“Carnivore’s Dilemma”. National Geographic, 2021, https://www.nationalgeographic.com/foodfeatures/meat/.
Who doesn’t love a good play on words? That’s exactly what got my attention when i saw the heading The Carnivore’s Dilemma. This great article goes back and forth in why people, especially here in North America, love meat so much. Its delicious, but unsustainable, but its so healthy, but then again no its not; and on it goes. It really makes you think, is eating that delicious steak really worth it?
It starts off as american as the wild west, with beef ranching. A tradition that been kept alive for generations, but is this one we should let die out? According to American’s, the answer is unclear; no one can make up their minds. However ine thing is lear, the american diet is definitely meat based, we’re eating per person 54 pounds of beef per year, as well as nearly twice as much chicken as we did in 1976, which in case you like numbers that almost 8 billion chickens and 33 million cattle that get slaughtered yearly (Carnivore’s Dilemma). But is all that meat healthy? That is highly debated question. Some wager its alright because its a signe of increased quality of life (Carnivore’s Dilemma) but if I’m being honest that sound like greed and gluttony to me. But theres one thing I can’t deny, the meat industry does employ people; well actually two things, it employs people but it has a negative impact on the environment.
Raising all those animals is bad for the environment for the obvious reason, animals, especially cows produce methane gases, which i s a powerful greenhouse gas (Carnivore’s dilemma), and the crops grown as feed aren’t exactly sustainable either. But heres the most surprising thing, feedlot cattle actually produce less methane throughout their lives then grassfed cattle (Carnivore’s Dilemma), but that still doesn’t make this method, or grass fed method any more sustainable.
Honestly this little blurb really doesnt do this article justice. I had to cut myself off there before i ended up writting an essay. This article clearly encapsulates the turmoil that we as a western society face, weather to eat meat or not. On the upside its peoples livelihoods, and meat is nutritious. But the opposite side is that at the rate we consume it its not sustainable in the slightest. Also the hidden “dark side” that the animals are full of hormones and antibiotics. The message is clear at the end, in order to have a bright future we must cut back on our meat consumption, but I urge you to read this and draw your own conclusions