YSK that apart from not having a car, the single greatest thing you can do for the climate is simply eating less red meat

Comments

• JaceTheGamerDesigner@lemmy.ca ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  We could really use a movement to get more people to try adding beans, peas, and tofu to their grocery list. I wasn’t able to stick to not eating meat, but sticking to eating less meat by adding alternatives to my grocery list turned out to be quite easy.

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  • cows_are_underrated@feddit.org ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    I gonna be honest: Tofu is a completely underrated food. If done right it tastes absolutely fucking awesome. You can also put it onto bread and there are plenty of different flavoutlrs that you can easily buy in a supermarket.

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  • dejected_warp_core@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    The trick is to find the right message and tone for the moment. I also think change like this is necessarily incremental. It’s possible that with enough doom-and-gloom around a pending “market correcting event”, that helping everyone reduce grocery bills by eating vegetarian a few nights a week, would be the right message.

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  • exasperation@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    I eat a legume for pretty much every meal:

    • Peanut butter on regular rotation for convenience foods
    • Peas or beans or snap peas as a component in pasta dishes or salads
    • Blanched peas or green beans as a vegetable side when I’m eating dinner with a main and sides separate.
    • Edamame with Asianish noodle dishes, including instant ramen
    • Snow peas or snap peas as a component in stir fries
    • Beans in salads (things like kidney beans or black beans)
    • Lentils or beans in fast casual rice bowls of a Mediterranean influence
    • Some kind of lentil or chickpea dish with South Asian food.
    • Beans with Mexican food because duh
    • Dried beans with my braises (cassoulet, chili, other random assortments of ingredients in a braising pot/dutch oven), only you gotta be conscious of how dried beans don’t cook properly in acidic environments.

    I personally don’t care for tofu. I’ll eat it when it’s a component of a dish I happen to already be eating, but I rarely seek it out to be the star of the dish I order or make, with only a few exceptions.

    But adding legumes/pulses to your meals is an easy way to get more protein, including amino acids (like lysine) that aren’t present in traditional grains like wheat or rice. And they’re generally a good source of certain types of soluble fiber good for gut health. I’m also generally less hungry (and get full faster) when I’m eating plenty of fiber and protein, so legumes help with both of those.

    I eat a lot, so I still eat a decent amount of meat overall, but as a percentage of my 3500-calorie diet it’s probably smaller than the average Westerner.

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  • Schmeckinger@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    I managed to get off of meat by trying out good meat replacements before quitting. But I still consume a lot of cheese especially mozzarella.

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• chicken@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  I personally don’t eat red meat, and I agree it’s worse for climate change, but I’ve heard the argument that meat from larger animals is more ethical, because to get the same amount of meat from smaller animals means a much larger number of them have to die, and I’m not sure how to weigh that against the climate, assuming that someone isn’t going to give up meat entirely.

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  • Baguette@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    That doesn’t add up at all because cattle ranches are notoriously known for pretty low quality of life environments if they arent pasture raised or free range

    Then again that basically goes for all farm animals that aren’t considered free range, but it’s a lot easier to have free range chickens than it is to have cows doing the same.

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    • LustyArgonianMana@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      The solution for meat eaters is something like a farm co-op where you can literally drive by your food and see how it is

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    • chicken@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      but it’s a lot easier to have free range chickens than it is to have cows doing the same.

      I don’t know about that, it’s pretty difficult to keep (what I would consider) genuinely free range chickens because of predators and various other factors, and the commercial definition of free range doesn’t necessarily guarantee a good quality of life. There’s also how meat chickens are mostly all a specific type of crossbreed that is perpetually hungry, prone to cannibalism and health problems, and not meant to live longer than a few months.

      But even if you could say that the average chicken raised for meat is better off than the average cow raised for meat, there’s still how you need vastly more of them for the same amount of meat, so if their lives are still a net negative and you’re weighing it by sum of individual experiences, it could be considered worse from a utilitarian perspective because of the numbers.

