Meat Rations UK

[miles]

"Obesity: The War on Carnivorism

In World War 2 meat rations were seen as a necessary sacrifice, but could such a scheme be just what is needed to curb the rising obesity epidemic in the UK?



By Adrian Moloney 4:00PM BST 31 Mar 2011
Comment

David Cameron today announced plans to introduce 'meat cards'. Similar to a passport or driving license, meat-cards would be compulsory for the purchase of red-meats. These plans would see swipe-cards linked up to a national database, which would have individuals' consumption of red-meats limited by estimated caloric intake.

It is unclear when these plans are set to take effect, but Downing Street has already been met with strong opposition as protesters line the streets outside Westminster.

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This new bill would be just one of a range of government schemes set to tackle obesity. David Cameron is well-known to be a keen health-enthusiast, promoting cycling and initiatives such as 'The People's Supermarket', so it is of little surprise that he should be behind such a positive movement.

Shadow environment, food and rural affairs secretary - Peter Ainsworth also showed his support for the scheme: "I'm behind the Prime Minister all the way, not only will it provide a boost to public health, but it will help cut green-house gas emissions."

Watch this space for updates as they come in."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/8419119/The-war-on-carnivorism.html

[wodgina]

Wrong date.

[miles]

Wrong date.

What?

[laterade]

... keen health-enthusiast, promoting cycling ....  [Durianrider is moving in for the kill]

Shadow environment, food and rural affairs secretary - Peter Ainsworth also showed his support for the scheme: "I'm behind the Prime Minister all the way, not only will it provide a boost to public health, but it will help cut green-house gas emissions."

What will you do if this is implemented miles/TD/ anyone in UK?

[Josh]

I'm really worried actually. I saw a load of people campaigning for meat rationing the other day when I was in town. I tried to talk to the demonstrators but they're so stuck in their 'eat mostly plants mindset' and this has a lot of popular support because it's squares with what people think. I suppose this will be my cue to leave the country.

[TylerDurden]

What will you do if this is implemented miles/TD/ anyone in UK?

  Well, I could leave the country, but that would be defeatist. I encourage all UK rawpalaeos to search online for any online petitions/groups and to ask your local MP to stop this psychotic nonsense. I was sure it was going to happen at some stage, given increasing government interference with our food-supply.

If this idiocy gets through parliament, I might be able to obtain raw grassfed meat on the black-market, but it will cost the earth, of course.

[TylerDurden]

Ah, of course, this article was meant as an April Fool's Joke which newspapers routinely go in for, for a laugh. Nothing to worry about. If it had been real, Cameron would have been attacked by the meat-industry big time.

[Josh]

I thought you were playing along. I guess the game's up.

[goodsamaritan]

British humor. 

[PaleoPhil]

Aww, you spoiled it, Tyler.

[miles]

APRIL FOOLS!

I posted it at like 00:30am April 1st, put it together myself in like 10mins.. Did anyone actually click the link? xD I realise most people got that it was a joke, but it's not even on the Telegraph.co.uk site.

Actup(I think) and Tyler(Fo' Sho) got pwnt.

Of course it's dated 31st March, since I posted it just after Midnight.

[TylerDurden]

I clicked the link at the time but just thought you'd made a dumb mistake with the link or perhaps that the telegraph had removed the article. But, like I said real humour requires originality. When people in New York and elsewhere have long been talking about banning meat-consumption re meatless mondays etc. etc., then it's no longer funny.

[PaleoPhil]

I posted it at like 00:30am April 1st

That was your time. It was well before midnight March 31st my time (and the time zone difference is why Wodgina posted "wrong date"), which actually helped to fool me for a minute before I realized that it was an April Fools joke and that it was likely April 1st in your time zone.

Did anyone actually click the link?

Yes, I was skeptical of it and then the link really tipped me off. For a minute, though, I was thinking, WTH? and of maybe sending Paleo dieter Nassim Taleb an email to ask him to persuade his friend Cameron that this is insanity. LOL I knew enough about Cameron, however, that I also said to myself that this can't be true. After all, Cameron read The Black Swan and listens to Taleb's advice and Taleb talks about the benefits of meats and Paleo dieting in general and the alleged harm from "carbs". If the article had been about someone else, like the head of agriculture or nutrition or something, then it probably would have worked better on me. Good one, though.

When people in New York and elsewhere have long been talking about banning meat-consumption re meatless mondays etc. etc., then it's no longer funny.

That's what makes the April Fools joke work--it's believable enough to fool people and it still makes folks look foolish because they should be expecting such jokes on April 1 and it's an extreme story that should trigger skepticism and all they would have to do to find out it's false is click on the link to see it's bogus or broken and then Google it if necessary or curious to see that absolutely no one has reported anything like that about Cameron. In my case it was not quite believable enough because I was only fooled for a minute or less and I wasn't fooled enough to post about it seriously. In your case it worked perfectly because you were fooled enough to complain about it and to seriously address the question about leaving the country. LOL Ironically, you even asked rawpaleos to search online, which, if you had followed your own advice before posting would have revealed the hoax. Beautiful! Good job Miles--and good job Josh in playing along. Tyler's post was paydirt. I wanted to play along too, but I was waiting for the morning when it would be April 1st in my time zone and therefore true to April Fools tradition and didn't want to stay up till midnight. I shouldn't have waited, because it would have at least been April 1st in the UK time zone.

[TylerDurden]

I mean that it is  a spectacularly stupid, unoriginal and unfunny joke since people have made exactly the same sort of demands in public before to ban all meat-sales etc. I remember Monty Python even condemning this type of joke(merely exaggerating a real-life situation) as being desperately unoriginal and unfunny.  And I did actually check the link in question, I had just assumed naturally, as sometimes happens, that the article had been removed by the relevant website.

[PaleoPhil]

Wow, talk about a poor sport. I was pwned too (though not to as an embarrassing extent as you ) and I got a good chuckle out of it. Sheesh, haven't you ever heard of Google? I take it you're not a fan of The Onion, then or of the habit of countless websites, journals, media outlets, companies, etc. that run an April Fools prank story every now and then or even every year?

Speaking of Google, when you search for things like "meat card cameron" in Google, this guy even helps you with your search:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blB_X38YSxQ&feature=player_embedded

Heck, in Irish culture there's even a whole race of pranksters called leprechauns you may have heard of, as well as a gift of flattery, persuasion and exaggeration called Blarney/Bhlarna that is sometimes used to persuade people of nonsense in a good-naturedly mischievous way.

[TylerDurden]

I have nothing against april fool's jokes, I just want them to be original and funny. Not a big thing to ask.

[PaleoPhil]

Well I thought Miles' joke was original and funny even if you didn't.