Comments on: US eats 5 times more than India per capita http://weblog.sinteur.com/2008/05/us-eats-5-times-more-than-india-per-capita/ the Daily Irrelevant Fri, 21 Nov 2008 20:40:07 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.3 By: Steven Zalesch, New Haven, CT http://weblog.sinteur.com/2008/05/us-eats-5-times-more-than-india-per-capita/#comment-25327 Steven Zalesch, New Haven, CT Mon, 05 May 2008 16:00:59 +0000 http://weblog.sinteur.com/?p=23311#comment-25327 I was once, long ago, lucky enough to hear Herman Kahn speak. One of the points that he made was that if we rely only on a diet of grain and we have a bad harvest, people will starve and die (mitigated only by our ability to keep edible reserves in place). However, a nation that puts a significant portion of its food production into cattle (production of 1 lb of meat requires about 10 lb of grain) can, in famine years, cut back a bit on its herds (eat more meat than usual) and get by with relatively little starvation. When I when thru a phase of playing Sim City, I noticed in myself an inclination to grade my success not on the happiness of the people (which the game computed and made available to me) but rather on the sheer number of people I could cram into the play space. I have since then tried to restrain my propensity to favor behaviors that encourage lots of people living subsistence lifestyles rather than fewer people living comfortably. I recognize that spending & comfort need not be equated. But I do like a shower each day and to not feel starved all the time. Maybe I'm a bad person, but that's me. In spite of all the good resolutions, I still contribute to local food banks. Can't help it. But I don't support crusades against human comfort. I was once, long ago, lucky enough to hear Herman Kahn speak. One of the points that he made was that if we rely only on a diet of grain and we have a bad harvest, people will starve and die (mitigated only by our ability to keep edible reserves in place). However, a nation that puts a significant portion of its food production into cattle (production of 1 lb of meat requires about 10 lb of grain) can, in famine years, cut back a bit on its herds (eat more meat than usual) and get by with relatively little starvation.

When I when thru a phase of playing Sim City, I noticed in myself an inclination to grade my success not on the happiness of the people (which the game computed and made available to me) but rather on the sheer number of people I could cram into the play space. I have since then tried to restrain my propensity to favor behaviors that encourage lots of people living subsistence lifestyles rather than fewer people living comfortably.

I recognize that spending & comfort need not be equated. But I do like a shower each day and to not feel starved all the time. Maybe I’m a bad person, but that’s me.

In spite of all the good resolutions, I still contribute to local food banks. Can’t help it. But I don’t support crusades against human comfort.

]]> By: John http://weblog.sinteur.com/2008/05/us-eats-5-times-more-than-india-per-capita/#comment-25301 John Sun, 04 May 2008 18:44:20 +0000 http://weblog.sinteur.com/?p=23311#comment-25301 Couldn't tell if the grain figures also included the amount of grain fed to the cattle to produce the huge amounts of beef that they consume over here. Almost every restaurant serves portions large enough for 2 meals out here. Luckily, they also encourage people to take home what they don't finish so you really can make it last a couple of meals if you want to. Couldn’t tell if the grain figures also included the amount of grain fed to the cattle to produce the huge amounts of beef that they consume over here. Almost every restaurant serves portions large enough for 2 meals out here. Luckily, they also encourage people to take home what they don’t finish so you really can make it last a couple of meals if you want to.

]]>