With all of the news of Mad Cow and Hoof and Mouth disease spreading all over europe, meat consumption has declined by up to 50%. Wired News has a good story about it here. I think this might be good in some ways. People forget that meat is actually dead flesh and has the potential of containing dangerous bacteria and parasites. That’s not to mention the chemicals present in animals that underwent extreme stress immediately prior to their deaths. Of course, there are numerous reasons to go vegetarian.
My guess is also that if meat consumption declined you would have more people living longer, healthier lives. The hamburger based fast-food diet introduced in the 1950’s has created a world of bubble butts.