At least the steak will not be soared in pesticides designed to kill animals

The pesticides are designed to kill insects, but research shows pesticides and their residual byproducts do accumulate in animals that eat the plants treated with pesticides.

Animals also accumulate things like heavy metals and the drugs they are given.

Plants can be washed of pesticides fairly well and they accumulate these chemicals at much lower rates, but meat can’t be washed of what has accumulated in it.

Overall the health outcomes of consuming plants appear to be better than those of consuming meat.

That isn’t true, though. I might be more likely to get sick, but I’m less likely to die if I do.

It is true, and you are both more likely to get sick and more likely to die from fresh vegetables than from steak.

The primary contaminant in steak is E. coli. You are more likely to consume E. coli from a salad than from a steak.

The data doesn't back this up in any country I can find.

A quick google search yields a few results, each pointing to the same conclusion:

https://www.cdc.gov/foodborneburden/attribution/attribution-...

> Meat and poultry, a combination of four animal food categories, Beef, Game, Pork, and Poultry, accounted for fewer illnesses, but for 29% of deaths.

Poultry accounted for the most deaths (19%); many of those were caused by Listeria and Salmonella infections. This rate is partly due to three large Listeria outbreaks linked to sliced processed deli turkey meat; the last such large outbreak occurred in 2002.

Produce, on the other hand, accounted for 27% of deaths. However, it's important to distinguish here that produce accounts for 27% of all deaths, but animal products accounts for all of the rest. That's 73% of all food borne illness coming from animal products.

You are far more likely to die from food borne illness caused by animal products; especially agricultural animals.

The data does back this up. You're looking at all kinds of meat there and not steak.

Steak is significantly safer than other types of meat, and steak in particular is significantly safer than salad.

As your link notes, chicken is one of the worst offenders

Your data supports my point, not yours.

Right, I didn’t realize you meant steak and steak only. I was inferring meat in general. In that case I agree. It isn’t clear what the numbers are for beef but the fatalities are certainly lower.

I mean it's raw but still in a steak you probably have way more substances and end of foodchain accumulations.

Mercury etc accumulates to the end of the foodchain, sure, but I vaguely remember a study that made the news in Sweden a few years back about limiting your intake of pesticides.

If I remember correctly it was far better to eat organic vegetables/fruit and “normal” meat, than the other way around, and only marginally worse than all organic. The explanation being mammals have kidneys and a liver that we no longer eat (most of us at least).

From this one could guess insects could be worse than steak.

Sorry I don’t have a reference right now, or know if this research was heavily skewed somehow by the meat industry. I would be happy to hear more from someone knowledgeable on the subject.

Cattle are not apex predators.

Oooo SUBSTANCES. THERE MIGHT BE SUBSTANCESSSSSSS....

please stop with the weasel scare words.

Food chain toxin accumulation is a real thing as you go up the food chain.

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biomagnification

This is actually a serious issue that’s ruining food supplies (particularly in the oceans). Farmed catfish in the USA has been noted for high levels of dioxins. US chicken often contained crazy levels of arsenic until agricultural practices changed to avoid that. Broth made from bones often contains more lead than the daily allowable intake (something like 475% more in the case of broth made with chicken bones, skin, and cartilage present, but still far too much when using just the meat).

We are exposing ourselves to dangerous substances every day due to bioaccumulation in animal foods.