat consumption globally in the required time window (20-50 years) in a way that has any bearing on climate change (as opposed to the many steps being taken that actually work). That‘s a caveman take.

            But now some facts:

            https://interactive.carbonbrief.org/what-is-the-climate-impa...

            As you can see, the type of meat matters a lot. Cheese is doing worse than pork in this example (not sure I even believe this without more evidence yet). Non-meat sources of protein don‘t do very well: Tofu is just 2x better than poultry. Compare this to the giant bar for beef.

            Better chart, apparently same source:

            https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/0477/production...

            In short, yes, it would be theoretically possible to eliminate about 10% of global emissions if everyone everywhere stopped eating meat and replaced it with a balanced non-meat diet.

            But such an outcome is not realistic.

            This is my last comment on HN. It is sad what this corner of the internet has become.

            • const_cast2 days ago
              In defense of myself not being a big meanie:

              > You know what‘s a caveman take? Thinking that there is any chance to convince a meaningful number of people to reduce meat consumption globally in the required time window

              The "caveman take" I'm referring to is when you implied the correct solution to climate change is suicide.

              It's a caveman take because I've heard it numerous times, and it lacks all nuance or thought. Yes, we emit CO2 by existing the way we do. We can improve our situation without going to extremes. This is a "perfect is the enemy of good" type thought process.

              It's what I call an anti-solution. It doesn't solve anything, but it does completely halt the conversation and makes sure that other real solutions can't pop up.

              > As you can see, the type of meat matters a lot. Cheese is doing worse than pork in this example (not sure I even believe this without more evidence yet). Non-meat sources of protein don‘t do very well: Tofu is just 2x better than poultry. Compare this to the giant bar for beef.

              Okay, but none of this was in your original comment. You talked about raising chickens, which I appropriately clocked as a not real solution that isn't going to work.

              Eating more chicken and less beef is good, I agree, and a reasonable solution. You should probably lead with that.

        • GeoAtreides2 days ago
          And bikeshedding (or nitpicking while ignoring the main thrust of the argument) destroys interesting discussions.
    • Ancapistani2 days ago
      We mostly raise our own.
    • Raed6672 days ago
      Honestly, I don't even miss it anymore.
    • zero-sharp2 days ago
      "eating meat carries health risks"

      "eating meat necessarily results in unethical treatment of livestock"

      Sounds like a load of barnacles. Even that third one about impacting the environment is likely bogus.

  • dijit2 days ago
    except for the fact that cows exist within the carbon cycle.

    And the biggest contributor to greenhouse gases is that we feed them oil that we dig from the ground.

    Cows are extremely convenient scapegoat but truthfully they exist in a closed system that we keep feeding carbon into. Methane itself is very very harmful but lives almost no time and atmosphere experts all agree on this.

    • adrianN2 days ago
      It is my understanding that land use (eg cutting down rain forest, draining wetlands) for pasture and soy are a big contributor to the carbon footprint of meat.
      • federiconafria2 days ago
        What's "funny" is that rain forest land being destroyed for pastures has terrible yield. We would be better off paying the people using them to keep the forest intact.
      • dijit2 days ago
        Could be true, in the countries I am most faniliar with (UK, Sweden) there’s no rainforest and a good chunk of the land used for rearing cattle couldn’t be used for farming Soy.
        • cnity2 days ago
          The cattle doesn't have to _be_ on the same wasted land that is used to feed it. Soy is imported from other countries to feed cattle in the UK (around 2M tons of soy per year[0]).

          It is a common and convenient misconception that raising cattle is not bad for the environment because it is raised on non-arable land -- the cattle still gets fed imported soy.

          0: https://www.efeca.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/UK-RT-on-Su...

          • belorn2 days ago
            Then the solution is fairly simple. Make the soy more costly than a lesser emission heavy alternative. Cows only need imported soy in order to be marginally cheaper.
          • dijit2 days ago
            But now we're returning to the assumption that everything thats fit for cows is fit for human edible crops.

            Cows aren't often eating the "human grade" crops, to my understanding.