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  • AnimalsDream@slrpnk.net ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Plants are great and sidestep this quandary entirely.

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    • chicken@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Sure, but this is more addressed to the people who do not intend to go vegan, but are considering replacing the red meat in their diet with other meat for ethical reasons.

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  • Showroom7561@lemmy.ca ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    That’s like saying “it’s more ethical if Nazis killed only adults, because they take up more space than kids in a gas chamber.”

    The needless suffering and killing of any animal is horrifically unethical, and if we can, we should actively stop participating in it.

    There are a ton of mental gymnastics used to justify the consumption of animals. Almost none apply to modern civilization.

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• PrivateNoob@sopuli.xyz ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  Luckily I prefer chicken anyway :3

  Cheese tho…

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  • Rai@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    I eat chicken maybe 30 times more often than red meat.

    I eat cheese all day every day tho…

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• salacious_coaster@infosec.pub ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  Wrong. The single biggest thing most of us can do to reduce harm to the environment is not have kids. Each human, no matter how responsible, can’t help but add to the problems. The mountain of diapers for each baby alone is obscene. Each baby you don’t have is a whole ass person that will never add to food or electricity or water demands at all.

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• partial_accumen@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  The most important takeaway for the target group:

  “If you’re trying to reduce your carbon footprint, eat less beef,” Rose advises. “You don’t have to give it up entirely, but cutting back or making substitutions can make a significant impact.”

  Any fewer beef meals you have helps. We’re also just talking beef here. If you choose pork, chicken, fish, or even game meat over beef you’re helping the climate.

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  • Carighan@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    It’s also important to consider that not only isn’t this about quitting entirely, it’s also specifically about beef (or other comparable meat). White meats in particular are still not good for the environment, but already like an order of magnitude better.

    It’s just that beef in particular - also a type of meat that is frankly not even that good if I’m being honest, we’re all just used to considering it the best 🤷 - is absolutely horrible for the environment.

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  • commie@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Any fewer beef meals you have helps.

    i don’t think that’s true, if meat production continues to grow.

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    • partial_accumen@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      i don’t think that’s true, if meat production continues to grow.

      If people are eating fewer beef meals, where is the beef production growth coming from in your theoretical?

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• surph_ninja@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  We need significant subsidies invested into vat grown meat. But now Big Ag is getting it banned in every state it can. Texas and Florida have already banned it.

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  • DarthFrodo@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Plant-based meat alternatives have also become much tastier, cheaper and available, especially over the last decade. Cultivated meat will be great for steaks and stuff, but for many things we already have replacements that are quite good.

    Some store brand meat alternatives have already reached price parity with factory farmed meat here in Germany, and this will continue as the industry scales up.

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    • surph_ninja@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Yeah, those options are available. And people largely don’t want them.

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  • infinitesunrise@slrpnk.net ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Counterpoint, end all meat & dairy subsidies completely.

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  • AnimalsDream@slrpnk.net ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    While cultured meat really could be a game changer (as long as it’s being done in a way that doesn’t exploit and harm animals in and of itself), let’s not forget that plants in and of themselves are amazing, right now.

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• remon@ani.social ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  Ok, what is the 4th best thing, then?

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• SpaceCheeseWizard@lemmy.zip ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  Coffee is a big one for me along with cheese. I’m waiting for cheese to get better with vegan alternatives, the last time I tried shredded vegan cheese it melted and tasted like plastic, although that was 3 years ago now, and I am willing to try again.

  Coffee is something I think can be helped if people were more picky on what brands they chose from. I do not believe Starbucks is the most sustainable coffee brand, as they trained me when I worked there to believe.

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  • wolfeh@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Violife cheese for the win. Stay away from Tofutti/Daiya. Those are trash tier.

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    • SpaceCheeseWizard@lemmy.zip ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      I will look for that when I’m looking for shredded cheese, next time.

