It never hurts to see one’s own views being shared in a prominent journal, such as Time magazine. The article is called “The Growing Case Against Red Meat” Here’s an excerpt:

The analysis of more than half a million Americans between the ages of 50 and 71 found that men in the highest quintile of red-meat consumption — those who ate about 5 oz. of red meat a day, roughly the equivalent of a small steak, according to lead author Rashmi Sinha — had a 31% higher risk of death over a 10-year period than men in the lowest-consumption quintile, who ate less than 1 oz. of red meat per day, or approximately three slices of corned beef. Men in the top fifth also had a 22% higher risk of dying of cancer and a 27% higher risk of dying of heart disease. In women, the figures were starker: women in the highest quintile of consumption had a 36% increase in death over a 10-year period compared with women who ate little red meat; eating lots of meat was associated with a 20% higher risk of dying of cancer and a 50% higher risk of dying of heart disease. (Read “A History of Beef, Times Two.”)

Unfortunately, there is also mention of white meat consumption being associated with lower risks of death. So, though this article may decrease the amount of red meat consumed, meat-eaters might simply replace that red meat with white meat and still end up eating the same amount of meat as before. So, better for the cows, worse for the chickens.

However, the article goes on to say that consuming less meat is beneficial to the Earth. So hopefully, for the environmentally conscious, this will be motivational. Author Mark Bittman stresses the importance of a gradual lessening of meat consumption so the lifestyle change will be more sustainable. This makes sense to me. As much as I would like people to drop everything and stop their meat consumption today, I don’t want this to become a fad diet that people are on for two weeks only to make up for it later on. We must work towards longevity. It takes a long time to alter the diets of entire countries. But I’m confident we’re making progress.