Ti dicono: se fossimo vegetariani saremmo tutti più sani, gli allevamenti consumano tantissimo terreno e danno poca resa, tra qualche decennio non ci sarà da mangiare per tutti, dobbiamo pensare a delle fattorie verticali,… Uno allora pensa che magari, in questi anni, qualche vegetariano in più ci sia. Almeno nel mondo ricco, dove quello che mangi lo puoi scegliere. E’ così, ma:
Vegetarians have long had the best of the intellectual arguments. If so, that just shows how little intellectual arguments matter to populations’ eating decisions. The number of vegetarians in developed countries is evidently on the increase, but the world’s per-capita consumption of meat rises relentlessly: in 1981, it was 62 pounds per year; in 2002, the figure stood at 87.5 pounds. In carnivorous America, it increased from 238.1 to 275.1 pounds, and the practice is spreading in traditionally herbivorous Asia. Indians’ meat consumption has risen from 8.4 to 11.5 pounds since 1981; in China, it has increased from 33.1 to an astonishing 115.5 pounds. This result has nothing to do with principle and everything to do with prosperity.
