'TO Eat meat or not to eat
meat,' that is the question
Already in decline for a few
years, the global meat industry has to face a new consumption
challenge initiated by The World Health Organisation's report
released this Monday. According to the latter, cured and processed
meat, such as bacon, sausages and ham, is as carcinogenic as tobacco,
arsenic, alcohol and asbestos and that red meat may as well. “That
can't be true!”, you say to yourself while eating a hot-dog.
Unfortunately, it is.
Smoking
cattle?
As
stated in the report published
by
WHO's
International Agency for Research on Cancer,
processed
meat has been ranked in a
group 1 right next to tobacco and other harmful chemical ingredients
while red meat has been ranked in a
group 2A as “probably carcinogenic to humans” alongside
glyphosate, an important element of weed-killing products. And here
is the
clash.
The meat industry has
accused
WHO of
conducting
a biased research study
and publishing a
misleading
comparison and information that will strongly
impact this agricultural sector. And,
they
have
quite a
good reason for being angry.
The
issue
is
that
the
number
of
cancer
deaths related
to
the
diets
high in processed and red meat is
only around
50 000 in comparison to
the
million
lung cancer deaths
caused
by tobacco smoking or the
600
000 due to alcohol. The
IARC's report has also forgotten to mention all the
benefits that meat has for the
human body. Even
most nutritionists
have
agreed
with
the meat industry by saying that the risk of getting
cancer due to eating processed or red meat was
relatively small. Moreover,
they have highlighted
that
the increase
in
bowel cancer was
much more related to
obesity due to
an
unhealthy
diet
and lack of exercise.
Meat consumption death?
After
the publication of the
results
and its
criticism,
several IARC's researchers
have
declared that meat is obviously not as dangerous as smoking. However,
this does not change the ranking and people's comprehension and
perception of
the
risk of eating meat.
Nevertheless, the meat
industry cannot blame WHO for discouraging
people from buying processed and red meat products. In
the last ten years, the meat industry has registered a
15
% decrease in
worldwide meat consumption. Generally,
this is
owing
to the rise in
people's awareness of
the matter of health and
also
in the matter of the
environment
and animal welfare.
Meat and its harmfulness is not a new issue - doctors have been
warning about its negative effects for quite a long time. For
instance, in 2003, the USA, the leader in meat consumption and also
one of the most overweight nations, launched a Meatless Monday
program to encourage people to eat more vegetable-based meals and
change their diet habits. Furthermore, nowadays,
everybody is talking
more and more about
the important environmental impact of livestock. Heavy carbon
footprint, corn consumption, waste, water polluting byproducts,
antibiotic use, and animal abuse make people think about the
influence that our consuming habits have
on our planet and our future. In 2006, Food and Agriculture
Organization published a report confirming that 18% of anthropogenic
GHG emissions resulted from livestock.
Industry vs. we
So,
who is the real enemy of the meat industry? Certainly not a single
report published by WHO. The issue is that the meat industry has to
face people's curiosity and awareness. And this
does not match with companies' selfish
objectives to mass-produce antibiotic and preservative-stuffed meat
without regard to people's health and animals' well-being.
Moreover, most governments have already taken a position in this
clash of interests, thus, they support less and less the big
companies hiding the dark side of their business.
For most people, eating meat is still an important part of their
diet and they are right. It is an important source of iron, zinc,
vitamin B12 and protein and it has been a part of our diet for
hundreds of years. However, with the all accumulated knowledge we
have now, should not we focus more on
the quality
rather than the
quantity of what
we eat?
Kristina C.
People think that they need meat everyday and that it is the only way to eat proteins but it is not. And the meat industry causes a lot of ecological damage and kill billions of animals. Maybe with the WHO Report more people will stop eating meat.
ReplyDeletePeople think that they need meat everyday and that it is the only way to eat proteins but it is not. And the meat industry causes a lot of ecological damage and kill billions of animals. Maybe with the WHO Report more people will stop eating meat.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteThank you very much for your comment Audrey! :)
DeleteI agree with you that there is still quite a lot of people who think that meat has to be eaten every day (for instance my mum :/ who thinks that I am a vegetarian because I try to make her eat some vegetable when she comes to see me). From my point of view the world is changing little by little. This change, not only in eating habits, is coming slowly but surely. There is more and more people who eat vegetable, and we can suppose that they will make their children used to eat more vegetable too.
According to some research that I read, the human brain evolution is directly related to the consumption of meat, thus we would probably not be who we are if our ancestors did not eat meat. I know that is a good excuse, for all meat-lovers, but I think a balanced diet is a key to success.
