On my first day of college—August 18th, 2021 - I decided to strive towards becoming vegetarian, primarily for animal welfare reasons. Before college, I consumed around a median American quantity of meat, but I decided to make this change because Berkeley has more accessible vegetarian options compared to home. Since then, I’ve avoided meat for roughly 90% of meals.
Thoughts:
Reducing my meat consumption has been surprisingly manageable so far—I’ve never craved the meat options at the dining hall because the food isn’t great overall. In addition, I can order/cook my own food in college instead of eating the same meal as my family back home, so I have higher agency over what I eat. In January 2022, I was fortunate to eat great catered vegan food at MLAB, which made being vegetarian much easier at that time.
I wonder how much my reduction in meat consumption actually decreases meat production, and which actions are higher-impact than others; for example, unsure if eating vegetarian at my dining hall matters if they order the same amount of vegetarian/non-vegetarian food regardless of demand or throw away unserved leftovers.
It’s not clear to me whether being vegetarian is effectively altruistic compared to other actions one could take, and I’m not sure if being vegetarian is more expensive than eating meat.
Example: I went to an EA retreat which catered vegetarian burgers that cost >$10 each. I’m curious whether it would be better to eat McDonalds and donating the difference to ACE-recommended charities.
This food impacts calculator by VilleSokk suggests that both caged and cage-free eggs both have higher animal welfare/carbon emissions impact per calorie than pork. Could some vegetarian diets increase harm by offsetting protein from meat with eggs?
I’m somewhat worried about being vegetarian next year, as I’ll be cooking and meal-prepping with my non-vegetarian flatmates. It’s probably significantly more difficult to be vegetarian while living in or cooking for a non-vegetarian household, as buying/cooking separate meals for each other sounds challenging.
I consumed some meat with family during Thanksgiving and the first two weeks of winter break, and with friends on Chinese New Year. I haven’t eaten much Chinese food outside of large gatherings as it seems more difficult to remain vegetarian.
Food is shared in Chinese restaurants, in contrast to other situations where individuals buy their own plate of food; though its higher impact to get a whole table to eat vegetarian, it’s also significantly harder than just ordering vegetarian for oneself.
At festive Chinese meals, many dishes can have small amounts of meat (e.g. tofu with shredded meat).
eliminating the last 10%, 1% of animal products from you diet can be just as much (or more) difficulty as eliminating the first 90%. i encourage people to fret a lot more over day to day habits, eliminating the first 90% of consumption.
Could some vegetarian diets increase harm by offsetting protein from meat with eggs?
this is my understanding + what villesokk seems to be explicitly claiming.
unsure if eating vegan at my dining hall matters if they order the same amount of vegan/non-vegan food regardless of demand or throw away unserved leftovers.
i would assume that there is some correlation with demand and supply here.
i am not zero amount sold on the solidarity-with-animals case. if we are going to claim that factory farming is super fucked up it seems pretty hard to be taken seriously if we habitually fund it.
but i do spend a small fortune on beyond meat here in the bahamas (where it is about twice as expensive) and its easy to wonder if this really makes sense to do at all.
Not Quite Vegetarian
On my first day of college—August 18th, 2021 - I decided to strive towards becoming vegetarian, primarily for animal welfare reasons. Before college, I consumed around a median American quantity of meat, but I decided to make this change because Berkeley has more accessible vegetarian options compared to home. Since then, I’ve avoided meat for roughly 90% of meals.
Thoughts:
Reducing my meat consumption has been surprisingly manageable so far—I’ve never craved the meat options at the dining hall because the food isn’t great overall. In addition, I can order/cook my own food in college instead of eating the same meal as my family back home, so I have higher agency over what I eat. In January 2022, I was fortunate to eat great catered vegan food at MLAB, which made being vegetarian much easier at that time.
I wonder how much my reduction in meat consumption actually decreases meat production, and which actions are higher-impact than others; for example, unsure if eating vegetarian at my dining hall matters if they order the same amount of vegetarian/non-vegetarian food regardless of demand or throw away unserved leftovers.
It’s not clear to me whether being vegetarian is effectively altruistic compared to other actions one could take, and I’m not sure if being vegetarian is more expensive than eating meat.
Example: I went to an EA retreat which catered vegetarian burgers that cost >$10 each. I’m curious whether it would be better to eat McDonalds and donating the difference to ACE-recommended charities.
This food impacts calculator by VilleSokk suggests that both caged and cage-free eggs both have higher animal welfare/carbon emissions impact per calorie than pork. Could some vegetarian diets increase harm by offsetting protein from meat with eggs?
I’m somewhat worried about being vegetarian next year, as I’ll be cooking and meal-prepping with my non-vegetarian flatmates. It’s probably significantly more difficult to be vegetarian while living in or cooking for a non-vegetarian household, as buying/cooking separate meals for each other sounds challenging.
I consumed some meat with family during Thanksgiving and the first two weeks of winter break, and with friends on Chinese New Year. I haven’t eaten much Chinese food outside of large gatherings as it seems more difficult to remain vegetarian.
Food is shared in Chinese restaurants, in contrast to other situations where individuals buy their own plate of food; though its higher impact to get a whole table to eat vegetarian, it’s also significantly harder than just ordering vegetarian for oneself.
At festive Chinese meals, many dishes can have small amounts of meat (e.g. tofu with shredded meat).
re: festivities, small amounts of meat
eliminating the last 10%, 1% of animal products from you diet can be just as much (or more) difficulty as eliminating the first 90%. i encourage people to fret a lot more over day to day habits, eliminating the first 90% of consumption.
this is my understanding + what villesokk seems to be explicitly claiming.
i would assume that there is some correlation with demand and supply here.
i am not zero amount sold on the solidarity-with-animals case. if we are going to claim that factory farming is super fucked up it seems pretty hard to be taken seriously if we habitually fund it.
but i do spend a small fortune on beyond meat here in the bahamas (where it is about twice as expensive) and its easy to wonder if this really makes sense to do at all.