reply on: Now, THAT'S a Satisfying Chart (Our World in Data, Agricultural Production) \ stacker news ~econ

pull down to refresh

31 sats \ 3 replies \ @Signal312 21 Mar \ parent \ on: Now, THAT'S a Satisfying Chart (Our World in Data, Agricultural Production) econ

I do believe that vegetarianism is being strongly pushed for.

For instance:

companies such as Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods funding vegetarian/vegan shows like The Game Changers, Cowspiracy, or What the Health
the USDA pushing for even less meat, even though red meat consumption has been going down. They specifically focus on filling your plate with grain and fruit/vegatables, and emphasizing legumes as a protein source.
Many government institutions (public schools, hospitals, prisons, etc) are required to follow the USDA guidelines. This has a huge influence on the diet.

0 sats \ 2 replies \ @Undisciplined 21 Mar

They've been pushing grain forever, I don't see that as related to a vegetarian agenda (other than opportunistically). The issue there is that grain is really easy to grow and farmers have a lot of political influence, so they try to find other things to do with it than just feed it to non-human animals.

Bringing up two companies funding programming is super one-sided analysis. The meat and dairy industries spend so much more money on marketing and messaging. However, private companies paying for messaging is just normal business. What isn't normal market functioning is all the lobbying that goes on, which is enormously skewed towards animal products. A level playing field would have far less privileging of current animal production practices.

I know lots of people who work for the USDA. There's no vegan agenda to speak of. In fact, there's way more concern about pissing off the various animal product lobbies. It's just as captured by Big Ag as the FDA is by Big Pharma.

42 sats \ 1 reply \ @Signal312 21 Mar

Where do you get this?

The meat and dairy industries spend so much more money on marketing and messaging.

From what I gather, the opposite is the case. Check out this article about conflicts of interest (with processed food and pharma companies) on the advisory board that recommend changes to the US nutritional guidelines. https://www.nutritioncoalition.us/conflicts-of-interest

To summarize - "95% of Expert Committee for the 2020 Dietary Guidelines Had Tie with a Food or Pharmaceutical Company".

Here's another interesting article from Nina Teicholtz, details of how the USDA is pushing beans-peas-lentils over animal products. https://unsettledscience.substack.com/p/get-ready-to-eat-beans-peas-lentils

I remember seeing in Mexico, where I visited recently, a pro-dairy billboard. I really noticed it, because I can't remember the last time I've seen anything like that in the US.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Undisciplined 21 Mar

I'm basing my claim on the approximately 100% of food based ads I see not being for plant-based foods, and typically emphasizing how "meaty" or "cheesey" their product is, and the similar proportion of product placement in tv shows.

I've never seen a food related billboard that was for a plant-based product. The only ones I can think of are for steak, burgers, breakfast foods like sausage/bacon/eggs/pancakes/etc., or cheese curds for some reason.

I can see your point on the food pyramid changes, but the food pyramid is also still recommending meat and dairy consumption for everyone. That's definitionally not a vegan diet recommendation.

I'm not sure what your point is about the conflicts of interest. A bunch of those are exactly what I said: pork, egg, dairy, etc. Also, when you recognize that almost all grains and soybeans go into animal feed, you have to include those as part of the animal production industry too, because they're just an intermediate input producer.