Would this affect your decision to purchase? NYT article

As someone with severe food allergies and cares for a DD who has several rare genetic conditions, one that requires an increase in meat protein because her body (mainly kidneys) do not 1. Make enough carnitine and 2. Kidneys don't reabsorb the carnitine as it should, and has her own food allergies, I could care less.

So no it will not affect what I buy at the grocery store.

I'm kind of over these hot topics of what I call food control within our society.

I personally think it has caused a lot more bad than good, especially for people who deal with specific needs or have food insecurity or worry too much about things they can't control but feel they need to care.

People are constantly fed all these diet plans (like Keto or Carnivore diet) as well as weight loss drugs.

I'm in the camp of eat what you enjoy and makes you (over all you) feel satisfied and good. If that is beef that cost the environment $22 so be it.

Our bodies are unique and we should feed our bodies what they need to thrive. For some that is vegan for others that is low card, for others no dairy products.

I will continue to buy meat and produce and whatever else we need with no guilt or shame that is cost x amount more to produce.

jeremysgirl, I agree with you but only to a certain point. I'm not a subscriber and not able to read the entire article. I agree that plant based foods are probably somewhat less of an environmental impact, but tend to believe this might be a non apples to apples comparison. For example. Beef may cost $22 lb to raise, but there are many additional by-products generated by a cow such as hide, tallow, milk, ( cream, butter, yogurt, etc) bone broth. and many many cuts of beef. Vs. 1 field of broccoli. which generates- broccoli and has depleted some minerals from the soil.

I really really believe the bottom line is that we all need to get back to a more simple life, raise our own beef, chickens, eggs and gardens. Of course, that isn't possible for everyone to do, but having been married to a midwestern grain farmer in the past and am currently married to a Texas cattle rancher. I know for a fact that the grass fed cattle from our ranch makes much less of an environmental impact than the grain farmer does. of course, these are both small scale operations in the grand scheme of farming. The large corporate growers of what we consume are there to make $$ and not worry about that the future holds for our planet.

As for the clothing industry. I am so sad that we are a fast fashion disposable clothing ( and many other items too) society. Generations ahead of us were so much more aware, more out of financial necessity thank concern of the environment. but they made due. We have gotten so far away from that. I'm pretty sure it would take a very very deep depression to turn the tides and even then, there are many that wouldn't know how to adjust.

thanks for starting this post and eagerly await additional responses. I also want to point out that I admire everyone that makes their own educated choices.

"The proponents of true cost accounting don’t propose raising food prices across the board, but they say that increased awareness of the hidden environmental cost of food could change behavior.

We asked True Price, a Dutch nonprofit group that has pioneered true cost accounting alongside the United Nations and the Rockefeller Foundation, to provide a window into some of their research. They came up with a data set that compares the estimated environmental costs of common foods produced in the United States, divided into three categories: Climate change caused by greenhouse gas emissions, water usage, and ecosystem effects from land use, including loss of biodiversity.

“These costs are going to be paid,” said Claire van den Broek, managing director at True Price. “They’re paid in the healthcare system, in climate adaptation mechanisms, and those will come back in taxes. It’s not like these costs are fictional.”"

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I think people are too self-centered, ignorant, clueless... insert a myriad of words here... to let anything like this deter them from buying their favorite cheap processed foods. At the VERY least they should start charging the *actual* cost of subsidized crops-- THAT might wake some people up. But I doubt environmental considerations would change things, since that means people need to think about things in a global, future sense, and I don't think most people can, or want, to do that.  Just thinking about dealing with the here and now is enough for them.

For me, I think about it a little bit, in a VERY general sense, I guess. I went plant-based for health considerations, but also because 'cutting out the middle man' in terms of eating just makes sense. (Why bother eating meat when the nutrients in meat got there because of the plants, I mean-- and I don't like meat all that much.) So I guess you could say environmental concerns are a small part of it... ?? But if I start thinking about it too much, then I'd end up never wanting to eat anything-- corporation farming isn't good for the environment or for small farmers, eating out-of-season produce isn't good because of the costs of fuel, etc. (I've read some posts like that on the r/vegan board, and I guess I have other more immediate things to use my anxiety / angst on-- I guess I don't want to think very global / future, either. lol.)

I've been a vegetarian on and off since about 1991, with my last stretch starting around 2011 or 2012. Even when I did occasionally go back to eating some meat products in the past, I never ate red meat.

So I never think of the cost of beef, steak, etc., because never in my adult life have I ever purchased it. (No one in my household eats red meat either. I have one occasional meat consumer in the house, and they always request ground turkey when they want to make something like burgers or meatballs for themselves.)

So, no, the monetary cost of food production is not something I think about.

I do think about the cost added to food to make it memorable--packaging, shelf placement, & advertising, which is why I am always willing to give a generic version of a food a try.

I would be ok with seeing that information on labels because I do think its interesting, but then I also would question the source and method as well. And then also, are they reporting to another independent body that is checking the math. Admittedly, I am skeptical of most things (which I am aware is good and bad) and don't know that an industry that has trouble keeping factories clean of listeria can also include this detailed pricing process.