            I'm not making an argument that we shouldn't scale back cattle-rearing, if anything my personal preference would be to eliminate all oil-based feed and see how sustainable we can make things; I just think we've got a real convenient scapegoat here when the largest polluter is definitely car dependence as it's adding carbon to the carbon cycle.

            • burnt-resistor2 days ago
              The cows aren't the scapegoat (no pun intended), it's the human entitlement of expecting cheap hamburgers without paying for the externalities of using the sky as a sewer.

              Cows eat "cow corn" (yellow dent corn). 5% of every bit of America is used to grow the stuff; only a tiny fraction is used to grow sweet corn. That's an absurd amount of overproduction thanks to subsidies. It gets inefficiently turned into ethanol and steaks. Instead, in most areas, that land could be used to grow healthier human crops like quinoa, lentils, or sorghum. Commercial sorghum is grown about 2 blocks from where I live.

            • peterashford2 days ago
              Cows arent a scapegoat, they're just a significant part of the puzzle. It's nuts to think only co2 or only methane is the issue. They're both issues
              • dijit2 days ago
                But they exist in a closed system.

                They don't emit CO2 or Methane in any way that can run out of control unless we pour carbon into the system externally (by digging up oil and feeding it to them for example, or transporting them using cars that run on fossil fuels, or heating them with fossil fuels).

                They are a scapegoat, because they can't by themselves emit anything that can't be captured and returned and reused by cattle for essentially perpetuity, yet we as humans are doing things that are not sustainable and contribute to tipping the scales.

                Thanks for flagging me btw.

                • burnt-resistor2 days ago
                  > They don't emit CO2 or Methane in any way that can run out of control unless we pour carbon into the system externally (by digging up oil and feeding it to them for example, or transporting them using cars that run on fossil fuels, or heating them with fossil fuels).

                  The economic incentives combined with political corruption will continue FF extraction. The root problems are human nature and political in origin and require leadership to pull back on grain subsidies, tax CAFO-grown meat, tax fossil fuels (none of this "carbon offsets" in Africa fraud), and pass on the real future decline in GDP from climate change-driven floods, famines, and wars.

                • cnity2 days ago
                  FWIW I don't think your points are totally invalid, and it is not me (and maybe not GP) that is flagging you.

                  That aside, your primary argument if I understand it right is that there is no (or at least diminished) cost to cattle raising because the emitted carbon came from food that was sequestered as part of a cycle.

                  The problem I would call attention to is that the planet's carbon capacity is simultaneously nerfed by the land required for feed. About 40% [0] of arable crop land is used to feed cattle, a process which faces huge caloric efficiency losses (consider that the caloric output of meat cannot be higher than the input).

                  It is pretty well understood at this stage that meat consumption is a gigantic contributor to climate change. Anyway, I _also_ agree about cars. We don't need to rely on whataboutism here: we have a common objective. And, by the way, I still eat meat, but much much less than I used to, so I don't mean any of this as an attack on meat eaters.

                  0: https://fefac.eu/newsroom/news/a-few-facts-about-livestock-a...

        • swores2 days ago
          There is rainforest in the UK... it's just temperate rainforest, not tropical.

          (And it is as under threat as tropical - https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/ha... )

          • closewith2 days ago
            Yes, and there was a lot more and could be again.
            • swores2 days ago
              Yes, absolutely!
        • adrianN2 days ago
          Where does the feed come from? What other uses could the land have? Here in Germany drained wetlands are a huge contributor to GHG emissions.
          • dijit2 days ago
            Largely grass (and oil based feed, as mentioned)
      • postingawayonhn2 days ago
        Where land is converted there can be an increase. But for an existing farm with stable herd numbers the emission produced around (Methane > Carbon Dioxide > Grass > Methane > etc.).
        • adrianN2 days ago
          When you drain wetlands they emit GHGs essentially forever.
      • postepowanieadm2 days ago
        There's industrial beef and there's grass fed beef. Grass feed one preserves pastures which are amazing and rich ecosystems, much more valuable than soya monocultures.
    • peterashford2 days ago
      Methane also traps at least 100 times as much heat as CO2. It causes significant near-term warming, and cutting methane gives fast climate benefits. Cutting down on methane emmisions can have considerable more effect on global warming over the next 20 years, compared to CO2 (which we also have to reduce), Atmosphere experts all agree on this.

