<story><title>Fighting climate change may be cheaper and more beneficial than we think</title><url>https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/climate-change-mitigation-co-benefits-1.5205552</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>whiddershins</author><text>This viewpoint is expressed often but there are many counter arguments.&lt;p&gt;Nutrition is not a solved equation. We simply do not know how exactly various foods affect our health, the extent that human genetics and microbiome affect “proper” nutrition for a person, what all the essential nutrients are, what the immunoresponse to various foods are, and any number of unknown unknowns about diet. Any claims to the contrary are irresponsible at best.&lt;p&gt;You mention biodiversity but seem to be glossing over the role of ruminants in the ecological system, and the severe lack of biodiversity which can be the consequence of large scale crop production.&lt;p&gt;These and other reasons lead me to be concerned that this viewpoint is to some degree tainted by ideological blind spots.</text></item><item><author>asterix_pano</author><text>If we simply stop eating meat, it would be better for us (less cancers due to red meat and pesticides), for the environment (much less pollution, resources consumed, deforestation, CO2 and methane emissions - more biodiversity) and for the animals... so in the end it is obviously way cheaper and better but we always find excuses not to do it.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>dashundchen</author><text>&amp;gt; You mention biodiversity but seem to be glossing over the role of ruminants in the ecological system, and the severe lack of biodiversity which can be the consequence of large scale crop production.&lt;p&gt;That is true, but it&amp;#x27;s very likely the meat you buy was not grazing freely, and instead was stuffed with feed in a feedlot space or sometimes let to graze on a tiny plot to be &amp;quot;grass-fed&amp;quot;. This is how the scale of our industrial animal agriculture is met.&lt;p&gt;[0] &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.splendidtable.org&amp;#x2F;story&amp;#x2F;inside-the-factory-farm-where-97-of-us-pigs-are-raised&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.splendidtable.org&amp;#x2F;story&amp;#x2F;inside-the-factory-farm-...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt; While doing research for his book Pig Tales, author Barry Estabrook visited a farmer in Iowa who raised 150,000 pigs a year. What he saw at this factory farm -- the way 97 percent of pigs in the U.S. are raised -- is a far cry from Old MacDonald&amp;#x27;s.&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt; &amp;quot;[The pigs] never see the light of day,&amp;quot; he says. &amp;quot;They never set foot on anything but a bare, hard floor. They breathe that poisoned air 24&amp;#x2F;7.&amp;quot;&lt;p&gt;[1] &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;sentientmedia.org&amp;#x2F;u-s-farmed-animals-live-on-factory-farms&amp;#x2F;&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;sentientmedia.org&amp;#x2F;u-s-farmed-animals-live-on-factory...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt;According to the latest Sentience Institute analysis, the percent of U.S. farmed animals living on factory farms is…&lt;p&gt;* Broiler chickens (99.9%) live on factory farms&lt;p&gt;* Turkeys (99.8%) live on factory farms&lt;p&gt;* Egg chickens (98.2%) live on factory farms&lt;p&gt;* Pigs (98.3%) live on factory farms&lt;p&gt;* Cows (70.4%) live on factory farms</text></comment>
<story><title>Fighting climate change may be cheaper and more beneficial than we think</title><url>https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/climate-change-mitigation-co-benefits-1.5205552</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>whiddershins</author><text>This viewpoint is expressed often but there are many counter arguments.&lt;p&gt;Nutrition is not a solved equation. We simply do not know how exactly various foods affect our health, the extent that human genetics and microbiome affect “proper” nutrition for a person, what all the essential nutrients are, what the immunoresponse to various foods are, and any number of unknown unknowns about diet. Any claims to the contrary are irresponsible at best.&lt;p&gt;You mention biodiversity but seem to be glossing over the role of ruminants in the ecological system, and the severe lack of biodiversity which can be the consequence of large scale crop production.&lt;p&gt;These and other reasons lead me to be concerned that this viewpoint is to some degree tainted by ideological blind spots.</text></item><item><author>asterix_pano</author><text>If we simply stop eating meat, it would be better for us (less cancers due to red meat and pesticides), for the environment (much less pollution, resources consumed, deforestation, CO2 and methane emissions - more biodiversity) and for the animals... so in the end it is obviously way cheaper and better but we always find excuses not to do it.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>Vinnl</author><text>&amp;gt; Nutrition is not a solved equation. We simply do not know how exactly various foods affect our health, the extent that human genetics and microbiome affect “proper” nutrition for a person, what all the essential nutrients are, what the immunoresponse to various foods are, and any number of unknown unknowns about diet. Any claims to the contrary are irresponsible at best.&lt;p&gt;Nevertheless the same applies to the way we changed our diets in relatively recent times, and yet that hasn&amp;#x27;t stopped us.</text></comment>