However, like pantsonfire I have dietary needs and opinions due to health reasons, not only for me, but family, so while I would consider the info, it may not necessarily change what my needs are. Also as an overthinker, I have a history of disordered eating when I think about it too much.

A lot of the "healthier" things that have been promoted like avocados or almond milk are turning out to have bad environmental impacts in regards to water usage and deforestation. I don't know that I think a certain lifestyle or diet would necessarily correlate to the environmental impact, besides what is already out there about meat consumption. In other words, I don't think we need more measures to divide ppl, many ppl have to stick to what they can afford.

But I also would like to see a movement towards everything being organic and naturally grown/produced, where possible. It has improved greatly in recent years and the prices are coming more in line. But I also understand volume and scale as it relates to that and why some interventions are needed. Regulations needs to start with the corporations and food/farming industry as a whole. Which starts with electing the right ppl.

Not you in particular, but the tone of the articles I see about fast fashion, eating meat, consumerism, how we drive, where we travel, being a tourist, using disposable products, etc.
I didn't personally feel shamed.

I think particularly in the US we are steeping in the belief that environmental impacts are something we can individually control, and while of course every bit is a bit, my personal decision to take the bus has the tiniest contribution as compared to private jet travel, and my personal decision to reduce food packaging doesn’t do much in the face of corporate environmental impact. So I guess I am of two minds with respect to things like this — I am often vegetarian or vegan and generally don’t eat a lot of meat, but I’m not sure it makes any difference if we’re providing subsidies and tax incentives for the meat industry, and I don’t know that changing labels would do much to change behavior, particularly when “the Democrats want to take your meat away” is an actual political talking point.

I think that having the ability to think about and consider the environmental cost of our food - and then to have the option of making different choices - is one of privilege. I'm in a position now where I can think about and consider and make choices - but there have been times in my life where we ate what was available (including free government commodity food) and I had limited choices of where to shop (due to having to walk or bus and what I could carry) as well as limited time due to working fulltime, commuting via buses, and parenting a small child - a tin of tuna or a pack of hotdogs was cheap, accessible protein. I didn't own a slow cooker etc...so soaking and cooking beans from dry was a project. I was lucky - I had electric, running water, a fridge that worked, and I knew how to cook. There are many in America who lack some or all of those basics.

For me now? We eat a lot of vegetables, we do eat meat but not a lot at any time - I used a single chicken breast for dinner last night and served 3 people and had lunch for 2 left. I think once DD17 moves out (to college or on her own), we'll probably eat less meat and more beans/legumes. She has sensory issues around food and that does impact our menus to some degree - yes she is capable of making something else and she does, but I try to serve something she'll eat at least every other day. I've eaten both vegetarian and vegan in the past and while I doubt I'll go back 100%, I'm certainly eating more vegetarian/vegan meals and plan to continue increasing that.

For now? I buy my produce from a local sustainable farmer who delivers me a box every Friday. The majority of our eggs come from friends who are hobby chicken raisers. I'm not buying much prepared/packaged foods. At least one of the dairy farms locally collects manure/methane and turns it into electricity and reclaimed water - we toured their farm maybe 7 years ago or so and that was one of the things they showed off and explained.

www.wusf.org/environment/2022-05-29/a-dairy-farm-in-trenton-is-turning-cow-poop-into-profits

Is there more I can do? Sure, there's always room for improvement.

But to answer your question about whether seeing the environmental cost on foods at the grocery store directly impacting my purchases? I think mainly in the sense that if I was comparing two like/similar items from different brands, one having a lower environmental cost would be a point in its favour and make it more likely I would choose that one, other things being relatively equal. But in general, my food purchasing decisions have a lot more things factored in (nutrition, budget, recipes, family likes/disikes etc...) and that wouldn't be the only deciding factor for me.

If anyone challenged me to find the very fastest way to make my husband roll his eyes, I'd ask him how he gets enough protein.   

Not trying to answer for her, but you should give it a try. I use it in place of chicken in a stir fry, and the Incredible burgers patties they have are really good--my son prefers them, and we grill them up just like beef patties.
(He's the only reason I tried these)
In general I'm not really trying to replace meat in my diet (I eat pasta, salads, meatless chili, etc and I do eat eggs and chicken), just giving you two examples to maybe try if you're interested.

I HAVE had tofu and it can be very good. I wouldn't hesitate to eat it if someone served it to me.


In my own cooking? I don't use tofu - in part because both of my girls had soy allergies so avoiding overt soy products is still something we do (even though they are both ok with incidental soy now). I also don't buy protein-based "meat" products - when I cook/eat vegetarian, I eat fruit, vegetables, beans, legumes, grains - basically ingredients that are inherently vegetarian rather than processed foods that aim to substitute for meat/dairy products.  That's a personal choice, probably stemming from trying a variety of dairy substitutes  and gluten-free processed foods in the past due to 3 kids with milk allergies and 2 that trialed GF for medical reasons - we didn't care for them and would rather go without bread or cheese or ...than eat the substitutes.