Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Prius vs. Prime Rib


















If you are a person concerned with what you can do to help mitigate climate change, read this short article from the Washington Post.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/28/AR2009072800390.html

11 comments:

Shoshanah Marohn said...

That's a good link. It really sums it up nicely. I am a not-very-strict vegetarian myself, in part for those reasons.

Anonymous said...

This is really eye-opening; thanks!

Unknown said...

Please pardon my ignorance (at least ignorance can be fixed, unlike stupidity, with which it is frequently confused), but what is the difference between a vegan and a vegetarian?

RSJ said...

Referring to the pic: What a couple of phonies! ;)

June said...

Klein has it right. 30 years ago I used to teach this to my environmental studies students: The best thing to do for the environment is don't eat meat and also only have 1/2 child--one per couple and no re-dos for a second spouse.

doug nicodemus said...

i posted your post and part of the wp's artical on ces' blog..as the only way we can repay you for your kindness

www.censys.org/blog

eating meat is stupid and i am posting on stupid things so i thought i would start with your favorite...

did you catch the lame humor in "gut check"

Jym said...

=v= Definitions: "vegetarian" means not eating animals, and "vegan" means not eating animals nor animal products.

Driving cars and eating animals are actually two very close contenders for the #1 thing that everyday people do that's bad for the environment. Switching to a hybrid doesn't help much, but going carfree does.

Given that nearly all of the country is built around the car, it's probably easier to go vegetarian than carfree. But you know, it used to be a lot harder to go vegetarian than it is today!

s. said...

Daniel,

a vegan avoids all animal products (including milk, eggs, honey), while a vegetarian eschews meat while still consuming milk and eggs.

There may be regional differences in the terminology - at the college I attended, "V" on food in the cafeteria meant no animal products whatsoever (at least theoretically - mass produced food, it is hard to tell...), "OL", short for "ovo-lacto-vegetarian" meant that the food didn't contain meat but did have milk or eggs. I've heard "strict vegetarian" to mean either someone who doesn't eat any meat (opposed to a pesco-vegetarian, who eats fish or seafood) or a vegan (who avoids animal products altogether).

In short, it's a confusing jumble of terminology, but generally speaking "vegan" is stricter than "vegetarian".

If you're inviting someone over to dinner, it's probably best to ask them about which specific foods they (don't) eat than to try to figure it out from the label they use.

Anonymous said...

I think they should do something about the cow flatulence swamps... like innovate or something rather than put taxes on hamburgers. We need to demand better food products and be willing to pay more for them vs letting the government control our menu choices.
http://www.foodincmovie.com/

its always easier to revolt against a corporation than the government...

Anonymous said...

I shared that link on my Facebook (and for those who will want to knock it, don't; these are all friends I actually meet up with in person, but we only get one day a week to meet because of our work schedules so we use Facebook to share more day-to-day ideas).

In any case, thank you for sharing! I'm sure I can budget for a meal or two a week to be vegetarian, and I'll try to convince my friends and family to adopt this method too.

RSJ said...

@ anonymous: That's true, it is easier to revolt against a corporation than 'city hall' but, increasingly, the differences between our government and our large corporations are nearly indistinguishable. Government of, by and for the people has become government of, by and for the money.