The British medical journal The Lancet published a study this week that advises people in rich countries to eat less red meat in order to help mitigate climate change and boost their health. Far from advocating citizens of the world entirely eschew meat, the study advised a climate-friendly cut in red-meat consumption of 10 percent of the world average by 2050; the average is currently 100 grams per person per day. However, the average reflects a rich-poor meat-consumption divide in which average people from wealthy nations consume 200 to 250 grams a day while citizens from poorer nations tend to average only 20 to 25 grams. The study actually advocated people from poorer nations increase their meat intake and advised red-meat gluttons to switch to chicken or fish since it’s healthier than red meat and because animals with only one stomach contribute less to climate change as their gas-passing and belching is more innocuous. A study released in July by Japanese researchers suggested that every pound of beef generates the equivalent of nearly 40 pounds of carbon dioxide.
