Meating the Target?

Meat production has large negative impacts on global heating and land degradation. Consuming excessive amounts of red and processed meat has also been linked to human disease. These include 'heart attacks'; type 2 diabetes and some types of cancer. An Oxford University study of dietary data, suggests UK 'meat' consumption has declined, over the last ten years, by 17% (https://www.theguardian.com/food/2021/oct/08/cuts-uk-meat-consumption-doubled-health-researchers-food). The Oxford study analysed information gleaned from the National Diet and Nutrition Survey. The Survey asks a 'representative sample' of people to keep a food diary for 4 consecutive days. Such Surveys have their limitations. Firstly, how genuinely representative is the sample? Some types of people (e.g. the health conscious or people with 'time on their hands') are more likely to agree to carry out this exercise. Secondly, the food diaries are simply self-reports. Self reports are not always reliable. Respondants can attempt to a) 'hide' behaviour viewed as being unacceptable (e.g. excessive alcohol consumption) or b) appear to be doing 'the right thing' (the problems of red meat have become more widely known, over the last 10 years). Finally, did the respondants simply switch to white meat (e.g. chicken) or fish? The '17% or thereabouts reduction' in meat consumption, is obviously a move in the right direction. A cut of circa 35% in red meat consumption would, however, have been required meet targets for a healthy diet and sustainable food production. People, in the UK, need to work a bit harder on their diets?