Topic: Eating Less Meat?

[Froglegs]

If it was not for ya ancestor's leaving the forest and a diet of fruit and nuts, and becoming omnivores by hunting for meat on the savannah you would probably still be siting on a log scratching ya arse waiting for the figs to ripen.Hunting required a bigger brain which was very energy-hungry and needed plenty of high-protein foods like meat,which in turn required greater intelligence to gather. So as i said before who am i to argue with evolution.

[Old bird]

Fair comment Redclanger!

Old Bird

 ;D

[asbean]

If god didnt want us to eat meat he wouldnt have made it taste so good!! :P

Look what eating apples did to Adam and Eve  :o :o :o :o :o

[Bionic Wellies]

I eat meat - not every day mind you.  At one point we (wife & I) ate no meat (including fish) at all (for about 7 - 8 years).  During that period we had our children (I mean they were born during that period - we didn't eat them!) and we all ate the same food.  There didn't seem to me to be any detrimental effects on any of us.

One thing though, a vast amount of our land in the UK is not really suitable for growing anything other than grass - and we can't eat grass in any great quantity - or we'd be net contributors to methane production too - mind you that could save a bit on central heating!  So by getting sheep and cows to process the grass for us (and making it so much tastier in the process) we can make use of land that would otherwise be left to run to weeds.

[betula]

We are eating a lot less meat as we have found the older we are getting ,the harder it is to digest.

I understand what you are saying redclanger :)

[hopalong]

I agree strongly with Redclanger that this is not a nanny state thing. It's quite legitimate for government and its agencies to issue advice and guidance on things that have a significant impact people's health as well as the global environment.  This is not the same as interfering with our freedom of choice and dictating what we can and cannot eat.

Having said that, there are few things to beat juicy lamb chops braised on a delicious bed of home grown veg, or Cumberland or Lincolnshire sausages with home grown spuds and beans.  In moderation, of course!

[Tin Shed]

Doing my bit tonight - its cabbage and pasta bake - have warned the OH in advance!

[isbister]

Thank you Oakmore 2 for pointing out that a goat is not an omnivore but a ruminant. My mistake. Please substitute a pig or a rat as true omnivores. Your assertion that we are more akin to carnivores is baffling however, carnivores thrive on an extreme Atkins diet, if we try to do same we lose weight and get ill - ie not healthy for us. And whoever said that were it not for hunting and meat eating we'd still be sitting on a log waiting for the figs to ripen - very true, meat eating has served us well in the past but as usual we've taken it too far and those days are now gone.
Reading the other posts it seems agreed that, in the matter of meat consumption, moderation is the key. What is moderation though? I would suggest that no more one portion of meat and one of fish per week is what is required to keep us, animals, agriculture and the planet in general all much happier

[theothermarg]

I am a meat eater although I agree that everything in moderation is wise,you only have to look at our teeth (Cannines) to see that this is true
all 3 of my children were vegies (1 changed when he moved to the USA)
I am cutting down meat a lot as the price goes up,would like the greenest but cannot afford to as I am on a basic wage
what makes me angry about this nanny state is that in my opinion sugar ought to carry a health warning! I cut out all visible sugar to lose 3st and now only have to eat the sweet things I used to love before I start being hooked and feeling ill,that is the cause of most of the explosion of fatties and maybe behaviour problems!
marg

[oakmore2]

Your assertion that we are more akin to carnivores is baffling however, carnivores thrive on an extreme Atkins diet, if we try to do same we lose weight and get ill - ie not healthy for us.

It is clear from the anatomy of our gastro-intestinal tract that we have more in common with carnivores than herbivores. I never said that we thrive on an Atkins diet - I simply stated that we are omnivores, and that whilst we can survive on a herbivorous diet, our gastrointestinal tract is testament to the fact that we evolved to be omnivores.

Reading the other posts it seems agreed that, in the matter of meat consumption, moderation is the key. What is moderation though? I would suggest that no more one portion of meat and one of fish per week is what is required to keep us, animals, agriculture and the planet in general all much happier

Totally agree with this Isbister, I think this is a really sensible approach to achieving moderation in our diets.

[Borlotti]

Just cooked spicy potato curry from Sawfish 10 Feb, 2007 from Recipes4All.  I also have beef stew in the oven for OH (who thinks veggie food will poison him) as I have a Committee meeting tonight. (I bet he will try the curry whilst I am out).  The veg. curry was for my daughter tomorrow but it tastes and smells so good that I think I will eat it now with nan bread.  Thank you Sawfish if you are still on site.  I think meat every other day is fine, but a lot of people do seem to eat too much.  If I have a lamb curry I love the gravy and a little meat with loads of rice and spinach.  I think women (ladies) are much more inclined to eat salad, veggie meals but if cooking for man (men) they have a strop if not served meat.  I used to do match suppers and the ladies were easy but the mens matches wouldn't have salad and wanted meat pies etc.

[redimp]

I think women (ladies) are much more inclined to eat salad, veggie meals but if cooking for man (men) they have a strop if not served meat.  I used to do match suppers and the ladies were easy but the mens matches wouldn't have salad and wanted meat pies etc.

