This is how many animals we eat each year
A customer looks browses the meat section at a supermarket
in Milan, September 5, 2012. Italy is officially targeting the general
government deficit to fall steeply to 1.7 percent of gross domestic product
this year from 3.9 percent in 2011, though Economy Minister Vittorio Grilli has
conceded that the target will not be reached.
REUTERS/Stefano Rellandini (ITALY
- Tags: SOCIETY BUSINESS FOOD) - GM1E8951T1L01 Image: REUTERS/Stefano
Rellandini
08 Feb 2019
Alex Thornton
Meat can be a touchy
subject. Strict vegans and unrepentant carnivores rarely find any common
ground. But whatever your view on the ethics of eating meat, there are some
hard facts that should inform any debate.
Billions of animals are slaughtered every year
Humans are easily outnumbered by our farm animals. The
combined total of chickens (19 billion), cows (1.5 billion), sheep (1 billion)
and pigs (1 billion) living at any one time is three times higher than the
number of people, according to the Economist.
But those figures are dwarfed by the number of animals we
eat.
An estimated 50 billion chickens are slaughtered for food
every year – a figure that excludes male chicks and unproductive hens killed in
egg production.
The number of larger livestock, particularly pigs,
slaughtered is also growing, as the chart below shows.
Nearly 1.5 billion pigs are killed to feed the growing
appetite for pork, bacon, ham and sausages – a number that has tripled in the
last 50 years.
Half a billion sheep are taken to the abattoir every year.
The number of goats slaughtered overtook the number of cows eaten during the
1990s, although the figure for cattle excludes the dairy industry.
When it comes to seafood, the number of individual fish and
shellfish is almost impossible to calculate. One hundred and fifty million
tonnes of seafood were produced for human consumption in 2016 – nearly half
from aquaculture (for example trout or shrimp farms) rather than caught in
fisheries.
We eat more meat per person than ever
In the last 50 years the number of people on the planet has
doubled. But the amount of meat we eat has tripled.
Most of this growing demand has come from middle income
countries, and particularly China, which became the world’s biggest consumer of
meat as its economy boomed.
In contrast, the appetite for meat in Europe and North
America has stabilized, and even declined.
India, despite rapidly catching up with China in terms of
population, still consumes a tiny fraction of the world’s meat.
Pork has long been the most popular choice at the dinner
table. But poultry has now caught up, and is likely to overtake it. In 1961
just 12% of global meat production came from chicken, duck, goose, turkey and
fowl. Now poultry makes up a third of all the meat eaten worldwide.
In contrast, the most popular red meat, beef, has seen its
global share nearly halve in the last 50 years, to 22%. But it still remains
nearly five times more popular than lamb.
Meat production costs the Earth
The environmental cost of our growing appetite for meat is
alarming. Agriculture is responsible for 10-12% of greenhouse gas emissions,
with meat, poultry and dairy farming producing nearly three quarters of that.
Meat farming produces much higher emissions per calorie than
vegetables. Beef is by far the worst culprit – four times higher than chicken
or pork.
But it is not just the greenhouse gases produced by
livestock that damage the environment. Cattle farming, in particular, requires
much more land than other forms of agriculture, which drives deforestation. The
largest population of cattle in the world is in Brazil, where numbers have
quadrupled in 50 years, a trend that has led to the destruction of vast areas
of the Amazon rainforest.
Much of this land is used to grow crops for animal feed –
one third of the world’s grain goes towards feeding livestock.
Meat production is also a thirsty business, at a time when
the availability and abundance of fresh water supplies are becoming a major
concern.
Too much meat is bad for our health
For many people, meat is an important source of protein,
vitamins and minerals. But some meats are high in saturated fats that can raise
cholesterol, and eating too much red and processed meat has been linked to
bowel cancer. The burgers, steaks and sausages served up in most wealthier
countries tend to be a lot bigger than the recommended 70g a day.
It’s been estimated that swapping some of the beef we eat
for beans, peas and mycoprotein (derived from fungi) could reduce mortality by
5-7%.
Livestock provide livelihoods
Meat, dairy, fish and eggs provide 40% of protein consumed
globally, and in many parts of the world there is not yet a secure alternative.
It’s estimated 1 billion people are involved in the rearing,
processing, distribution and sale of livestock, with half of those reliant on
livestock for their livelihood. Agriculture as a whole makes up approximately
3% of global GDP, with livestock contributing 40% of that. The livestock
economy is particularly important for poor rural populations in low- and
middle-income countries.
