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Nutrition Experts Address the Question of Meat

Meat has been a staple of the human diet for all of recorded time and the human being is one of the world's most successful omnivores. But meat has become controversial for the amount we eat today. We

Nutrition Experts Address the Question of Meat

Tom Fudge:  The human relationship with meat and animal protein is one that goes back to the beginning of recorded history. We are omnivores and meat is a potent source of protein, vitamins and calories. Humans have kept animals as a source of meat and milk for thousands of years. And the onset of industrial farming has made meat much more plentiful... too plentiful, some people would argue.

In fact, when you start talking about meat consumption the discussion can quickly turn political, with admonitions of the environmental effects of cattle raising and questions of animal welfare. Proposition 2, on the November ballot in California, would set strict guidelines for the treatment of livestock and poultry.

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These Days is involved in a presenting two weeks of programs on the foods we eat. And today we are going to talk about meat... not the political part of it, but the nutritional part. How do we eat meat, why has it always been an important part of our diet? Do we eat too much, and what are the health consequences if we do?

Guests

Ken Fujioka, director of nutrition and metabolic research at the Scripps Clinic. He's director of the Scripps Center for Weight Management.

Cheryl Rock , professor in the department of family and preventive medicine at UCSD Medical School.