Taking the entropy argument a bit further, I think it’s important to realize that everything we eat increases universal entropy while reducing the entropy in our bodies — this is just the second law of thermodynamics. To me it’s humbling to think about it this way. Deciding to be a vegan does not somehow magically obviate the social and environmental impacts of the food you eat. Nor of course does choosing to be a carnivore for purely selfish nutritional reasons. When you realize the truth of this principle, it pushes you to think with nuance about all your food choices, and to think on many dimensions (social/economic, environmental, animal welfare, etc). It’s the only path forward out of the tribal bickering and cherry-picking of the current discourse on nutrition.
Great point. I think the modern food system prioritizes eaters to only think about their own personal entropy while putting the entropy of food systems, farm workers, climate, environment, etc. in second place at best. This is mirrored in the economic system where profit is everything for a company, which means companies too are prioritizing their entropy reduction over the entropy of the supply chains and environments they operate within. Thanks for the comment!
Taking the entropy argument a bit further, I think it’s important to realize that everything we eat increases universal entropy while reducing the entropy in our bodies — this is just the second law of thermodynamics. To me it’s humbling to think about it this way. Deciding to be a vegan does not somehow magically obviate the social and environmental impacts of the food you eat. Nor of course does choosing to be a carnivore for purely selfish nutritional reasons. When you realize the truth of this principle, it pushes you to think with nuance about all your food choices, and to think on many dimensions (social/economic, environmental, animal welfare, etc). It’s the only path forward out of the tribal bickering and cherry-picking of the current discourse on nutrition.
Great point. I think the modern food system prioritizes eaters to only think about their own personal entropy while putting the entropy of food systems, farm workers, climate, environment, etc. in second place at best. This is mirrored in the economic system where profit is everything for a company, which means companies too are prioritizing their entropy reduction over the entropy of the supply chains and environments they operate within. Thanks for the comment!
Thanks to @duckandcake Elizabeth Pizzinato for introducing us