It was enough that the minister of consumption
Alberto Garzón
affirmed a few days ago that we should eat less meat for a gale of criticism to sweep away his words. Nobody cared that his arguments were based on improving health and fighting climate change. Memes, tweets and videos on social networks by butchers, fans,
gourmets
and ranchers from all over Spain ridiculed his comments. One of the most ironic is that of
Igor Arnedillo
, from the
Daniel
butcher shop
in
Logroño,
as this
video
shows
. The outcome of the matter is well known, including the sudden reply of the Prime Minister and the remarks of
Luis Planas
Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, in
support of the steaks and the livestock sector.
No one doubts that the confrontations will continue to escalate.
Nor that the defenders of meat will face the scientists and those who advise reducing their consumption to 200/500 grams per week instead of the kilogram, the average rate where we find ourselves.
One of the rooms at Central de Carnes, Los Norteños.
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Should we limit the consumption of meat?
That was precisely the title of the round table
of the Summer University Course
-
Carnivores
-
recently organized by the
Gastroactitud
portal
and
Le Cordon Bleu
in
Madrid
, at the headquarters of the
Francisco de Vitoria University
. A meeting sponsored by
Central de Carnes, Grupo Norteños
,
which for two days led to presentations, beef cuts, debates, controversies and tastings.
At the end of the course, the great debate, the announced transoceanic round table that brought together scientists, ranchers, barbecuers, journalists and activists who
presented their theories in person
or
online
. I have rarely attended such a diverse meeting. Economic and environmental arguments intersected with gastronomic reasons and commercial interests. In all cases with
sustainability as a flag
, a worn word that presides over the new world order towards which we are advancing.
Soledad Barruti
, Argentine journalist, prestigious activist, author of books such as
Malcomidos
(2013) and
Mala Leche
(2018)
put the finger on the wound
. Backed by cataracts of data, from
Buenos Aires he
stressed the need to modify the production model of the food industry that destroys biodiversity and resources. “There is no way to sustain the
meat
consumption
of
developed societies. It is not healthy for citizens or for the planet ”, he stressed. "You not only have to modify the system but also the way of thinking of its inhabitants."
Journalist
Alberto Luchini
lacked time to reply: “To assert that for
some to eat steaks
in restaurants others have to go hungry is pure demagoguery.
They are the contrasts of the world we live in, even if we don't like it.
While some ride Ferraris, Ethiopians walk 25 kilometers to go to school.
What do we do?
Are we done with gastronomy and restaurants?
Welcome to the capitalist society of the 21st century ”, he snapped angrily.
The Argentine steakhouse Javier Brichetto with a carcass.
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"I didn't say that,"
Barruti
answered
forcefully. “If we focus on restaurants there is no debate. We must ask ourselves what sustains our way of life and whether we can continue like this in the future.
What is expensive and what is cheap? What is possible and what is not?
The quality of life in the West is maintained because the third world sells cheap labor and raw materials. We have to try to get Ethiopian children to school by bicycle. Let's think big.
Talking about cheap protein is insane.
Cheap for whom? Cheap because we don't put a price on all the externalities generated by intensive livestock farming and the damage to waterways? We do not value the next pandemics that will come from the intensive use of antibiotics, nor the damage that we are generating in the fields. We live with 800 million people who die of acute hunger and with 2 billion who suffer from diseases linked to an intake of harmful substances.
The global balance is very expensive for ecosystems, even for those who go to restaurants to eat steaks.
We are pushing the limits. We are suffering from an endemic disease with a collapsed clinical picture. "
Barruti's
allusion
to the meat industry diverted the gaze towards
Tanacho Carrasco,
director and owner of
Carrasco Ibericos
“In front of the speeches of the activists I defend freedom. It is positive that we analyze the scientific evidence, that we are objective without being carried away by the reasons that favor us. However, the debate has become politicized
into a form of militancy.
. We are told what to eat and what not to eat. Let us live, please! We must respect the balance between the environment and people and we must manage waste well! But let us not forget that livestock provides employment for many workers. If we abandon it in favor of synthetic meats, we would fall into the hands of
Bayer
or
Nestlé
and other multinationals that will send us to unemployment. Nor should we forget that the Iberian pig is the most environmentally friendly animal. The conservation of the mountains depends on a large part of the cows, sheep and pigs. Let's be sensible ”.
Synthetic laboratory meats?
Carrasco's
allusion
left an exciting theme in the air. Dr.
