How much meat do you eat?

[lanya]

Recently I've noticed in my circles that pretty much everyone is cutting back on meat due to environmental/ climate reasons.

Most people I know aren't vegetarian, but are more aware/ more careful about the amount they eat, e.g. only once or twice per week.

I am wondering whether this is the case generally across the UK, or if most people are carrying on as normal?

YABU: We are eating the same amount of meat as we always have.
YANBU: We have reduced our meat intake over the last few years for climate reasons.

Disclaimer: This isn't any kind of brag or meant to be condescending - I'm just curious.

Probably the same as before (4 or 5 times a week) but I buy it direct from farms and farm shops close to me. Same for all my food in fact, all of it is locally sourced.

As I live in Cornwall this is easy.

Dear God - did ChatGPT write this? All the “furthermore”, “additionally” “thus” - reads remarkably close to what chat GPT would say to a prompt about protein intake and veganism

Much less than a decade ago. I went mostly vegetarian in 2018, and it was because of climate, followed by health. Once I did it, I found I let myself think about all the animal welfare issues that I hadn’t bothered about before, and then they too became a strong reason for me.

I say “mostly” as DH and DS still like meat but we only have it at home about once a month if that; they have it if we eat out. DH does most of the cooking and he cooks veggie. We do have eggs and dairy although we dropped milk for soya some years ago.

We dropped fish a few years later - it’s just unsustainable. Salmon is farmed. Most other stuff is over fished. Trawling is vile and destroys sea bed and habitat. By catch is horrific and floating “ghost” nets mean a slow death for entangled sea life. The only fish I eat now is shell fish where I can see it come out of the water, that is, on holiday.

Breakfast - never
Lunch - once or twice a week (tuna)
Dinners - probably average 4 days a week. (Beef bolognese on two days, fish fingers once a week and maybe some chicken another day).

Been like this for a few years. Reasons why:
Ease of veggie meals
Not fussed about taste of most meat (but could never give it up altogether)
Cost
Health (also rarely eat sausage/bacon)

DS eats with me but DH eats separately and eats meat for most dinners.

I eat quite small portions of meat as well. I am prone to low iron and I thing I'd find trying to address this quite labour intensive as a veggie or vegan.

I don't know many veggies and I'd say most people I know eat meat, but not for every dinner.

I've not really considered the environment to be totally honest.

Edit - I would guess most people cut down on meat for cost, perceived health and because culturally there are now more veggie ideas. I think climate and cruelty are way down the list of reasons (unless you're full on veggie in the latter case).

Thanks. I won't ever change tho. I enjoy meat and salad. Will continue to enjoy it

Maybe but not by world percentage. More people are meat eaters than non meat eaters.

Every day. It's healthier.

Third option, ethical reasons - we only eat meat bought directly from local farms that we visit in person and get to see the animals. We buy a 30 kg box of portioned beef (various pieces including the so-called subprime beef so it requires cooking skills) or lamb/mutton. The animals we eat graze outside all year round with free access to a winter shelter and they also live for several winters before slaughter.

We eat meat 3 times a week for dinner and buying directly saved us a fortune. This might sound like a posh option but we actually pay less per kilo of much better meat than we would get from a supermarket plus all the money goes directly to the farmers.

Climate reasons are important but grazing animals are also key to biodiversity which in turn is key to pollinators. “Our” farmers even rent some of their animals to graze in nature reserves to preserve the ecosystem which would otherwise turn into a forest.

We have reduced meat to roughly once a week for both climate and health reasons. We now only eat high-quality meat from our local butcher. If I lived by myself I would probably be 100% veggie but DH and the kids still really enjoy some meat in their diet.

Eat meat most days, I do make some vegetarian dishes but unless DDs are visiting (who are vegetarian) it's not a deliberate thing, just some things I cook do not contain meat. I often have (I know it's bad) cured meat in sandwiches for lunch

I actually eat more meat I have some everyday because I feel healthier when I do

@ToBeOrNotToBee

Hear hear

I was told similarly by my dietician. I struggle to metabolise iron from vegetable sources in my case and animal protein is easier to digest, I find too much fibre causes me issues. I'm personally at ease buying food from local farmers rather than the food miles of some non meat based foods

I think there's a real tension between "REDUCE CARBS!" which is what everyone on MN says re. diet, and also "REDUCE MEAT!" which is also what everyone claims.