The meat substitute market is growing
The search is on for alternatives which satisfy consumers’
taste for meat. Some of these involve the cultivation of animal cells in labs –
growing real meat in a petri dish rather than using an animal. Another approach
is the engineering of plant- or fungi-based meat substitutes, to give them the
taste and texture of beef, pork or chicken. And there are attempts to make
insects – already eaten in parts of Asia and Africa – a more popular choice on
menus worldwide.
For millions of people, eating animals is a way of life –
one of the cultural cornerstones of their domestic and social lives. For
others, like Yuval Noah Harari, the way modern agriculture treats animals is
one of the “worst crimes in history”.
Whatever your view, as the World Economic Forum’s Meat: The
Future series makes clear, as the world’s population heads towards 10 billion,
the current trends in meat consumption and production cannot be sustained.
How our growing appetite for meat is harming the planet
Rib eye steaks are seen at the Cabana Argentina restaurant
in Madrid, Spain, July 27, 2017.REUTERS/Juan Medina World meat consumption
topped 30 million tonnes in 2010. Image: REUTERS/Juan Medina
21 Aug 2018
Johnny Wood
Our appetite for meat
is increasing at a faster rate than the world population. Globally, both the
average per capita consumption and the total amount of meat consumed are higher
than ever before. This imbalance is bad news for the environment and our
health, a major new study warns.
The report, published in the Journal of Science, points to
two main factors driving the increase. The global population is growing, which
lifts overall demand, and individual average incomes are rising so more people
can afford to eat meat.
Where meat-eating is on the rise
The rate of growth in meat-eating differs between regions.
High-income countries show static or declining total meat demand, compared to
middle-income nations where there is a moderate to strong rise. In low-income
countries average demand for meat remains relatively low and stable.
In 2011, according to the Economist, the combined global
total of chickens (19 billion), cows (1.5 billion), pigs (1 billion) and sheep
(1 billion) outnumbered humans by three to one.
Total
consumption of meat (in million metric tonnes) Image: Science Magazine
World meat consumption topped 30 million tonnes in 2010.
China has experienced meteoric growth in the amount of meat its citizens
consume (over 8 million tonnes in 2010), along with other parts of Asia (over 4
million tonnes) and countries in Latin America (also exceeding 4 million
tonnes).
North America followed a steady growth pattern, but
consumption has declined in recent years. Europe peaked (at over 6 million
tonnes) at the end of the 1980s then dropped, but consumption has been climbing
again.
African countries have experienced much lower growth, eating
less than a quarter of China’s amount. India consumes even less, with
consumption remaining well below 1 billion tonnes.
Why it’s bad for the planet
The paper points to the harmful effects on the environment
of unchecked growth in meat consumption.
Rearing livestock produces higher carbon emissions than
growing vegetables, fruits and grains. Currently, livestock production is
responsible for 15% of all carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide emissions.
Animal production contributes to a loss of biodiversity, as
forests and untamed land are turned into agricultural fields to grow animal
feed. The analysis found that already-strained water resources are being
further depleted, as rivers and lakes are drained to irrigate land used to grow
corn and other animal foodstuffs.
Another area of concern is the potential impact of a heavily
carnivorous diet on health. Meat is a good source of nutrients for low-income
households, but a meat-heavy diet has been linked to incidents of colorectal
cancer and cardiovascular disease.
According to OECD expectations, chicken will account for
nearly half of meat consumption growth in the coming decade. There are fewer
detrimental health effects associated with chicken than red meat, which is good
news as it is predicted to replace pork as the world’s most consumed meat by
2020.
Chicken farming also produces fewer harmful emissions than
rearing cows, so a mass switch from red meat to poultry could significantly
reduce diet-related greenhouse gases and be kinder to the environment. However,
this goes little way to solving the fundamental problem of a growing population
demanding more and more meat.
The report points to a general perception of meat as either
natural, normal, necessary, or nice. In each case, meat is often seen as a
central part of the human diet, which discourages us from making changes.
However, attitudes can be changed.
Most governments regulate the production, supply and
distribution of meat to protect consumers from unsafe practices. They are also
uniquely placed to work with health organizations to educate people about meat
consumption.
Although changing attitudes to meat-eating won’t happen
overnight, it could be helpful in persuading people to switch to a more
planet-friendly diet.
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