EA - Even an obligate omnivore can try to eat less meat by Joe Rogero

Welcome to The Nonlinear Library, where we use Text-to-Speech software to convert the best writing from the Rationalist and EA communities into audio. This is: Even an obligate omnivore can try to eat less meat, published by Joe Rogero on July 8, 2023 on The Effective Altruism Forum.I've seen some good posts lately about veganism and health. Here's my two cents.I'm convinced by the arguments that many animals might have conscious experiences. I'd prefer not to torture the ones that do. Unfortunately, if I adopted a fully vegan lifestyle I might well be hospitalized for malnutrition within the year. In this post I'll give an overview of how I balance nutrition, ethics, and allergy constraints, and solicit ideas for improvement.My problemI am demonstrably allergic to a startling variety of foods, including, but not limited to:PeasCeleryUncooked egg yolksChickpeas (and derivatives like hummus)Beans (but not peanuts, which are also legumes)Not deathly allergic, but definitely my-afternoon-is-ruined allergic. A tablespoon of hummus can give me 2-4 hours of intensely distracting pain. I have also experienced an identical, though sometimes inconsistent, reaction to:FishSoylentShellfishEggplantSweet potatoCranberry sauceButternut squashEvery protein shake mix I have ever triedSeveral mixtures containing none of the above but some hard-to-isolate combination of ingredientsYou will notice that several of the items on the above lists are widely considered key sources of vital nutrients in a vegetarian or vegan diet.Coupled with my strong dislike of spicy food, a typical restaurant menu typically contains at most 1-5 entrees I can safely eat. Catered meals often hedge me out entirely. At one (non-EA) event, after listing my allergies in the RSVP, I was served a dinner plate consisting of fish, lima beans, and rice pilaf with peas and celery.Even with these honestly ridiculous constraints, I've found some cheap ways to reduce my dependence on harmfully-produced meat.Reducing harm in an omnivorous dietIt's easier to cut the first half of my meat intake than the second half. Diminishing returns apply. By the same logic, two people eating half as much meat is just as good as one person eating none.Here are some things I've learned while trying to minimize the suffering my diet imposes:Tofu is a fine supplement in many dishes, and rice is a cheap and flexible staple.Green vegetables like spinach and broccoli make good additions to any diet.Nuts and many dried fruits are nutrient-rich. Also, peanuts and cashews add a nice crunchy texture to homemade rice dishes.I can also eat cooked eggs and yogurt, and I've heard some convincing arguments in favor of eggs being less harmful than chicken and dairy less harmful than beef.I'm distrustful of "cruelty-free" branding because so many standards for that kind of thing are false or misleading, but with further research I expect I could find more harm-minimizing options there too.Being allergic to fish really hurts, because I think fish probably suffer less than birds or mammals, if at all. If I could eat more fish instead of meat, I would.I could probably bring myself to eat insect-based protein if it were a) actually available where I live and b) not recognizably still a whole bug at the time. Still working on that angle.I'm tentatively excited about lab-grown meat.My wife and I did some math and determined we aren't getting enough protein in our diets, so we're stepping up meat intake overall, but it's still a significant improvement over my past eating habits. I used to cook lots of chicken.My wife can eat beans and likes them fine. We don't have to eat the same things, especially when leftovers are available.We do a lot of home cooking, buy foods that keep, and try not to waste anything.If you have other ideas for reducing diet-induced harm, please share!ConclusionEven if you can't or don't want to fully expunge meat from your diet, it's possible to signific...