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  • Tollana1234567@lemmy.today ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    coffee beans also require a hot humid, probably tropical climate to grow, so it probably be in places like tropical countries. cacao is similar too.

    vanilla, is a wierd one the orchid flower is very hard to farm because it requires hand pollination, as the actual origins of the flowers pollinator is not present or is extinct, and orchids as you know are pretty finicky in where they grow too.

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  • stickly@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    I wonder how chicory (and optional caffeine pill?) emissions stack up against the coffee equivalent. It’s close enough to coffee for me 🤷

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• Kiwi_fella@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  I have a motorbike I use infrequently, I eat red meat rarely, and I have no children. I feel like I’m doing my part.

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  • rayyy@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Yes, but do you support those who have pollution spewing private jets like Amazon and Meta, to name just a few? Do you support candidates who will take necessary actions against climate change? Do you grow a garden and cut firewood?
    Half the population could cease to exist without much effect but if a few thousand of the one percent ceased to exist it would make a massive impact.

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    • Kiwi_fella@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      To answer your questions:

      1. No.
      2. Yes.
      3. I don’t have opportunity for gardening or a need for for firewood. Just this afternoon, I did just very successfully forage for yummy wild mushrooms for my lunch.

      What do you do, stranger?

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• Nangijala@feddit.dk ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  We rarely eat red meat in our household, but we do have a car. They fucked our local public transportation system so badly we ended up not having a choice 🤷‍♀️

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  • 0x0@lemmy.zip ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    You heretic infidel! You must use a bicycle! /s

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    • Nangijala@feddit.dk ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      The mere thought of my boyfriend having to bike 90km to work on the highway is equal parts funny and terrifying, lol.

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• memfree@lemmy.ml ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  For a brief moment reading this, I couldn’t remember the last time I ate beef – but then I remembered the summer sausage in the fridge… which probably has beef in it, so… yesterday. Other than that purchase, I don’t know if I’ve had any other beef this year.

  The study found that 12% of Americans consume nearly half of the country’s beef

  So if we got that particular 1/8th to cut down, we’d be half way there! Just like if we could get the 1% to cut down on [so many things], we’d be in the clear!

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  • wizardbeard@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    So even this instance of personal responsibility is significantly offset by the actions of a few. I’m all for doing what each of us can, but that’s fucking hilarious.

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  • grysbok@lemmy.sdf.org ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    I had beef last weekend in the form of my partner’s leftover canned Italian wedding soup. I think the prior time was a few months earlier when a takeout order was screwed up and my fish sandwich turned into a cheeseburger.

    I try and avoid beef because of the environment and because of cute cow videos. But, if it would go to waste otherwise, I’ll go ahead and eat it.

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• jaykrown@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  I stopped eating beef about 4 years ago. It was a great decision. I much prefer pork/poultry anyway.

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  • blarghly@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    I continued eating beef 4 years ago. It was also a great decision.

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    • threeduck@aussie.zone ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Why would someone proudly glout about that? Like, you saw the OPs image right? It’s one of the worst things a consumer can do for the climate. What a bizarro banner to fly.

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• Rentlar@lemmy.ca ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  Can we please have a source for the YSK statement you made in the title and the graph?

  I have seen data on not having kids being the biggest choice a person can make to prevent future emissions. You also didn’t mention flying less often, or not flying when a reasonable alternative exists. What is the relative impact of all of these things compared to dietary changes? Numbers on that would be helpful.

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• doingthestuff@lemy.lol ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  I can travel by train? Lol. Nice bubble you must live in.

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  • lobut@lemmy.ca ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    apart from not having a car

    I think they were implying that if that was not something that was negotiable then you could move onto reducing red meat intake.

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  • zeca@lemmy.eco.br ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Ikr, public transportation just gets worse and worse around here. Metro barely covers 10% of the city and is expensive, buses are incredibly unreliable. I still manage to get around without a car, but its so frustrating.

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  • knexcar@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Maybe not but there’s a good chance your town has a local bus system. Whether it’s any useful is another question, but it’s worth at least looking at the routes/schedules in case it’s one of the lucky few cities that’s kind of tried to make their bus system not suck.

