Via Instagram – October 23, 2018 at 12:46PM

#ivoted #election2018 #midterms #vote #voting #midterms #midtermelections #midtermelections2018 #throwthebumsout #participate #yourvotecounts #lrgv #rgv #betofortexas #beto #betoorourke #betoforsenate2018 #betoforsenate2018

Via Instagram – October 11, 2018 at 02:15PM

Rut-ro! #pastries #pandulce #marranitos #puercitos #panesdulces #mexicanpastries #empenadas #dessert

The Environmental Ethics of Buying Clearance Meat

Eating less or no meat is one of the top lifestyle choices you can make to reduce your carbon footprint – the top choice to reduce your overall environmental impact.

But if your inner carnivore rules, then at least buy meat on sale. It prevents food waste while deincentivizing meat production.

Prevents Food Waste

Here in the USA, 40% of food is wasted. By buying and eating meat on clearance, you're preventing that meat from being thrown away. The water, land, feed, and fuel has already been sunk into that meat. Don't let it be trashed.

Deincentivizes Meat Production

At the same time, buying that meat doesn't signal the farmers, ranchers, meat packers, wholesalers, and retailers to raise and slaughter more animals. Grocery stores are the final profit maker on food. Industry profit margins average only 1.3%, so that clearance meat isn't earning them any money. While your purchase reduces their losses, it encourages the grocers to order less from wholesalers in the future, ultimately reducing the amount of meat produced and environmental resources used.

However, it's not a perfect choice economically. Grocery stores benefit from shoppers perceiving abundance on the shelves. They are willing to overstock a bit and take losses on a few items in order to attract customers. Ideally, they'd like stock to exactly equal what they sell, and have it all move over quickly. But a few items on sale are worth it to get close to that goal.

Sale items also attract budget consumers, who likely will buy other items that are not on discount.

Looking more deeply, discounted meat isn't always trashed. It's sometimes cooked into deli products, donated to food banks, donated to animal refuges, or reused in other was. So buying clearance meat doesn't necessarily keep it out of the trash. On balance, however, your purchase doesn't signal the marketplace to produce more meat. It's still a win for the environment.

Giving Up Meat Is Better

Many vegans don't eat meat for three reasons: environmental impact, animal welfare, and personal health impact.

Above, I've addressed the first consideration. But what I wrote applies to animal welfare as well. Signaling the market to produce less meat means fewer animals suffering.

However, the counter points are that buying and consuming meat at all has two negatives for the environment and animal welfare.

First, it normalizes meat production and consumption, supporting it's cultural influence. Don't underestimate this. Humans are "monkey see, monkey do." That's why public anti-smoking campaigns have included outlawing tobacco advertising to denormalize tobacco use. If eating meat became culturally gauche, it would reduce meat production and consumption far more, better helping the environment and animal welfare.

Second, seeing that people will buy meat at a lower price signals to producers and retailers to reduce the price of meat. They are encouraged to find even cheaper ways to produce and distribute meat, which might make the environmental and animal welfare effects even worse. (Lab-grown meat might counter this.)

As for personal health, eating less or no meat is good for your health. Healthier people have lower health care costs. Economic costs are coupled to environmental costs, so being healthier is better for the environment, too.

The Bottom Line

Going vegan would have the greatest positive environmental impact. But if you can't do that, go ovo-lacto vegetarian. If you can't even do that, eat less meat and buy your meat on clearance. You'll still be moving the market and the world in the right direction.

Via Instagram – October 07, 2018 at 01:26PM

Yes, yes ... It's my sack of garlicky nut cheese, just dangling there, getting riper by the day... #vegan #nutcheese #fermentation #homefermentation #offcolorhumor #beevisandbutthead #dickjokes #veganfood #vegancheese #plantbaseddiet

Via Instagram – October 05, 2018 at 02:04PM

My front yard moringa tree is a foot tall now. The one in the back is shorter but robust. In a few months, I'll start munching on leaves! #moringa #moringaoleifera #rgv #lrgv #eatyouryard #perrenialgarden #permaculture