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Is Meat Really that Bad?

50 videos recommended on HN
YouTube
2 HN users recommended this explainer2 months2021–2022 score 2
Years with an HN recommendation, 2007–2026

HN commenters cite it as a clear, well-sourced summary of why meat, especially beef, has such a large environmental footprint.

A Kurzgesagt animated explainer on the climate and environmental cost of meat. It covers how beef drives deforestation and emissions, and how this compares with plant-based foods.

“Kurzgesagt just did a great video on the subject” (HN, 2021)

3 recommendations · 4 citations · Explainers

7 Hacker News comments

From the HN archive; up to 20 kept per video, favoring different commenters. Recommendations first.

@sweetheart Dec 2021 Recommends
on HN thread Remove an Omnivore's Statue? Debate Ensues over the Legacy of Factory Farming
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Lots of disinformation here. Let's start from the top: 1. Veganism isn't a diet, it's a moral belief system. Diet is merely one manifestation of that belief system. 2. "Proteinless garbage"? What is this, the 90s? We've moved beyond the silly misconceptions that protein = meat. Do your research, please. Hitting daily protein goals is absolutely trivial on a vegan diet. Seriously, it's stupidly easy. 3. Animal agriculture is an astounding contributor to global emissions. Kurzgesagt just did a great video on the subject: [this video] We invite you into the 21st century, when you're ready. You'll have to leave the macho "I don't eat rabbit food" delusions behind, though.
Great video on animal agriculture's contribution to global emissions
@sweetheart Aug 2022 Recommends
on HN thread Meatless meat is nothing new
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How do you arrive at the conclusion that the best thing to do in the US is switch your meats? Every form from animal protein is going to be less efficient than plant protein and result in more emissions [1]. There are some amazing Kurzgesagt videos exposing how and why that is true [2]. So since we know that eating animals is not required to be healthy at any stage of life [3] (assuming basic access to required nutrients and what not which is very easy in developed countries) how did you arrive to conclusion that eating chicken is better than eating lentils, beans, etc? I don’t think what you’re saying is based in fact. I’d love if you tried to prove me wrong though. 1. [link] 2. [this video] 3. [link]
Explains why animal protein is less efficient than plant protein

Citations, criticism and jokes

@ornornor Aug 2022 Cites it
on HN thread Fishing gear accounts for an alarming amount of plastic in oceans (2021)
There is a Kurzgesagt video on that exact point. Their analysis is that the emissions from shipping plants from further away to make your tofu is a drop in the bucket compared to the emissions you won’t be generating anymore by not consuming meat anymore. Meat which has to also have their food plants shipped around to them, on top of everything else. See [this video]
Shows shipping plants emits far less than meat production
@tcfhgj Aug 2022 Cites it
on HN thread Meatless meat is nothing new
What is health and planet positive based on? Compare the best meat against the worst plant based food and its still plant based>meat: [this video]
Compares environmental impact of meat versus plant foods

Video list and Hacker News comment labels from HackerTube (prompted by @karpathy), released under ODC-By 1.0, built on the open-index/hacker-news archive. Hacker News data is provided by Y Combinator; comments remain the work of their authors. Video titles, channel names and thumbnails belong to their creators and are shown via YouTube. HackerTube Watch is an unofficial edition. Data export of 2026-10-31.

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