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    • doingthestuff@lemy.lol ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Nope, no buses. If I drive ten minutes there is a bus stop that runs the wrong direction. I’m not in a rural location. Just no public transportation. There is a free bus service for seniors but you have to schedule rides a week in advance.

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  • remon@ani.social ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Lol. Nice bubble you must live in.

    Guess all of Europe is a bubble now?

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    • doingthestuff@lemy.lol ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Honestly it is.

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    • zeca@lemmy.eco.br ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      The world is a colliction of millions of bubbles

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    • TheCleric@lemmy.org ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Or…all of most of the rest of the world outside the US. It’s the bubble calling the bubble kaleidoscopic…or something more clever than that

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• HatchetHaro@pawb.social ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  People here need to calm down. This isn’t about cutting out red meat entirely from your diets; it’s about lowering your consumption of red meats. If you really love eating meat (and I know I do), try replacing some of those with white meats like chicken or fish.

  Humans are evolved to be omnivores; eating meat is only natural for us. And yes, corporations and capitalism are the biggest factors in ruining our environment. But like recycling, we can still do our small part by ordering a grilled salmon in lieu of a steak once in a while.

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• Fleur_@aussie.zone ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  We can reach higher. Join me in end game environmentalism and become a serial killer today.

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• hardcoreufo@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  Reading this I should live like a medieval peasant and only eat potatoes, onions, and root vegetables and drink nothing but beer. I’m kinda down with that.

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• muusemuuse@sh.itjust.works ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  This has gotten easier as I’ve gotten older. I just don’t care for beef anymore. I’m not disgusted by it. I just prefer other things anymore.

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  • Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    i’ve never understood the obsession with beef, sure it tastes good but like… bacon also tastes good, chicken nuggets also fucking taste good don’t they??

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    • AnimalsDream@slrpnk.net ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Taste is subjective and adapts to what you eat. I didn’t particularly care for tofu at first, but it only took eating it a few times to start actively liking it (part of which has to do with getting better at cooking it).

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• Broadfern@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  I haven’t eaten red meat in years due to not reacting well to it, glad to see it’s also helping the environment 😄

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  • not_that_guy05@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    You might have Lyme disease…

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    • Broadfern@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Fortunately it’s not an allergic reaction, mostly just an intolerance but I appreciate your concern :)

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• KingGimpicus@sh.itjust.works ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  Beef is overrated. Pork, poultry, and wild caught shrimp are where it’s at.

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• poplargrove@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  Mmm, close to 700 comments. Have fun yall.

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• fuck_u_spez_in_particular@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  Looks slightly off TBH, sources? Nuts being lowest, while Palm oil being quite high. Nuts are efficient, especially when considering caloric value, but I’m pretty sure something like a potato is better per kg. Palm oil AFAIK is a very efficient (most efficient vegetable) oil, might be that the destruction of highly carbon rich forest is factored in there maybe…

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  • Tollana1234567@lemmy.today ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    indonesian forests are f’uped from all those plantations. brazil/amazon is destroying the amazon for chinese consumption of cows.

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  • LaLuzDelSol@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Idk tree nuts have pretty low c02 impact because they aren’t farmers as intensively I think. Like, trees don’t need as much fertilizer as annual crops. Maybe.

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• infinitesunrise@slrpnk.net ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  Just eat plants.

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• AdolfSchmitler@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  Rice and refried beans for me! (my cholesterol is high)

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• UltraGiGaGigantic@lemmy.ml ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  I thought pork was red meat

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• Part4@infosec.pub ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  Have children. Flying. Driving. Buying a whole range of carbon intense products blah blah blah.

  Vegans just are not credible.

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• njm1314@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  God who could even afford red meat anymore

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• Toneswirly@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  Beef and pork is no problem…but cheese and coffee aint goin quietly.

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• plyth@feddit.org ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  This needs to be normalized by calories. Soymilk and soybean oil shouldn’t be that far apart.

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• untuned@lemmy.ca ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  I guess it’s a good thing that the lone star tick is moving north

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