1) This is two questions. I think that lowering the current level of meat consumption would probably improve health in America, but not by huge amounts. I don’t have much evidence to back this belief in minor improvement, but there is a lot of evidence against it being a major improvement.
Regarding the planet, no, I don’t think its a problem. At all.
2) I don’t really care as long as it’s cheap, lean, tastes good, and has reasonable quality control. Ideally, meat should be grown in vats so we can tailor it better.
3) Probably not. Issues of consent become important as you get into self-aware creatures, so it’s more complicated than just yes/no.
4) Yes. I already have to go out of my way to eat meat because it’s ridiculously expensive, and I’ve been known to go to obscure shops for specific things I can’t get elsewhere.
Vegetarian:
1) Lab grown meat: yes, as long as it tasted good, wasn’t too expensive, and was satisfying.
2) Natural to eat meat: yes, obviously. We can eat, digest, and draw nutrition from vast quantities of meat without issue, and eating meat regularly is something 90% of all humans can do without problems. To say that it’s unnatural is just crazy.
3) It’s my business what other people eat to the extent that it affects me: in other words, not very much. I usually suggest people improve their eating habits because it makes my world better. Sick people aren’t as awesome to be around as healthy people.
4) My understanding is that it’s the calorie density and iron intake that are the primary health issues with meat. People tend to eat a lot of really fatty meat in one setting, which is a pretty serious calorie load. The extra iron shaves a handful of months off overall lifespan via fairly well understood mechanisms.
Omnivore:
1) This is two questions. I think that lowering the current level of meat consumption would probably improve health in America, but not by huge amounts. I don’t have much evidence to back this belief in minor improvement, but there is a lot of evidence against it being a major improvement.
Regarding the planet, no, I don’t think its a problem. At all.
2) I don’t really care as long as it’s cheap, lean, tastes good, and has reasonable quality control. Ideally, meat should be grown in vats so we can tailor it better.
3) Probably not. Issues of consent become important as you get into self-aware creatures, so it’s more complicated than just yes/no.
4) Yes. I already have to go out of my way to eat meat because it’s ridiculously expensive, and I’ve been known to go to obscure shops for specific things I can’t get elsewhere.
Vegetarian:
1) Lab grown meat: yes, as long as it tasted good, wasn’t too expensive, and was satisfying.
2) Natural to eat meat: yes, obviously. We can eat, digest, and draw nutrition from vast quantities of meat without issue, and eating meat regularly is something 90% of all humans can do without problems. To say that it’s unnatural is just crazy.
3) It’s my business what other people eat to the extent that it affects me: in other words, not very much. I usually suggest people improve their eating habits because it makes my world better. Sick people aren’t as awesome to be around as healthy people.
4) My understanding is that it’s the calorie density and iron intake that are the primary health issues with meat. People tend to eat a lot of really fatty meat in one setting, which is a pretty serious calorie load. The extra iron shaves a handful of months off overall lifespan via fairly well understood mechanisms.