However, for me, the real worldwide issue is not really meat and its consumption. The problem is all these big multinational companies happily selling us genetically modified food. I do not know where you do your shopping but do you know that the most of vegetable grows from sterile seeds? Have you already heard about UPOV convention from 1991 or Plant Reproductive Material Law from 2013? According to the latter, it is illegal to grow, reproduce or trade with non-registered plants. And who has all these licenses? Try to guess.
Kristina C.
I agree with you Audrey when you say that eating meat causes the death of billions of animals but you cannot change people’s behaviour just like that. In some families, eating meat is part of their life, a tradition that you will never manage to remove. I’m thinking about the hunters and farmers for example.
ReplyDeleteI adore animals but I eat meat sometimes and I know that if one day I had not to eat meat I would have the ability to do this but it’s part of our habits. Maybe we can stop eating meat and replace it by fish for the proteins but same problem: billions of fishes will be killed.
Laurine V.
Hello Laurine :)
DeleteThank you for your comment!
I agree with you but it is true that we are in a kind of vicious circle. However, as written by Audrey, it is important to make people conscious of the impact they have on the environment, and I do not mean only eating habits. For me, the problem is that a lot of people do not want to do an effort saying that other people do not do any effort too, thus what they should do some (i.e. people throwing rubbish on the ground...I hate that! ). It is completely stupid, but you would be surprised the number of people, even in our surrounding, who think this way. Probably this report will not change the world, but if it helps to change the attitude of even few people, it is a success.
Kristina C.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteYou do not need to eat fish as well. There are more proteins in other food than fish or meat most of the time. It is important to raise people awareness.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with you Audrey. It is important to inform people about other protein sources, however the problem is not really only in people's consuming habits...I just think that journalists should rather inform us about the unfair practices of agricultural giants.
DeleteI think that there must be also a European regulation organisation/system put in place in order to monitor if companies are informing consumers about the origin of the meat. And if it already exists , it has to be more strict.
DeleteF. Cholakova
I agree with you Audrey and Kristina,this report is a good thing in the way to prevent people of the importance of the situation but some people don't care about that and as you said Kristina you can't imagine the number of people who don't care about the impacts of throwing rubbish on the ground as you said and even in this case eating meat.
DeleteI am not saying that eating meat is a good thing I am just saying that if you want to change people's behavior it's a lost battle.
Laurine V.
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteThank you Audrey, Fely and Laurine.
DeleteThere is a system that regulates the meat market and it is true that it should be more strict however the agricultural lobby has stronger influence on this organisation than a simple citizen. For me, the issue is not only in “eating meat is bad”, it is the whole agricultural system that it is corrupted and works in favour of big companies.
Kristina C.
Hello Kristina :)
ReplyDeleteI just wanted to give you my point of view about the topic, personally I never take this kind of scientific reports into account because I always find them too exaggerated, I don't think that meat itself is dangerous but it's just the fact to eat too much meat, I think we miss the point by saying this, so it's not about a problem of "eat meat or not" but it's a problem of consumption, the fact that we shouldn't eat meat everyday.
Sarah T.
Hello Sarah,
Deletethank you for your comment. I agree with you! For sure, every report is biased in order to prove someone's stand point. They are thus never really objectives, even if written by scientists. For this reason, it is important to read a lot and become able to create our own opinion.
Kristina C.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteMeat is really good, I love it ! However I do totally agree that we can find protein in other kind of food and for environmental reason we should definitly reduce our consumption of meat. But I do not think that the meat itself is that harmful for us, it is more the way how the meat industry treats and modifies it, which make this delicious source of protein dangerous. So, to all meat lovers : Try not to buy cheap meat, subserve organic and local producer for the sake of your health and our world.
DeleteMeat is really good, I love it ! However I do totally agree that we can find protein in other kind of food and for environmental reason we should definitly reduce our consumption of meat. But I do not think that the meat itself is that harmful for us, it is more the way how the meat industry treats and modifies it, which make this delicious source of protein dangerous. So, to all meat lovers : Try not to buy cheap meat, subserve organic and local producer for the sake of your health and our world.
DeleteHihihi !
DeleteThank you Swan! I agree with you! I do the same. I prefer to buy meat on a local market. I know, it is more expensive, and consequently I eat less meat but I am sure that I do not eat reconstituted food. In addition, it helps to support local producer against the unfair practices of agricultural giants.
Kristina C.