CSI Alumnus Discusses Health Issues in The Washington Post

College of Staten Island (CSI) Macaulay Honors College alumnus Brian Kateman ‘11 recently shared his views on health, diet, and the environment in an article in The Washington Post. Kateman is co-founder and president of the Reducetarian Foundation, an organization aiming to urge consumers not to completely cut out meats from their diets, but rather to cut down on the amount.

In the opinion piece, “We can save the earth without giving up bacon. Here’s how,” Kateman proclaims, “You’d have to be living under a rock to have missed the memo: Too much meat is bad for your health, responsible for immense animal cruelty on factory farms, to blame for speeding up climate change, at fault for squeezing out rare species, and more. Yet despite increased pressure to eliminate meat from our diet, consumption rates have been slow to budge. Americans are eating less beef, but chicken sales are on the rise.”

The article details the foundation’s mission, which centers around “incremental progress” in changing peoples’ minds and behaviors when it comes to food.

“…I co-founded a whole new campaign called ‘reducetarianism’ to encourage people to eat fewer animal products without trying to force them to quit cold turkey. Reducetarianism is the practice of eating less red meat, poultry, and seafood (as well as less milk and fewer eggs). A core concept of reducetarianism is that demanding people cut out meat entirely is neither effective nor sustainable,” Katemam explains in the article.

Kateman, who graduated with a degree in Biology, was also CSI’s Salutatorian. A former Jeannette K. Watson Fellow, he worked for three consecutive summers in paid internships, with the Earth Institute Center for Environmental Sustainability at Columbia University, Echoing Green, and the National Wildlife Refuge Association.  Kateman went on to receive a Master’s Degree from Columbia University while serving as the University’s Assistant Director of Education Programs for the Earth Institute Center for Environmental Sustainability.

Read the full story in The Washington Post.

For past articles on Kateman, read CSI Today: “CSI Macaulay Honors Alumnus Urges Reduced Meat Consumption for Health and the Environment” and “Brian Kateman, Class of 2011 Salutatorian.”