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The Real Story: What is Wrong with Eating Meat?

Factual

What's wrong with eating meat?

05/01/2018 GMT

What is Wrong with Eating Meat?

BBC World Service - The Real Story, What is Wrong with Eating Meat?

Are the pleasures of eating meat worth the costs to human health and the environment?

As people recover from eating large quantities of meat over the festive season, we debate whether the pleasures of meat are worth the costs to health and the environment.

It's the first week of the new year, which means many people are recovering from consuming large quantities of meat over the festive season. In fact,  people around the world are eating more meat than ever. The average American man now eats more than his own weight in meat every year. And in China meat-eating is rising sharply as people grow richer. But all this meat comes at a cost. The WHO has linked red and processed meats to cancer, and the intensive raising of livestock and the growing of the grains required to feed the animals is doing significant damage to the environment. So what should be done? Calls are coming for meat taxes and a move to more sustainable farming. Meanwhile, entrepreneurs are looking into lab grown meat and meat substitutes. But others point out that animal products can be part of a healthy diet and that livestock can eat things that people can't. Razia Iqbal and a panel of experts discuss whether the pleasures of eating meat are worth the costs.

(Photo: A butcher holding up cuts of meat during a pre-Christmas meat sale at a market in London. Credit: Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP/Getty Images)

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