Thanks for that challenge Kawai. It made me ask the question, "What is the impact on the environment from producing meat substitute food products."
I mean, it stands to reason that meat substitute products, like all processed foods, create a lot of waste and pollutants, but I had no idea.
I just Googled that a bit. Shocking. I highly recommend anyone who is under the illusion that meat substitute food products are less harmful to the environment or create less harmful waste than meat processing to do some reading on the subject.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
Anyway, last post, I'm done here. Have at it boys.
I've yet to hear of a tofu factory filling an entire city with stench, and overloading the city's sewage handling infrastructure.
For the record, I'm not a vegetarian, but I consume relatively little meat. From the most simplistic possible perspective:
1. You can raise corn and soybeans, and feed them to humans. Or,
2. You can raise corn and soybeans, feed them to animals, and feed the animals to humans.
I can't see how the second process could possibly be more ecological than the first. Now, let's add a layer of complexity, since nobody eats raw corn and soybeans, and nobody eats raw meat:
1. You can convert corn and soybeans into yummy things, and also make them less perishable, involving a varying amount of waste and pollution.
2. You can convert corn and soybeans into meat, and either refrigerate meat until it's eaten, or make it into yummy things, and also make it less perishable, involving a varying amount of waste and pollution.
It's possible that the first option generates more waste and pollution, but that possibility seems pretty remote. Also, in both cases, the amount of processing that you demand in order to make the food yummy enough so you can eat enough to maintain your desired body weight, is a personal choice. "Meat substitute food products" sounds ominous, and not necessarily part of a vegetarian diet.
I'm guessing that if people voluntarily reduced their meat consumption while eating enough food to maintain a healthy body weight, there would be less damage to the environment from food production. Some meat would still be farmed, and it would consume most of the waste produced by processing of vegetable foods.