Just for the record, I am very much a testosterone fuelled man (5 o'clock shadow by noon) and have been a healthy vegetarian (bar one drunken bacon sarnie aged 20) for the past 20 years ;D  Wish I could permanently give up smoking though! >:(

[Borlotti]

Great, let's hear from all the male veggies.  I have had many arguments with OH about how unhealthy it is not to eat meat.  I must confess I smoke, would find it easier to give up meat than ciggies.  Oh well we can't all be perfect.

[Melbourne12]

.... As for protein, as adults we need very little, no more than 5% tops, it is needed for growth and repair. Mother's milk has highest proportion of protein, as you'd expect, but still only 7% and you'll never need more than that. Meat has 25% to 35% ...
I hope this clears this up.

I realise that you're probably exaggerating for effect, but I'll just point out that the official NHS and DEFRA approved range (AMDR) is 10% to 35% of kCals intake.  5% would be damagingly low in the medium to long term.

And vegetarians need more protein because plant proteins aren't balanced in a digestible way.  So actually, meat protein is more readily digestible than plant protein (although of course arranging meals to contain complementary proteins helps).

And from the USDA database, I see that stewed chicken contains about 50% protein (% of kCals), braised pork chops around 45%, and grilled lean beef up to 60%.  Most fish are well over 80%.  But sadly for your argument, we have egg white at around 90%, watercress 84%, asparagus 65%, beansprouts and shoots typically 50% to 60%, mushrooms 55%, (in fact the vast majority of vegetables are over your magic 5%), tofu 40-45%, most nuts over 10%, porridge at nearly 20%, rhubarb 17%, melons, apricots, loganberries and many others well over 10%.

So luckily it's quite difficult to eat less than 10% of your kCals as protein.   ;D

[Mr Smith]

 I agree with eating less red meat but I  do enjoy a freshly necked free range chicken/cockeral(off my mate) and Fish, but the number of Scroats I see making their way to Uncle Rolands to stuff their faces with whatever they serve up in there makes me puke, there is nothing better than fresh Mackeral straight from the sea and served up within a couple of hours, I'm getting hungry :P

[jjt]

Be thankful you live somewhere where you can choose what you eat and argue over minutiae like protein percentages. It's not always been like this and it won't always be like it either.

[Froglegs]

I would suggest that no more one portion of meat and one of fish per week is what is required to keep us, animals, agriculture and the planet in general all much happier

So me eating less meat will save the planet  :o......explain how that works then ???.

[PurpleHeather]

I too eat meat, although like most people, it is the usual supermarket packs of prepared stuff. I enjoy the odd vegetarian meal too and would certainly have to become one if I had to do my own slaughtering.

I found an interesting article about meat though. It seems some one has tested the fat from animals who have only been grazed for generations. What we would call totally naturally reared as opposed to animals who have been bred for farming and fed commercial feed stuff.

In Brief, the difference found was in the cholesterol levels, the naturally reared and fed animal's fat did not produce any problems with cholesterol unlike  commercially produced animal's fat does.

Sadly, they also said that the healthier meat costs something like £70 a kilo to produce and that there was not sufficient grazing land to produce enough for every one (although at £70 a kilo that would be self governing)

[grawrc]

The mass availability of a huge diversity of prime cuts of meat is a relatively modern phenomenon which has taken place certainly within my lifetime and probably coinciding with the growth of foreign travel and the arrival of the supermarket. The vast majority of people ate very little meat and what they did was spread over far more meals. We have become greedy and self-indulgent in our eating - and drinking - habits and pay the consequences of illness and obesity. But the mass farming of living things is contributing to destroying the planet. We need to eat less meat and if we do eat it, to be prepared to pay dearly for it.

[Bean_Queen]

Just my tuppence worth.  ;D
Vegetarians aren't necessarily weedy & sickly.  I've been veggie for 20 yrs; I am the same dress size as when I was at school; I am not, nor ever have been, anaemic (even when suffering from heavy periods... sorry to the squeamish).
Because I am fit & active, I have muscles on my muscles ... so meat is not necessary for physical strength or muscle development. Did anyone see the recent TV programme about that nice boy who cycled the world?  He was a vegetarian (and a fine figure of a man too).

Protein is provided in most foods, esp. eggs, dairy, beans and pulses, nuts, seeds and soya products.  You don't need as much protein as you think you do, and although vegetarian protein is thought to be not a "complete" protein, if you combine your ingredients (like grain with a pulse ~ beans on toast), you will be getting all the protein you need. see here for more info: http://www.vegsoc.org/info/protein.html

Meat is a very inefficient way to feed a population.  It takes a hell of a lot of grain/cereal to feed a cow ~ a waste of grain that could be used to feed people instead of cows.  The world's population is exploding; how and what are all those extra babies going to eat? The developing world is getting a taste for a Western diet, ie more meat.  This isn't sustainable. There aren't enough resources for all those people, let alone all those extra farm animals.

Even if you don't give a fig for the developing world, have a thought towards your own health, and your pocket. Meat is expensive, and getting more so. Why not use it more as a garnish than a main part of the meal?  For instance, have a chilli con carne, but substitute half the meat for soya mince or lentils (you probably won't notice: I served chilli for 50 last month, and nobody guessed there was soya & lentils in it).

You don't need to become a vegetarian, but you could reduce the amount of meat you eat.  You won't be less of a man for it!

The advice (on diet) is put out there for you to take or leave, but at least give it consideration before closing your mind, putting your fingers in your ears and going "la, la, la I'm not listening"