      And "[cows] exist in a closed system" assumes we’re not expanding herds, clearing forests, or using fossil inputs.

    • thrance2 days ago
      The beef with beef is that meat production, and espcially from cows, is extremely energy inefficient. You need 15-20kgs of plants for 1kg of beef, when we could just eat the plants directly and avoid everything needed to seed, grow, reap and haul all that feeding mass, which massively contributes to global warming and consumes ludicrous amounts of water.
      • adrianN2 days ago
        To be fair, ruminants can digest the parts of the plant that we can’t digest. A small number of ruminants are part of good agriculture. Of course we’re ridiculously beyond „a small number“
      • dijit2 days ago
        Everything you mentioned exists in a cycle, its not “lost” energy, its just converted and returned.

        Just like water, the consumption of water doesn’t mean it is eliminated from the water cycle.

        • fredrikholm2 days ago
          This is overly simplified to the point of being wrong.

          Water usage spent on watering crops used to then raise livestock (eg. alfalfa, soy) account for some 70% or more of total water usage in regions where this type of farming is done.

          In arid regions (MENA, Saudi Arabia, Iran, California etc), a lot of that water is aquifer water. Aquifers take centuries, sometimes millennia to fill up.

          The consequences of emptying these are rivers drying up, native flora dying off, topsoil being eroded and so on. In some cases, Tehran and Mexico City being prime examples, the depletion is sufficient to cause structural changes in the ground leading to literal collapses of land.

          Growing food with an order of magnitude less inefficiencies means an order of magnitude less of these consequences.

          • dijit2 days ago
            Soy in particular is a huge water consumer, however that is often the proposed alternative to meat consumption.

            I'm not sure how you wouldn't agree with me that cows are a scapegoat based on this fact alone.

            • sn92 days ago
              Because the numbers are an order of magnitude different? [0]

              Water needed to produce 4 oz of soy beans: 64 gallons

              Water needed to produce 4 oz of beef: 463 gallons

              Your points about the carbon cycle are well-taken but you're ignoring the trophic pyramid for some reason. [1] Or at least I find it hard to believe you could know about one without knowing about the other.

              [0] https://watercalculator.org/water-footprint-of-food-guide/

              [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecological_pyramid

            • fredrikholm2 days ago
              Because you can eat the soy directly and remove the additional land loss, water use, soil compaction, acidification, storage cost, transport cost, cooling cost, butchering cost, shipping cost etc. that comes with introducing another link in the food chain.

              Feed conversion ratio for beef is something like 1:6-10, and that's ignoring everything above.

        • thrance2 days ago
          By that logic, no human activities are problematic since everything needed to sustain them comes from nature and eventually goes back to it. That's ignoring the tons of wastes generated by the beef industry, the ravaged ecosystems to make room for pastures and farms, the fuel needed to build and power the machinery to manage it all: from tractors to cargo boats to factories to trucks...

          The issue is that all that carbon and other mineral resources we dug up to power all of this ends up rapidly upsetting the balance the Earth settled in over the last million years. My point is that we could eat the same amount of calories by generating much less waste and needing much less space and energy.

          • dijit2 days ago
            If we weren't digging carbon out of the ground then a lot of human activities would indeed not be a problem.

            I'm sure we can make things uninhabitable without doing that, but, largely when talking about climate change: it's the mere fact that we're unleashing significant amounts of stored energy into a closed loop ecosystem that cannot handle it.

            I think we're saying the same thing here.

        • peterashford2 days ago
          Saying "its all part of a cycle" misses the point. Yes, energy and water aren’t destroyed but using 15-20x more plant matter, energy, and water for 1kg of beef compared to plant based food is still incredibly wasteful. Nature’s cycles have limits, and industrial meat production pushes them far beyond whats sustainable.
          • dijit2 days ago
            Inefficiency doesn't particularly matter if it's a closed system, it only effects how much we can get out of a thing.

