meat...

Americans are downing close to 200 pounds of meat, poultry and fish per capita per year (dairy and eggs are separate, and hardly insignificant), an increase of 50 pounds per person from 50 years ago. We each consume something like 110 grams of protein a day, about twice the federal government’s recommended allowance; of that, about 75 grams come from animal protein. (The recommended level is itself considered by many dietary experts to be higher than it needs to be.) It’s likely that most of us would do just fine on around 30 grams of protein a day, virtually all of it from plant sources.

That's more or less from Bitten's TED talk. His blog is certainly an interesting read. Not sure about the skinless boneless chicken breast but hey, it works. Better than opening a pack of frozen something or other.

But maybe if you aren't able to watch the whole TED talk, you want to read the accompanying article... Here.

Just stuff to think about. How much meat is being consumed around you. How many meals a day do you include meat? What would you replace it with?

Like the new vegetarians and vegans who crave their cheese like products and meat like products, will people who are trying to cut back on meat substitute with vegetable protein options like Boca Burgers and Gimme Lean type options?

Is eating meat substitutes any better for us? Probably yes. But is that the intent of Pollan's whole In Defense of Food and the residual movement that he started with the Omnivores dilemma, that seems to have been build on the foundations of Wendel Berry's ideas?

If an individual took a given budget that currently includes cheap industrial beef, chicken and pork and substituted that dollar value they represent with grass fed beef (say from La Cense) or similarly sustainably raised chicken and pork they might actually hit the 0.5 pound/week recommended protein allotment that many people suggest is optimal.

Is there an easy answer?

Nope.

Is the magic bullet to be vegan? Probably. Is that an easy sell to the population?

Nope.

Too many line breaks?

maybe- but i like the visual pauses they convey... emphasizing with ellipses

does something need to drastically shift? yeah... it does...

But heck, in the mean time I'm looking forward to a little 18 mile race on the Mt Bike on sunday! Whooo hooo.

g