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February 28, 2013
"There is no necessary correlation"
between the economic conditions of Mediterranean Europe and their diet of olive oil, nuts and figs. Still, one does wonder whether the economic performance of these countries has something to do with their avoiding of red meat." -- Had Enough Therapy?Posted by gerardvanderleun at February 28, 2013 10:05 AM. This is an entry on the sideblog of American Digest: Check it out.
Your Say
So, lemme see. If you can't afford red meat you can't develop an economy that can afford to eat red meat.
Or
If you eat fish you won't develop the culture that raises and eats red meat. Because catching a fish is actually easier than raising a cow.
Or
Who Cares.
Or
Posted by: glenn at February 28, 2013 12:57 PM
Get down wind of some Med broad and you'll know of that dietary fallacy. Add the hairy gams and you'll be left breathless.
Posted by: Vermont Woodchuck at March 1, 2013 1:25 AM
Modern societies must produce enough surplus of some commodities (iron, gold, silver, coal, oil, timber, agricultural products, etc.) in order to pay for the things they need to import.(Energy, food, manufactured goods, etc.) New Zealand is a good example. They have no energy (oil, gas, or coal), but they do produce enough surplus of food (dairy products, wool, meat, fruit, wine, and timber) to buy the energy and manufactured goods they need. As long as they don't go too far into debt they can manage quite nicely.
Spain and Greece, on the other hand, have no energy and produce mostly a surplus of such things as olives, olive oil, figs, etc. Their surpluses are not great enough to support the borrowing they have engaged in. Short of an explosion of tourism or some international companies setting up manufacturing facilities there, they have no way out of their present dilemma.
It is not their diet. It is not understanding how wealth is created and why that matters.
Posted by: Jimmy J. at March 1, 2013 3:54 PM