How Much Does Meat Actually Cost?

LEARN MORE
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To learn more about this topic, start your googling with these keywords:
- Externality: a cost or benefit caused by an activity that affects other parties but is not taken into consideration (e.g. by being reflected in purchase prices)
- Hidden cost: a cost not included in the purchase price, such as additional expenses, opportunity costs, or externalities
- Social Cost: an expense to society that is the sum of the private costs paid by a firm or individual, and the externalities paid by other parties
- Reducetarianism: the practice of eating less meat (& dairy, eggs, & other animal products), which may be appealing because not everyone is able or willing to follow a completely meat-free diet.

CREDITS
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Script Writer: Alex Reich
Script Editor: Kate Yoshida
Video Illustrator: Omkar Bhagat
Video Director: Emily Elert
With Contributions From: Henry Reich and Peter Reich
Music by: Nathaniel Schroeder

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[troooooper]

now Please mention 40% of the food in usa gets wasted as well.

[gfr]

**sees the first few comments**
**grabs popcorn**

[JacobDegenaro]

I don't care if you eat meat, but the US should not take public tax money to subsidize meat production and that cost should instead be added to the final cost of meat. Personal choice, personal financial responsibility.

[Golgiaparatus]

Yeah... meat is still delicious. Imma keep eating it. Once lab grown meat becomes commonplace and tastes as good as real meat, I will gladly eat it. It seems like an extremely viable solution right now.

[lifenoggin]

GREAT EPISODE! Thanks for spreading awareness on this instead of mayo.

[amvelka]

People, if you want to keep eating meat go ahead, nobody will stop, you are making use of your freedom.

But, be aware of what this video is trying to point. By now, there were alot of studies on how the meat industry is a major contributer to the pollution. This is not propaganda. And the video is not telling you to turn vegan, but rather telling you to rethink our consumptions and to try to reduce, for however small it may be, your purchases of meat.

Don't even think this is only the food producers methods fault. This is everyones fault. They respond to demand and if you keep throwing them money what will they do? They will produce even more, on ways to have even more profit. EVERYTHING we do counts.

Atleast, before you start saying things like "Totally worth" or "Doesn't matter" try, but for real, just try thinking on the problem and how humanity could use your help. Our problems can´t be ignored. We need to think, speak and try to resolve our problems if we want to prevail.

And, in this all I didn't even speak about how the extreme fishery contributes to the endanger of sea species, something that has an impact on the world ecosystem.

"The darkest places in hell are reserved for those who maintain their neutrality in times of moral crisis." - Dante Alighieri

[FullRadius]

Just listened to the last No Dumb Questions episode Henry featured in. I would just like to let you know Henry that this video was a major player in why I have gone from full omnivore to full vegan for over a year and not going back. Just wanted to let Henry know he has reduced the consumption of meat by 2 people (me and my partner) as a result of his great work. Thank you.

[ganaraminukshuk]

To me, the phrase shouldn't be "meat is murder", but rather "meat is inefficiency".

[Twisted]

To the meat lovers here who understand the negative consequences of animal produce but don't want to give it up cold turkey (no pun intended), you could just try reducing the amount of it you eat. I took most of the animal produce out of my diet a few years ago and now I don't crave it. Meat is almost like an addiction.

[longplaidshorts]

Watch Cowspiracy. it's on Netflix

[brianx]

This video should be shared to everyone. I eat meat, and its delicious, but I cannot deny that it is harmless. I wish people would understand that you don't have to be a vegan or vegetarian to make a difference. You don't need to eat meat daily. If society as a whole ate less meat per meal, or it was in fewer meals per week a huge difference could be made in reducing the detrimental effects of raising livestock.

[JaredRummler]

Thank you tax paying vegans for lowering the cost of my bacon cheeseburger.

[squidpizza]

And that is why we should be eating more bugs

[bananaman]

It's strange how many people are calling this video propaganda and using emotional attacks to dismiss it, when it's based on scientific and societal facts. The animal agriculture industry causes a large deal of pollution, like methane. It takes a lot of space to make room for pastures, so is a major cause of deforestation. It is a highly inefficient way of feeding a population, because you are feeding the animals crops until they grow to adult size for consumption, instead of just eating the crops directly. It is also costly, unsustainable with higher populations and economically inefficient, for the same reason. These are basic facts. Instead of dismissing this due to political or emotional biases, how about we actually consider the consequences of our actions and try and tackle these problems?

[elliemccarthy]

While I am not vegetarian/vegan, I applaud those who are.

[yutoad]

Glad you guys made this video so people can really understand the benefits of a whole foods plant based diet which is necessary in the long run for everyone to do for themselves and the future of our planet.

[angeldude]

I probably should eat more veggies, but I won't because cows are delicious.

[jeremyoberg]

Thank you for talking about this issue even though it may not be the most popular subject for a video. I really appreciate it.

[sarahd]

I don't often eat meat and I think the core of the problem is that people (farmers, stores, consumers) overestimate how much meat they want or need. There are not-so-convenient methods that can prevent food & animal life from being wasted, but the established method is the more convenient one, and convenience wins. Examples of how to reduce waste:

- Custom made orders. You order the food in advance so that farmers & stores know how much they will sell.
- Temporarily disallow certain foods from being farmed rather than farming it to the point of exhaustion.

[listenherejack]

Sat down with a big mac, opened up youtube, saw this, jumped on and ate while watching. You know how I feel? Not hungry anymore.

Because that burger was fucking delicious. I might go get another.