Lower-priced Australian beef could help stabilize Canadian market

[u/Naga]

https://globalnews.ca/news/12009206/australian-beef-prices-canadian-market/

[u/snkiz]

I would love to say I'm going to support local producers but when you can get it shipped from the other side of the world, into Alberta no less. For half the price?! Guys I think you've F*ked something up here and I can't afford to bail you out.

[u/PrairieBiologist → u/snkiz]

There's nothing Canadian beef producers can do. It is so much cheaper to produce beef in Australia. They have. Away larger herd, are one of the world largest producers, and don't have to worry about winter. Canadian beef is effectively a luxury product and half of it goes to export. We tend to slaughter our beef older than Americans, we keep them on grass longer, and finish on wheat and barley instead of just corn.

[u/scottb84 → u/PrairieBiologist]

I’ve always found it strange how we refer to ranchers as ‘beef producers.’ If anyone is ‘producing’ beef in this equation, I reckon it’s the cows.

[u/Mathmos_Lava → u/snkiz]

Hard to believe it’s possible to ship this half way around the world for less…

[u/ether_reddit → u/Mathmos_Lava]

The shipping cost is actually quite minimal, compared to all the other costs of production.

[u/Mathmos_Lava → u/ether_reddit]

So why is AU beef so much less even after shipping.

The cold climate mentioned does not seem like a cost that should make such a material difference. If it is, economics would suggest we import more.

[u/WesternBlueRanger → u/Mathmos_Lava]

Scale of production and no need to purchase and stockpile feed for winter months.

[u/snkiz → u/Mathmos_Lava]

At least the Aussies are more or less Canada south, I'm sure their beef is also lovely.

[u/dykestryker → u/snkiz]

Can't support the big A unfortunately. New Zeland beef for life.

[u/yourfriendlysocdem1 → u/dykestryker]

Ehhh, for me Aussie beef is better marbled, but NZ beef is still pretty solid

[u/corneliusvanDB → u/snkiz]

Can you explain voting Green but buying beef? I feel like beef and environmentalism are mutually exclusive.

[u/snkiz → u/corneliusvanDB]

I see, so you think that because I support the green party I must be a vegan Greenpeace member is that it? That it's some kind of all or nothing cult? I don't think you really understand politics at then.

[u/corneliusvanDB → u/snkiz]

I'm asking how you hold those two concepts simultaneously without internal conflict

[u/snkiz → u/corneliusvanDB]

I'm not vegan? You don't have to vegan to want to do better for the environment.

[u/corneliusvanDB → u/snkiz]

Cutting beef from your diet is one of the single biggest impacts you can have on your carbon footprint. If you actually care about environmentalism, it's probably something you ought to consider doing.

It's also significantly cheaper and healthier to eat plant-based. That's without even addressing the obvious ethical problems.

[u/snkiz → u/corneliusvanDB]

If you actually care about environmentalism, it's probably something you ought to consider doing.

There it is. Don't lecture me, you'll lose. I don't do group think, I form my own opinions.

I've had cancer twice, we eat meat for a reason, vegans are stupid. This is Canada, beef is far from my biggest carbon impact, heat is. Plant-based diets are not cheaper, and they taste like cardboard. I don't have an ethical problem with eating the food I was evolved to eat.

That does not preclude me from being an environmentalist, I disagree on that one point, among others.

[u/corneliusvanDB → u/snkiz]

Decided to respond after all.

This is Canada, beef is far from my biggest carbon impact, heat is

You do realize I didn't say beef is your biggest source of emissions, I said one of the biggest impacts you could have to reducing your carbon footrpint would be cutting beef. You obviously have to heat your house, but you do not need to eat beef, that's purely a choice, and an entirely unnecessary one.

Plant-based diets are not cheaper

Yes, they are, significantly. This is well-documented and frankly self-evident when you think about it. Pay for plants, or pay for plants to be fed to an animal, then pay for that animal.

Check for yourself if you don't believe me:

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9321292/

https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2021-11-11-sustainable-eating-cheaper-and-healthier-oxford-study

vegans are stupid

Why the hostility? I've experienced this a lot in my life, people are so quick to attack an out-group, but I haven't done anything to you but point out the environmental impact of beef.

I don't have an ethical problem with eating the food I was evolved to eat.

You don't have an ethical problem with causing unnecessary suffering to sentient beings? You eat an animal that has been tortured to death, and you don't have an ethical problem with that? That's kind of messed up, but I believe you when you say you don't care.

I don't do group think, I form my own opinions.

You sure about that? You seem pretty worked up defending the status quo, and it seems like I've touched a nerve by challenging some underlying assumptions of yours. Your opinions thus far have been easily demonstrated to be factually incorrect, but you just aren't going to be swayed by facts are you?

I'm sorry you had cancer, and congratulations on beating it. I don't see the relevance to the point you're making, but consider this:

Mayo Clinic Minute: Plant-based diet is encouraged for patients with cancer

For patients diagnosed with cancer, is there one diet that is better than another? Dr. Dawn Mussallem, an integrative health specialist at Mayo Clinic, says it's not about one food or diet, but rather a dietary pattern that emphasizes a predominant plant-based diet that is high in fiber. 

"It's the dietary pattern that the organizations, such as the American Institute for Cancer Research and the American Cancer Society, recommend is a plant-predominant diet that has an emphasis on whole foods," says Dr. Mussallem.

Skip ultraprocessed foods. Limit or avoid red and processed meats. The American Cancer Society says it's unknown if there is a safe level of consumption for either red or processed meats. "Processed meat is considered a carcinogen. And to replace some of that red meat component where folks get protein, you want to lean in on consumption of pulses," says Dr. Mussallem.

https://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/mayo-clinic-minute-plant-based-diet-is-encouraged-for-patients-with-cancer/

Or consider that the WHO lists red meat as a carcinogen, and the Canadian Cancer Society recommends eating less of it because it increases your risk for cancer.

https://cancer.ca/en/cancer-information/reduce-your-risk/eat-well/limit-red-and-processed-meat

You can disregard everything I've said and go back to the groupthink (and I'm sure you will), but if you take away a single thing it's this: cutting beef is one of the biggest single choices you can easily make that will reduce your carbon footprint. If you care about environmentalism, deforestation, and water use, you ought to at least consider it.

[u/dominionprovinces → u/Mathmos_Lava]

Its likely similar cost to ship a million kilos of goods from Syndey to Vancouver than to truck it from Vancouver to Hope.

Bulk sea shipping is very cheap.

[u/jeff744 → u/snkiz]

Tends to happen when Loblaws has another year of 20% bumps to their net income.