            If we need 100% efficiency yields because humans are so numerous that there can no longer by any inefficiency in the conversion of sun rays into energy fit for human consumption: then you have a point.

            But we're not there, so the inefficiency of food production is not particularly relevant.

            Where you and I will agree is that the scale of meat production is unsustainable, as evidenced by the fact that we are feeding cows fucking oil from the ground. If we could sustain a population of cattle and enough energy for human population then I don't see a problem, but that is obviously significantly lower than the scale we currently see cattle-rearing.

            • peterashford2 days ago
              Saying "inefficiency only matters if we reach system collapse" is like saying you don’t need brakes until you’re already flying off the cliff.
              • dijit2 days ago
                How can inefficiency lead to systemic collapse in a way that cannot be reversed inside of a year?

                We're not talking about contributing to the carbon cycle anymore, we're talking specifically about converting rays from the sun into human consumable matter.

                I think you've come into a reasoned conversation with an idealised take that meat consumption is inherently stupid, and this doesn't not necessarily make sense because inefficiency is totally acceptable as long as the needs of the system are met.

                People use python for making websites, after all, one of the least efficient languages available. People move to higher efficiency languages when the system begins to demand it.

                • peterashford2 days ago
                  You have heard climate scientists talk about tipping points, right? Methane is short lived but extremely potent. Its warming effect can push systems (ice melt, permafrost thaw, ocean circulation) past irreversible thresholds. Deforestation to support meat production isn’t easily undone. Regrowing forests takes decades to centuries.
                  • dijit2 days ago
                    Ok, so you're continuing to push the topic in a direction of methane and not inefficiency as we were discussing.

                    I think I'll conclude the conversation here as it's clear you're just conversing from an ideological point of view.

                    Methane is a problem, as discussed elsewhere in the thread, but the largest issue continues to be the fact we're digging up oil and feeding it to herds, you've not convinced me that this is not the largest issue, or not a larger issue than: air travel, cars etc;

      • sn92 days ago
        If we just ended agricultural subsidies that artificially lower the price of meat (and fossil fuel subsidies) while taxing fossil fuels at the point of extraction to correct for their negative externalities, this would solve a lot.

        Politically untenable, though.

  • igleria2 days ago
    Pricing people out of things means only rich people can afford those things. The same rich people that on an individual level generate a lot more emissions than the average person.

    Tough sell.

  • zeristor2 days ago
    What I don't understand is why pork isn't more popular?
    • peterashford2 days ago
      Yeah from a protein prduction efficiency point of view, Pork, sheep and goats are way better than Cows. Chicken and fish are even more efficient. And plants win, hands down. We can all make choices that improve our impact on the planet.
    • aziaziazi2 days ago
      Pigs sentience is considered very close to dogs and as dogs have a very intimate place in some culture some people make a connection and don't feel eating them.
    • 4gotunameagain2 days ago
      Legacy reasons (i.e. religion), health reasons (beef is supposed to be quite healthier), maybe personal preference as well ?
    • ihaveajob2 days ago
      Agreed. As a Spaniard, I'm surely biased, but I prefer pork to beef any day of the week.
  • GeoAtreides2 days ago
    Haha, flagged, of course it's flagged

    Hey HN moderators and users, why shouldn't this discussion be allowed? what possible reason there is to ban it from the site?

    i promise, we're all adults here, we can handle a controversial topic, no need to coddle us

  • peter_vukovic2 days ago
    From a systems perspective, civilization is the greatest pollutant. Whether it's Mesopotamia, Rome, industrial Britain, or the modern global economy, each civilization is a complex machine that extracts resources, generates waste and disrupts ecosystems. There’s no version of it that’s truly sustainable long-term, just degrees of delay or harm reduction.

    There is absolutely nothing special about beef. We could replace beef with palm oil, lithium, air travel, or even data centers. The same system logic applies: convert energy and resources into power, growth, and order, while displacing entropy elsewhere.

