Where’s the beef? Reactionary Consumption in America
When your political identity is driven by consumption, eating food means more than nourishment..
In the current iteration of America, everything has been monetized and weaponized to have more meaning or symbology than it should. From politics to music preference, every last bit of your aesthetics and everyday actions have been gamed and sold back to you.
One such fad is the reactionary “All meat diet” touted by the pseudo-intellectual David Avocado Wolfe-like darling of the American right wing, Jordan Peterson. Peterson is a Canadian Jungian psychologist. His specialization is basically the “women's studies” of psychology. No one seriously studies Jung and expects to be more than an internet philosopher. Peterson gained popularity in the states after releasing a “An Antidote to Chaos: 12 rules for life.” Peterson went on Joe Rogan, (another superstar in this right wing revival of the New Age movement), and touted the diet.
Peterson claimed all he ate was beef, salt and water. He also made claims that he lost weight and generally felt better physically. Peterson also said apple cider gave him “an impending sense of doom”, whatever that means.
The Carnivore diet is exactly what you think it is. All meat all the time. This diet and the popular KETO diet is being weaponized against the trend of Veganism. Veganism and Clean Eating was normalized and mainstreamed during the original new age movement of the late 90's-early 2000’s.
If you want change, you can’t support the way the US is currently creating food and exploiting resources through factory farming and mass scale low quality production.
Due to the growing popularity of plant based and vegetable products, the shares of these items have fallen, and the US has accrued a huge surplus of meat and dairy. As you know, meat and dairy are the literal backbone of factory farming and the AG Industrial complex in the United States. So, when significant dips and changes in inventory occur, the government reacts.
Last year, a scathing report on the effects of Americans taking control of their health by eating more high quality, ethically sourced whole foods came out, illustrating the financially devastating effects of the changing preferences of consumers in the US. The original plant based preference change was driven by whistle-blower type Indy documentaries like “Forks over Knives” and “Fed Up”, “Food INC”, and “What the health?” as well as a popular movement driven by the internet.
The government initially reacted (and is reacting) by attempting to revoke the plant based products names and force them to rebrand. For example, almond milk couldn’t be called a type of milk anymore, though its application is the same as animal milk. These measures got push-back from consumers.
So, fast forward a year later. The internet is full of pseudoscientists, red hat “skeptic” commentators, and CPAC youtube RNC darlings all jabbering about a literal ALL meat diet. And they have charts, and anecdotes, and DMT.
Guess what’s trending now…
Due to aggressive viral marketing to the red hat demographic, this bizarre fad diet is driving up the shares of meat, dairy and cheese markets in the US. Rather than having the market adjust to the changing eating habits of people and dropping the price of meat and cheese or giving it away to the hungry, the government is manipulating consumers, creating fake “health” movements and profiting, along with Big AG (which it subsidizes to the tune of billions each year.).
This fad supports the status quo. It supports factory farming and low quality food output by producers in the US in general. If you want change, you can’t support the way the US is currently creating food and exploiting resources through factory farming and mass scale low quality production.
Science shows that consuming an imbalanced diet in general isn’t good for the human body. Sure, popular science in the US is funded by the same Big AG that is pushing this illogical consumption pattern, but that’s not the only science that exists. Internationals studies, global medical studies and Academic studies exist. Use every resource the great Library of the internet provides. Remain skeptical, don’t fall for a trend or a cult of personality, especially when your life is at stake. Use real fact based science.
In conclusion, everyone's physiology varies. What that means is, no one single diet works for all. Meat and KETO work for one group and vegan another. While plant based and pattern fasts work for others. Your choice should be directed by you and your doctor, and real fact based science. Not some politically driven trend spouted by demagogues and cults of personality.