Feck knows how I could reduce carbs AND reduce meat. I'd be gnawing on kale and sad.

Protein: rice & beans; chickpeas; hummus; yoghurt; nuts; nut butters; cheese; legumes…
Vitamins, calcium etc: dark leafy vegetables in general, eating a varied diet, plus a multi vitamin esp in the winter for vit D

A lot of plants worldwide, including the majority of soy, is grown to feed animals. It’s totally inefficient. If we wanted to feed 8b people we could, simply by cutting the animals out of the food chain. Those of you buying local meat, I applaud your intentions, but there isn’t enough land for all meat to be raised this way and for everyone to eat the quantity of meat society does now. The only way that is sustainable is fewer people, fewer meat meals, and fewer animals - which is how it used to be in the past before big ag conglomerates. Therefore reducing meat consumption goes hand in hand with local and sustainable - it’s a treat, not an everyday food. Remember your local meat has probably had supplementary feeding using plants grown abroad - certainly the case for beef and chicken (probably less for upland sheep). Reducing is the only way to go if we want less carbon, more wildlife, less chicken shit in our rivers, and fewer antibiotics driving resistance to bugs.

@catlady7 forgive me for answering the question asked

Well no one can force you and that's OK.

Some people aren't able to change, for whatever reason. Some just don't want to, and their own diet and preferences are more important to them than wider issues. That's OK. We're all human and none of us are saints. I do loads of things that are probably terrible for the environment. Most of us do. That's modern life for you.

What I would say though, gently, is that if you currently don't actually know a lot about the impact of meat, it might be interesting for you to look it up, and get that knowledge, so that you do understand what goes into making your steak.

I don't mean videos like the provocative animal cruelty one posted above - I mean just googling about the CO2 emissions of beef, for example.

I found it quite eye opening and once you know, then at least you know you've made an informed decision. Maybe you would do more in other areas that might make up for it like doing more recycling or sustainable gardening something, I don't know.

Anyway, best wishes to you - enjoy your steak :)

I eat whatever I like just as I always have, including meat, fish and dairy.

I don't drive, fly or have children, so my contribution to planet saving likely evens out pretty well.

Forgot to add that I never eat meat when I eat out or travel. I would not touch meat produced in the UK with a barge pole, for example, because of the local regulations that allow for slaughter without stunning. As an average consumer I have no way to find out how the animal was killed so I just don’t eat meat unless it’s from “our” farmers.

We have only reduced the frequency of roasts. So we don’t have those weekly and have something cheaper.
But DD is a meat fiend and it features heavily here.
We are having more mince and sausages and fewer chicken breasts I guess but not hugely.

As early adopters of fully electric cars (since 2015), we also seldom fly and have a house with air source heating and generate own power. One child. We do enough.

You cannot ascribe all the CO2 emissions from the livestock industry to meat though. You have to take into account all the byproducts, and think about the emissions that would arise if we had to manufacture those instead. Vegan leather being a case in point.
The difference to emissions might not be that much, and this should be taken into account.

We eat meat 2-3 times a week.

DH is vegetarian so its easier to eat mostly vegetarian. But I like meat so we don't abstain.

Vegan leather, God help us all, is the bastard love child of the car and plastics industry; the plastic being a by product of oil. We can do without that too!
Car seats, shoes, etc can be made from fabric such as cotton, hemp, bamboo etc, or even recycled and reclaimed plastic (many manufacturers are doing this already). We don’t need animals for it!

I think it's fairly common knowledge that CO2 emissions from the meat industry are substantial and the more that people reduce their intake of meat and dairy products, the better.

If you feel I am wrong about this I'd be very open to reading any research or articles from reliable sources.

I don't believe that the production of vegan leather is enough of a reason to justify continuing to eat a lot of meat.

We eat meat rarely at home. I sometimes choose it in restaurants. Mixture of environmental and health concerns.

I already know about all that and well informed in farming.