    A clean planet is a planet without civilization. This is a factual observation, not nihilism.

    • 4gotunameagain2 days ago
      So you are saying that we should adhere to a binary logic, where we either accept the destruction of the Earth as a fact, or we form a doomsday cult ?

      I don't understand. It is quite clear that we are what is polluting the planet, sure.

      There are multiple ways to reduce our impact and try to reach some sort of balance. Of course everything is imbalanced right now, we are only a couple of generations after the industrial revolution after all.

      • peter_vukovic2 days ago
        Accept the destruction of civilization as a fact. The Earth will be just fine.
        • 2 days ago
          undefined
        • saagarjha2 days ago
          Let's not.
        • 4gotunameagain2 days ago
          This is a factual observation, not nihilism.
          • peter_vukovic2 days ago
            Of course it is. Every civilization so far has ended due to internal collapse. I'd love to hear arguments and evidence about why you believe our society is on a different path.
            • 4gotunameagain2 days ago
              I do not see a "destruction of civilisation". If anything, what I see is enlargement of it.
    • otikik2 days ago
      > A clean planet is a planet without civilization

      That's not at all true, from either side.

      To begin with, a planet can be "dirty" without any civilization. Most planets are. Look at Venus. Our own planet had already gone through 5 mass extinction events before we came up. The Great Oxigenation Event in particular does look like "pollution until planet death" without any civilization involved.

      On the other side, it possible to have clean civilization - even one that cleans up more as it advances. You make it sound like it's an inherent problem - like civilization is "by definition" unclean. That is not at all the case. We have seen it is possible. What it isn't, is (as) profitable as simply not dealing with the externalities.

      Civilization,Clean Planet,Maximal Profit: pick two.

      • peter_vukovic2 days ago
        > To begin with, a planet can be "dirty" without any civilization. Most planets are.

        They can also be clean. Look at Earth. Don't see an argument here. We are discussing whether civilization pollutes or not, not whether planets are inherently habitable or inhibitable.

        > We have seen it is possible.

        Where have we seen it possible?

        • otikik2 days ago
          I don't think you are in a position to have reasonable discussion so I choose to stop here. Have a good day sir.
          • peter_vukovic7 hours ago
            Fair point. I was too dismissive in my earlier response, and I apologize. You raised strong and valid arguments. My perspective is shaped by a long pattern of historical collapses, but I’d truly welcome any examples or evidence that point to a different trajectory.
    • _Algernon_2 days ago
      Any living creature would fit that definition of "civilization". A sponge takes up resources from its environment, and releases its waste products into the environment. Non-native species often disrupt ecosystems when introduced somewhere new. So unless you moderate your argument by including some required scale it doesn't make any sense. But it would follow that we could reduce resource inputs and outputs to such an extent that civilization is no longer harmful, which puts a damper on your statement that this is "factual observation, not nihilism".
      • peter_vukovic2 days ago
        > Any living creature would fit that definition of "civilization"

        It would not. I said civilization "extracts resources, generates waste and disrupts ecosystems". A sponge does not disrupt its ecosystem. In fact, it keeps it alive.

        > Non-native species often disrupt ecosystems when introduced somewhere new.

        And how does this happen exactly? Non-native species do not just walk around - you need humans and civilization to move them around, and create exactly these kinds of issues.

    • Tade02 days ago
      I don't think it's really factual.

      Ultimately it's about the energy invested to on one hand keep civilization running and on the other dispose of its products in a non-disruptive manner. There's an overabundance of it from the sun, we just haven't scaled up our means of extracting it.

      A solar panel throughout its lifetime gathers way more energy than is required to produce it and later turn into materials for new solar panels. There exists a process for that and I'm sure eventually legislation will follow as the number of end-of-life panels grows.

      • londons_explore2 days ago
        I think OP is saying it's impossible to have no impact - both theoretically and practically.

        From a theoretical perspective, that sunlight on your solar panel isn't free - there was some tree or plant who would have used it if you had not.

        Even if you build over the ocean, there would be some algae grown with that light and fish who ate the algae.

