Prior to the table talk, we were all given an article to read. The article addresses something called ‘eco-anxiety’ — without going to deeply into it, it’s the anxiety associated with global warming and climate change. The article suggested that people should trade “beef for beans” — ie, eating beans instead of eating beef. Apparently, even a simple change like this can help curb the impacts of global warming (and help alleviate eco-anxiety).
Through the table talk, we really went into how asking everyone to eat beans instead of beef is actually not as simple as the article makes it sound. Climate-change is a multi-faceted problem that can’t be solved by that one change (though I think it was mentioned that if we all made that change, we would be able to meet the climate change goals), but even making that one change can prove to be very difficult. The article made it sound incredibly easy, but in reality, changing people’s diets is one related to both culture and socio-economic status. For example, I know in my own family and some aspect of my culture, we show our love for each other through food–so when I first became vegetarian, my family was really confused and wasn’t sure what to make of it. Not to mention, I felt like I was inconveniencing them a lot of the times during family gatherings and dinner. Another problem would be the feasibility of this; in watching another documentary last year, I learned that there were food deserts in America where produce and healthy food isn’t always readily available, so trading beef for beans might be hard in those areas.
Overall, I think the suggestion that people should trade beef for beans is a really good idea and a great sentiment, but there are a lot more things that we have to consider before saying it’s a great idea and that everyone should adopt it, because it’s not always possible (even if the article made it seem really easy). Though I think that if trading beef for beans for yourself helps quell your eco-anxiety, you should definitely do it.
I wish I had attended this talk because I am vegetarian for ethical reasons and I am very passionate about saving the environment. Actually, my whole family is vegetarian. My family is from India and basically based on your caste, you are either vegetarian or not vegetarian. This is also dependent on the level of progressive culture in your area and proximity to the ocean. Eating meat has always been a sort of unappetizing concept. I never had the desire to go out and eat meat even when my mother told me I could if I wanted to. It was simply just gross. I also know some friends from India who were raised vegetarian, but decided to start eating meat at some point in their lives. This is amazing to me–what makes someone think so negatively about meat and never eat it and what makes someone want to try the very food that their family did not allow them to eat for years on end? Not to mention, when someone eats meat for the first time, it takes a while for the body’s digestive system to adjust properly so it could be very uncomfortable the first couple of times. I guess bottom line is that there are definitely some psychological and cultural factors at play when it comes to food choice.