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A comment on Up to one million species are on the verge of extinction, U.N. panel says. Parent comment

Re:Up to one million species are on the verge of extinction,... by jniedrauer on Monday May 06, 2019 @01:36PM (#19841784)
> If someone is still eating eggs, dairy and fish they are not 95% of the way to being vegan.

95% is obviously not a real number, but it's not far off when you actually look at the environmental impact of different foods[0]

> And cost? What makes you think being vegan is more expensive than eating animal products?

I should specify that being vegan and remaining healthy is more expensive than eating animal products. You could probably survive on lentils and be ok... for a while. But your diet will not be balanced. To eat a balanced vegan diet, you will need to buy a lot of fresh foods in comparatively higher quantities, and the cost adds up. Semi-vegetarians and pesco-vegetarians seem to have the most balanced diets[1]

[0]: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/04/30/dining/climat...

[1]: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3967195/

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Up to one million species are on the verge of extinction,... by uhtred on Monday May 06, 2019 @04:35PM (#19843562)
If someone is pesco-vegetarian and eating a lot of dairy, especially cheese, and fish, then their environmental footprint would be way higher than someone (a vegan) who is not eating those things. The NY times article you linked shows just that.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Up to one million species are on the verge of extinction,... by jniedrauer on Monday May 06, 2019 @07:15PM (#19844894)
You'll notice that I didn't say "your environmental impact will automatically be reduced to near that of a vegan diet by eating a pesco-vegetarian diet."

Changing to a new category of diet does not absolve you of the need to make responsible decisions. You could technically be a very wasteful vegan and have a higher carbon footprint than an omnivore. You could also be a responsible human being and eat a conservative vegetarian diet that is roughly equivalent to a vegan diet but much easier to execute.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Up to one million species are on the verge of extinction,... by SmellyGeekBoy on Tuesday May 07, 2019 @06:56AM (#19848244)
Why "change category" and constantly be chasing the next trendy label? Just eat less meat. When you do eat meat, eat higher welfare meat that's farmed locally (fewer food miles). Why do people take everything to extremes?
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Up to one million species are on the verge of extinction,... by uhtred on Tuesday May 07, 2019 @09:47AM (#19849241)
Because most people are vegan for animals not for environment or health, so it's not that they are taking things to extremes, but rather that being responsible for only the occasional death or abuse of another animal isn't an option.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Up to one million species are on the verge of extinction,... by jniedrauer on Tuesday May 07, 2019 @11:38AM (#19850512)
The context of most of these threads on HN is environmental impact. And invariably, vegans show up with an "all or nothing" attitude. I understand if environmental impact is not their primary motivation, but then they should say so.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Up to one million species are on the verge of extinction,... by uhtred on Tuesday May 07, 2019 @09:59AM (#19849358)
>You'll notice that I didn't say "your environmental impact will automatically be reduced to near that of a vegan diet by eating a pesco-vegetarian diet."

Erm, yes, you pretty much did. We are talking in the context of certain food choices being more environmentally friendly, and you said a pesco-vegetarian is 95% of the way to being vegan.

[ Parent | on HN ]