Tyson Foods: 'food supply chain is breaking' especially with meat

[Brittain33]

The U.S. will do just fine once people realize they can live well without eating meat. Beef is terrible for the environment and with climate change we can’t afford the exhaustion of water supplies and additional greenhouse gases.

[Brittain33]

This could also lead to many pet cats dying, since meat is an essential ingredient for them.

What percentage of meat production in the U.S. goes into pet food, though? I’m sure my cats eat less meat in a year than an average American eats in two weeks. Besides, meat doesn’t have to go away completely, we just can’t sustain it as a staple produced on industrial scale.

[Brittain33]

I can't think of a less sympathetic occasion for pushing vegetarianism than a time when so many farmers are fearing bankruptcy, agricultural workers are out of their jobs, animals are being led to pointless slaughter by the tens of thousands, and Americans are lining up at food banks in record numbers.

The moral or economic case for eating less meat remains as strong or as weak as it ever was, but anyone who isn't already convinced will view those appeals with as much contempt as "the earth is healing itself."

At this point the most likely outcome is somewhat higher prices in the fall, so it's not even as this will make much of a dent on meat consumption except among the American poor, a group in which many more of us may soon find ourselves.

I know, no one is going to become a vegetarian because I pointed this out. It’s why I say this here on Atlas but not to my real friends. Here, I can say that I’m really interested to see how people respond when meat is taken from them, not given up.

Those jobs in industrial meat packing are terrible, BTW, and we won’t miss them if they go away.

[Brittain33]

except nobody has argued meat production is good for the environment, but hey this thread does need more straw.

Like Averros said, anyone trying to exploit this crap to push a "Green New Deal with extra steps" is going to provoke a harsh reaction. Seriously, kale munchers lecturing about how no one NEEDS meat is going to piss plenty of fence sitters off. Ive already seen greenies posting on social media about how Hopefully gas and oil jobs being lost now never return. No jobs, no church, no protesting, and now no meat. Good luck forcing us to obey.

It’s not helpful to campaign on, sure, but I don’t see any risk to discussing this truthfully here.

[Brittain33]

Our nation's food supply chain is not equipped to feed everybody on a vegan diet tomorrow. Even if they aren't the only sources, our society is geared towards meat as the primary source of nutrients such as proteins and iron, and if all meat disappeared from the shelves it would make plant foods more scarce due to higher demand. We can't operate based on your perfect ideals, we have to operate based on reality. And the reality is that meats are an essential food in this society.

I agree, vegan diet would be very hard. But vegetarian would be doable. People get protein from eggs, cheese, nuts. They’re also at risk from supply chain disruption, but they don’t seem to require humans to go to plague factories.

Again, I’m not saying that we should experiment for the sake of it. I’m saying the experiment is going to happen because our industrial meat supply is fragile, and I’m curious what it’s going to look like.

Rationing in the UK in World War II was a deeply unpleasant and inconvenient experience for most people, but no one actually went hungry and many people were much better nourished than in peacetime. It’s that kind of thing. Nothing to celebrate but it’s happening.