        From a practical perspective, good luck making and deploying huge amounts of solar panels without huge mines for materials, a big road network cutting through the forest to deliver the parts, huge cities for people to live in who operate the factories etc.

        • Tade02 days ago
          > From a theoretical perspective, that sunlight on your solar panel isn't free - there was some tree or plant who would have used it if you had not.

          Actually, no. Plants typically use just the two chlorophyll bands and the carotenoids band and they really don't need all of the 1000W/m2 of solar radiation - you see this in how plants in direct sunlight turn red to absorb less. For the same reason they're typically green, not black.

          On top of that the Earth's albedo is 0.367 - much of the energy which reaches our planet is reflected back to space.

          I was addressing this comment:

          > There’s no version of it that’s truly sustainable long-term, just degrees of delay or harm reduction.

          Yes, we have an impact on the ecosystem, no matter what we do. But the ecosystem is also able to regenerate and sustainability is just a matter of not straining it beyond that ability. It's entirely feasible, we just need to scale up certain technologies available today.

    • franga20002 days ago
      Ecosystems can repair themselves from moderate amounts of damage and adapt to coexist with the thing that causes it. The problem is that we're causing too much damage too quickly.

      It's also entirely possible to sustain a civilization without causing continuous damage to the planet, it just isn't allowed to be constantly growing in population and resource consumption. That's not a necessary part of civilization, it's just the way we're doing it currently.

      • peter_vukovic2 days ago
        > That's not a necessary part of civilization, it's just the way we're doing it currently.

        All civilizations including ours have been doing it this way, so you can argue it is a part of the civilization. It’s a comforting fiction that humanity can fundamentally change its character, but the history proves otherwise.

        • franga20002 days ago
          The knowledge that our growth harms the environment and will end up destroying the planet and us along with it has not been front and center in those civilisations, so it's not a fair comparison.
          • peter_vukovic2 days ago
            I hope you are right. I am not seeing any evidence that you are, but I still hope you are.
    • dennis_jeeves22 days ago
      >There is absolutely nothing special about beef.

      True, most of the demonization of beef is moral posturing, for anyone who has looked beyond the headlines, and the counterpoints.

  • kawfey2 days ago
    My wife and I area treating beef (and pork, lamb, and other mammalian meats) like peanuts, because she got the alpha-gal allergy from a lonestar tick bite.

    PSA: check for ticks

    ps: the loss of beef/pork/lamb in our diets hasn't really been a loss.

  • 2 days ago
    undefined
  • TrnsltLifea day ago
    Just feed the cows seaweed. I thought they already figured out that vastly reduced methane emissions.
  • adrianN2 days ago
    Unfortunately solar panels and batteries don’t taste the same.
    • wcoenen2 days ago
      Solar Foods is already producing protein from solar energy.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_Foods

      • adrianN2 days ago
        Plants have been producing protein from solar power since forever, but I bet it’s easier to tell the difference between steak and bacteria powder than to tell the difference between coal power and solar power.
        • wcoenena day ago
          > Plants have been producing protein from solar power since forever

          Yes, but interestingly enough solar panels + hydrolysis + solein production is more efficient. It takes roughly ten times more land area to produce the same amount of food with plants. And efficiency of solar panels is still improving.

          Producing food with solar panels also would not be affected by increasingly unpredictable weather patterns, soil degradation, pests and weeds. It would not require fertilizer, pesticides or herbicides. Water usage would be much reduced.

          Obviously this technology is still in the demonstration phase and there is still a long way to go. But it looks like this could be the start of a revolution in food production of a magnitude similar to the Haber process.

    • globular-toast2 days ago
      No, they taste 100x better and they're called plants.

      Eating animals that graze all day on the scant plant life was a necessity in many parts of the world. But in places where plants grow in abundance like India and Central America they eat them either exclusively or predominantly and their food is delicious as a result. These days the rest of the world has much better access to fresh vegetables too. I can even grow many desi vegetables in a greenhouse at home. So ditch the tasteless chunks of animal protein and eat more plants.

