Should We Eat Meat?

Outline

Should We Eat Meat? (2013) examines the role of meat in human history, nutrition, and the environment. Scientist Vaclav Smil reviews how meat consumption has grown, what it means for health, and its effects on land, water, and energy use. Rather than calling for people to stop eating meat, he argues for more moderate and efficient production and consumption.

• Meat has played a significant role in human history and nutrition, and the book places today's eating habits in that long context.
• Global meat consumption has grown, and Smil reviews what that growth means for human health.
• Producing meat affects land, water, and energy use, so food choices carry environmental consequences.
• Smil does not call for people to stop eating meat; he argues for more moderate consumption.
• He also argues that meat production should become more efficient, so the same food costs the environment less.

Vaclav Smil is a Czech-Canadian scientist and distinguished professor emeritus at the University of Manitoba. He has written dozens of books on energy, food, the environment, and technology, including Energy and Civilisation and How the World Really Works.