Marta Miguel
, a
researcher at the Department of
Bioactivity and Analysis of the CSIC
, defended the vegetable meat made with rice and carob, baptized as
Leggie
, which she herself has developed together with Professor
Marta Garcés
. Cholesterol-free, healthy and non-polluting meat, low in saturated fat and rich in fiber, close to hitting the market. “I find it very selfish that those of us who have access to quality meat think of us exclusively. Undeveloped countries need to eat more meat. Let's save a bit for those who need it. In today's society
there are vegans and vegetarians who like this vegetable meat that we have developed.
Small sustainable productions will not be enough for everyone. Science provides solutions to problems ”.
Through the screen
Luis Ferreirim
from
Greenpeace
raised his hand: “We talk about freedom without knowing what it represents.
At a global level, in order for me to consume meat, we are sneaking it to other places that need it.
Freedom does not go through consuming what I want.
To fatten certain animals we import raw materials that cause a deterioration of the environment in other parts of the world while depriving distant people of the right to a healthy standard of living.
Cosntantino and Ana González.
"We are degrading the planet.
Spain, one of the most affected countries in Europe, has declared a climate emergency
and now we bear the consequences. We are deceived with the need to feed the world's population in 50 years. All false.
Today We waste a third of our food
. The agro-industrial model is not designed to feed people but to fill the pockets of a few corporations. We do not distribute wealth. Spain does not comply with many European regulations. Industrial livestock not only consumes abundant water, rather, it contaminates it. Spain has opened a sanctioning file by the
European Commission
due to the discharge of nitrates as a result of the huge amounts of excrement that are generated in intensive farms.
Greenpeace
has published corroborating data.
Do you know how many animals are slaughtered in Spain per day?
About 1,700 a minute, more than 900 million a year, more than all the people living in the EU. And all to support a model that does not provide food to those who need it.
We are not efficient and we destroy our planet ”.
In the same
Le Cordon Bleu
classroom,
Ferrán Sivill
, from Carnicería Sivill Milà, in
Tarragona
, one of the great experts,
raised his voice
. "Of the meat that we are producing in Spain, 90% is industrial and most of it is exported.
Entire ships of fattened meat are chartered
from
Tarragona
and
Cartagena
to other countries. Meat has become
an economic vehicle
. always the damn money. Some affirm that we should not eat meat and others the opposite. We must not stop eating it, but eat less and be aware of what we eat.
Meat should not be for privileged minorities ".
Pablo Rivero,
owner of
Parrilla Don Julio
, in
Buenos Aires
, turned the positions around. “The debate is not in whether to eat more or less meat, but in the way it is produced. We produce what cannot be done. And we eat an inordinate amount.
How many hamburgers are there on the planet?
It is a political issue. The world powers make their citizens believe that they are richer because they eat a lot of meat, a
wrong perception of well-being
. The problem is not eating meat but how we do it. Today
extensive and regenerative livestock farming
captures more carbon than it emits, capturing three and a half kilos for every kilo of meat produced. It is the only ethical alternative that we have ”.
Is there a plot by the world industry against this type of livestock?
, interrupted the journalist
Julia Pérez.
“It certainly hurts the intensive livestock business because free-range animals don't need antibiotics.
The
implementation of sustainable livestock systems
is called
biominical
”.
In the kitchens of Central de Carnes during the Summer University Course.
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Time was running out and the hands of the attendees were raised everywhere.
Erwan Poudoulec,
technical director of
Le Cordon Bleu,
stressed the need to
learn to eat
, to reduce animal protein in favor of vegetables and legumes. And
Carlos Collado,
responsible for the
Spanish Cooking
programs
at the same school, on the possibility of attenuating the role of many meats in traditional recipes.
If the speakers agreed on something, it is that concepts such as sustainability, environmental awareness and solidarity go through the need to moderate meat consumption. Although some positions seemed antagonistic, they were not so far apart. From human health to the health of the planet, and from the threat of the carbon footprint to the loss of animal biodiversity due to intensive production. Short-term perspectives together with broader global visions. Something that was in evidence is that gastronomy and food walk along independent paths. And also that sustainability is not an abstract concept but a personal commitment that affects us all in the same way.
Constantino González
, CEO of
Central de Meats Madrid Norte
, concluded with some comments that synthesized the debate: “We should eat less meat, but of better quality.
There is no room for anything other than responsible consumption "
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Twitter: @JCCapel and on Instagram: @jccapel
Classroom at Le Cordon Bleu JC Capel
Soledad Barruti during her online speech.
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Ana Gonzalez during her speech.
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Luis Ferreirim of Greenpeace.
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Description of Leggie, the vegetable hamburger designed by Marta Miguel from CSIC.
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Burgers, one of the meat icons.
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Tasting at the end of the course.
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