This is getting downvoted because it's snarky, but look, barbecue is a cultural staple. The climate/PETA/imitation beef proponents are just priming to pump on the Virtue-Signaling-Politicization-Industrial complex, which will inevitably transform the cheeseburger into a political statement.
The last thing we need is to turn cheeseburgers into a political statement.
You want to make real progress?
Don't pick fights with hourislate's barbecue--it sounds like a great time.
At least in the US, there's no chance of convincing more than a tiny minority of people to give up cheeseburgers and barbecue.
But on the other hand, if you promote non-meat dishes from around the world (falafel, shakshuka, black bean tacos, pastas, you get the idea) it's entirely possible for the average person who eats meat every day to switch for a few meals per week, whether they're motivated by climate, health, or just really liking tacos.
And take a hard look at restaurant portion sizes. In a lot of cases they've doubled since the 1980's.
It's easy to imagine this as a 25% reduction in meat usage, without picking a losing battle against backyard barbecues.
I don't 100% agree on how there's no chance of convincing people to give up cheeseburgers and BBQs. Sure, they're a cultural staple, but smoking was a cultural staple in France and yet the French have basically given up on smoking, because deep down inside they're sensible people (despite being pig-headed Gauls, at the same time).
What I find hard to understand is this: if you want to eat meat, why would you choose to eat a meat substitute? If you don't want to eat meat, why would you choose to eat a meat substitute?
How many people are there that really want to eat fake meat? Or fake anything, for that matter?
Even encouraging people to reduce beef consumption in favor of pork or chicken would have a pretty significant impact, and that's a lot less drastic of a lifestyle change than going fully vegan. Although from an animal welfare perspective it might not be desirable - a lot more chickens need to suffer to produce the same amount of meat as one cow for instance.
The last thing we need is to turn cheeseburgers into a political statement.
You want to make real progress?
Don't pick fights with hourislate's barbecue--it sounds like a great time.
At least in the US, there's no chance of convincing more than a tiny minority of people to give up cheeseburgers and barbecue.
But on the other hand, if you promote non-meat dishes from around the world (falafel, shakshuka, black bean tacos, pastas, you get the idea) it's entirely possible for the average person who eats meat every day to switch for a few meals per week, whether they're motivated by climate, health, or just really liking tacos.
And take a hard look at restaurant portion sizes. In a lot of cases they've doubled since the 1980's.
It's easy to imagine this as a 25% reduction in meat usage, without picking a losing battle against backyard barbecues.