Plants have got it going on. They can't sing, throw a ball, or write novels (that we know of) -- but by evolutionary design they are wired to nourish us. Like no other living thing on Earth.
Flexitarians recognize the soundness of the reasoning around leaving meat behind … and quite reasonably dread a life devoid of bacon. But they are willing to try. Flexitarianism is — yes —a philosophy. It embodies the imperfect but unstoppable human energy that will tackle what we can change today, and work diligently at longer-term repairs that will redefine tomorrow.
Dump 20,000 calories worth of water-soaked feed into a cow and what do you get? 2000 calories of food energy. That lousy 10% return means your steak is a calorically lame sponge into which you’ve poured a couple thousand gallons of scarce H2O, among other things. This disastrous return would ulcerize an investment banker.
Western science is—understandably—hesitant to trumpet positive results like this until it's understood HOW the phenomenon works. The mechanisms by which Matcha's EGCG polyphenols protect neuronal health and focus are complex—but not as complex as that frustrating search for your car keys.
Postwar scientific breakthroughs ushered in a new age of farming innovation just when the bombed-out, starving world needed it most. Today, those practices we set in motion to feed the world are destroying the agricultural future of food.