  • ChrisNorstrom2 days ago
    Right...

    1) Bomb the Nord Stream pipeline unleashing massive amounts of methane.

    2) Greenhouse gas conscious politicians use private jets and buy ocean front mansions and homes despite warning us not to do so.

    3) Refuse to create consumer friendly digital currency or tackle constant 2-5% yearly inflation so everyone flocks to bitcoin and burn coal for electricity to mine useless coins.

    4) We need to turn off lights to save electricity while A.I. uses massive amount of electricity to generate people with extra fingers.

    No offense but have you seen the men in countries with little meat protein intake?

    • franga20002 days ago
      I'm not sure what you mean by 3). We have a perfectly good "digital currency" and have had it for decades, it's called a bank account. I can click four buttons on my phone and a friend gets some money within 30 seconds. As for inflation, economists think a 2-ish-percent inflation rate is a good thing and work to keep it around there. To them it's not something to "tackle". Not saying I agree with it...
    • adrianN2 days ago
      Eat chicken instead of beef if you like meat.
      • Cthulhu_2 days ago
        Or just start with eating less meat, learn to cook and identify which vegetables you need for a balanced diet.

        The recommendations / sciences - which predate concerns about greenhouse emissions etc - for how much meat you need per day is about 65 grams, or about 1/2 quarter pounder in American measurements. In macronutrient language, you only need about 46-56 grams of protein a day (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dietary_Reference_Intake#Macro...).

        I won't deny that good beef contains heaps of both essential macro- and micronutrients in a convenient and tasty package, but people really don't need as much per day as they are eating.

      • zeristor2 days ago
        or pork
      • danielbln2 days ago
        And the notion that you need animal protein from muscle tissue or face stunted growth is also laughable.
    • phtrivier2 days ago
      1) Do you have numbers to help use compare ? I have no idea how much methane was unleashed during this single event. So it's pretty hard to compare with to the impact of cattles. (I have a suspicion it's a drop in an ocean.)

      2) You are right, they are hypocrites. At least you can vote some of the politicians out - unfortunately, their electorate The bad news is that physics does not care about their hypocrisy. The good news is that neither do we have to - we can make a lot of choices ourselves. Including what we eat, how we heat, and who we vote for.

      3) Why do you think "everyone" is flocking to bitcoin ? [1] the usage is still confidential enough. The GHG impact is therefore hard to evaluate ; sure it might use a lot of electricity (about as much as a small country [2]), but it depends on how valuable you value the thing.

      I don't think bitcoin is more usefull than a big "gambling ponzi scheme", but I understand people have other opinions. Do you use bitcoin daily ? More than you national currency ? More than other digital services.

      4) Do you believe those things to be exclusive ? In turns of carbon, we need to "turn off lights" (I suppose you mean "reduce our own consumptions") _and_ demand that AI be at least powered by carbon heavy sources (or - unpopular opinion on HN - consider not using them too heavily ?) But we also need to lobby for building carbon-light electricity sources. AND we need to reduce the impact of agriculture.

      The fact that some people are oblivious to the impact of activity A does not remove the impact of activity B.

      [1] https://theconversation.com/almost-no-one-uses-bitcoin-as-cu...

      [2] https://ccaf.io/cbnsi/cbeci/ghg/comparisons

  • close042 days ago
    > Treating beef like coal

    You'll just ruin it, nobody likes burnt beef.

    Coal and renewables output the exact same thing (electricity), beef and alternatives don't. Unless they make money from coal, people don't want coal, they want electricity and they won't even know the source. But in this case people want beef. Almost every beef replacement failed so far. So it's not as straight forward as "treating it the same" because at least one generation of people will always know what they lose. The hill is steeper for this battle.

    • 0xEF2 days ago
      > You'll just ruin it, nobody likes burnt beef

      Tell that to my FiL. I dread his family gatherings since I know hockey puck burgers are going to be the only viable food on the menu because he's very proud of that expensive grill he has no talent with.

  • Jealous82 days ago
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  • HourOrTwo2 days ago
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