This time from some group I’ve never heard of before, the “2025 EAT-Lancet Commission”, who are “a coalition of experts in nutrition, climate, economics, health and agriculture from more than 35 countries.”
Needless to say, when this august body issues a report that contains this word garbage:
“The evidence laid out in our report is clear: the world must act boldly and equitably to ensure sustainable improvements.”
…you just know that it’s going to be total bullshit.
And so it is.
If people worldwide adopted their “Planetary Health Diet” (PHD), up to 15 million premature deaths could be avoided annually.
Note the usual weaseling: “up to” [some massive figure], and “could be” avoided. No mention what the “premature” figure actually is and how it’s been derived.
Oh wait, I forgot this little snippet:
“Changing how the world eats could reduce premature deaths, save trillions of dollars and slow the impacts of climate change.”
Ah yes, the (by now thoroughly-debunked) bogeyman of Global Warming Climate Cooling Change©, and the promise of endless amounts of money to be saved — all undermined by the single word “could” — that would improve our world, if only yadda yadda yadda.
So what is this PHD master plan, exactly?
PHD is a plant-based menu that includes three to five daily servings of whole grains, at least five daily servings of fruits and vegetables and daily servings of nuts and legumes. The diet doesn’t call for the complete elimination of animal proteins for those who wish to continue eating them, but instead encourages people to consume red meat, poultry, fish, eggs and dairy in moderation. For example, the group recommends only one serving of red meat, two servings of fish and poultry and three to four eggs per week. They also call for strict limits on added sugars, saturated fats and salt.
You mean we shouldn’t all go completely vegan, then? Color me surprised. So to sum up; eat pretty much what you want, in moderation. Well, except a lot less bacon, steaks and hamburgers, you filthy carnivores.
Whatever.
What gets up my nose, however, is the implicit meaning of the expression “act boldly” in the very first paragraph of this post. To pricks like this, “act boldly” means that some authority should begin to dictate how we eat, and enforce this foul nonsense.
Because the stakes are so high, you see.
And exactly how does this new buzzword “equitable” feature in this, anyway? (I’ll save you the trouble of thinking about it: it’s just a fashionable way to add justification to the cause du jour. Ditto “climate change”.)
Simple conclusion for us: fuck right off, assholes. You have as much credibility on this topic as the assholes who gave us the (tragically wrong) Food Pyramid: i.e. none.
It amazes me that over the past half century or so, while we have undoubtedly been eating more junk food, the worldwide stats for death by starvation — surely to be included in any count of premature deaths — have plummeted. In fact, if one were to exclude acts of deliberate starvation perpetrated by government (hello, Comrade Stalin and various African / Asian warlords), there’s a convincing case to be made that starvation has become far less of a worldwide calamity than it was even in, say, 1950.
And now, if you’ll excuse me, I think I’m going to make myself a brekkie of bacon and (two) eggs with some toasted French bread on the side, and then head off to the range.
Exactly what I’m going to be shooting must await tomorrow’s range report. It will, however, cause something of a stir.
