Americans are eating less and less meat

[wa3zrm]

Meat eating in the United States is going out of style. According to a Department of Agriculture report, Americans are projected to eat 12.2 percent less meat in 2012 than they did 2007. And it’s not just the weak economy. As Mark Bittman observes, there’s a real long-term trend here: “Beef consumption has been in decline for about 20 years; the drop in chicken is even more dramatic, over the last five years or so; pork also has been steadily slipping for about five years.”
Why is this happening? The Daily Livestock Report blames rising meat prices in the United States. As countries like China and India get richer, they’re eating more meat, which is helping to drive up U.S. exports and making beef, pork, and chicken more expensive here at home. Ethanol also plays a role: Nowadays, American farmers divert bushels and bushels of corn to make fuel, which drives up feed prices and, again, makes meat pricier.
Perhaps just as significantly, though, it does seem that attitudes toward meat are changing. More and more people appear to be cutting back on beef and pork consumption for environmental or ethical reasons. (Although before vegetarians get too excited, one factor that often gets overlooked here is the aging of the population — as the baby boomers get older, they’ve been eating less meat.)...

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...

[EricHill78]

It's GoVegan's fault!

[Premium Parrots]

hey!! both of you guays..........stop making sense damit

[CoderGuy]

I used to eat a lot more meat, steaks and burgers mainly, but I find in the past few years I am eating mostly salads and fish. No reason, it's just happening.

[wa3zrm]

I have two 100% and two 90% blocked coronary arteries... had dinner at Lone Star Steakhouse tonight... the 20 oz Porterhouse... yummmmmm

[spinyeel]

In Australia all the best cuts of meat and premium seafood get exported and we are left with the dregs.
I love meat and seafood but it's getting too expensive to eat it on a regular basis. $80 a kilo for lobster and around $25 a kilo for decent steak!

[Reynard]

I used to eat a lot more meat, steaks and burgers mainly, but I find in the past few years I am eating mostly salads and fish. No reason, it's just happening.

I'm exactly the same, it's not a conscious decision I've made, I just habitually eat far less meat. I probably eat red meat a couple times a month. My body feels better for it too. I eat a lot of soya :-)

[lxskllr]

The only meat I really buy for the house is Italian sausage, Spam, and fish. It's been that way for a long time.

[spirit72]

Yeah, this isn't a bad thing.

[truthwolf1]

Dont people like convenience these days also? Taking the time to cook a actual meal takes a little time.
Most processed food fast food is breaded/carbed up which in turn uses less meat. The popularity of salads/sandwiches also calls for less meat. When I was a kid grandma always had a roast or whatever which lasted for days. It was the thing to do! Wake up and cook meat all day for the rest of your life. lol

[BadAxe]

I love meat and will never stop eating it. Hell, there is a food chain for a reason. We were meant ot eat it. And people just don't cook anymore. In my area, there is not a single "good" night to go out and eat. 7 nights a week, ALL restaurants are PACKED and there is a wait. I remember when that was just weekends. But even now, a ordinary Tuesaday night, and I am told the wait is an hour. Cook people, COOK. lol.

[wa3zrm]

Ind. theft suspect threatens to eat police, dogs

LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) - Police say a man in Indiana accused of stealing a car threatened to hunt down and eat his arresting officers, their families and police dogs.

(Excerpt) Read more at kplctv.com ...

[Snusdog]

Ind. theft suspect threatens to eat police, dogs

LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) - Police say a man in Indiana accused of stealing a car threatened to hunt down and eat his arresting officers, their families and a cat named Mr. Boots.

(Excerpt) Read more at kplctv.com ...

There fixed that for ya

[wa3zrm]

Pancreatic cancer risk increases with every 2 strips of bacon [or sausage] you eat: Study
cbs ^ Breakfast lovers, beware. A new study found eating processed meats like bacon and sausage could increase your risk for deadly pancreatic cancer.
For every piece of sausage or two strips of bacon a person eats every day, there's a 19 percent rise in risk for pancreatic cancer, the study found.
"There is strong evidence that being overweight or obese increases the risk of pancreatic cancer and this study may be an early indication of another factor behind the disease," Dr Rachel Thompson, deputy head of science at The World Cancer Research Fund, told BBC News.
For the study, researchers reviewed 11 studies and case reports on more than 6,000 pancreatic cancer patients, looking for a link between eating red and processed meats and cancer. The researchers found the raised risk was tied to every 50 grams of processed meat a person eats per day. If you're the type who eats 150 grams of processed meat a day - from only three sausages or six strips of bacon - your pancreatic cancer risk shoots up 57 percent, the study suggests.
What about red meat, which has been linked to stomach and esophageal cancers?
Evidence was inconclusive, the researchers said. Men who ate 120 grams of red meat per day saw their pancreatic cancer risk increase 29 percent, compared with men who don't eat red meat. This effect was not seen in women, however, possibly because men in the study ate more red meat than women, the researchers said.
The study is published in the Jan. 12 issue of the British Journal of Cancer.
The numbers sound scary, but experts say this added risk is relatively small when you factor in overall pancreatic cancer rates in the general population. According to the National Cancer Institute, 13.6 per 100,000 U.S. men develop pancreatic cancer, compared with 10.7 pancreatic cases per 100,000 women. The researchers also said smoking is a bigger risk factor, which increases pancreatic cancer risk by 74 percent.
"Pancreatic cancer has poor survival rates," study author associate professor Susanna Larsson, a researcher at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, said in a written statement. "If diet does affect pancreatic cancer, then this could influence public health campaigns to help reduce the number of cases of this disease developing in the first place."
Processed meats, including sausage, pepperoni, bacon, ham, smoked turkey, and hot dogs, often contain nitrates and nitrites, which have been tied to cancer. Last August, a study of 300,000 men and women, published in the journal Cancer, found people who ate large amounts of processed meats had a 30 percent increased risk for bladder cancer, HealthPop reported.
James H. Hodges, president of the American Meat Institute, was not swayed by the new study, because it only took into account epidemiological data, and didn't look at other lifestyle factors that could contribute to cancer. He said in a written statement that eating red and processed meats is part of a healthy, balanced diet.
"More often than not, epidemiological studies, over time, provide more contradictions than conclusions," he said.

[lxskllr]

My Spam! :^D

I eat about a can a week. If that doesn't kill me, something else will :^)