Global Meat Production and Consumption Continue to Rise

Global meat production and consumption has increased rapidly in recent decades, with harmful effects on the environment and public health as well as on the economy, according to research done by Worldwatch Institute's Nourishing the Planet project for Vital Signs Online. Worldwide meat production has tripled over the last four decades and increased 20 percent in just the last 10 years. Meanwhile, industrial countries are consuming growing amounts of meat, nearly double the quantity in developing countries.

Large-scale meat production also has serious implications for the world's climate. Animal waste releases methane and nitrous oxide, greenhouse gases that are 25 and 300 times more potent than carbon dioxide, respectively.

Dirty, crowded conditions on factory farms can propagate sickness and disease among the animals, including swine influenza (H1N1), avian influenza (H5N1), foot-and-mouth disease, and mad-cow disease (bovine spongiform encephalopathy). These diseases not only translate into enormous economic losses each year -- the United Kingdom alone spent 18 to 25 billion dollars in a three-year period to combat foot-and-mouth disease -- but they also lead to human infections.

Mass quantities of antibiotics are used on livestock to reduce the impact of disease, contributing to antibiotic resistance in animals and humans alike. Worldwide, 80 percent of all antibiotics sold in 2009 were used on livestock and poultry, compared to only 20 percent used for human illnesses. Antibiotics that are present in animal waste leach into the environment and contaminate water and food crops, posing a serious threat to public health.

The amount of meat in people's diets has an impact on human health as well. Eaten in moderation, meat is a good source of protein and of important vitamins and nutrients such as iron, zinc, and vitamins B3, B6, and B12. But a diet high in red and processed meats can lead to a host of health problems, including obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer.

Eating organic, pasture-raised livestock can alleviate chronic health problems and improve the environment. Grass-fed beef contains less fat and more nutrients than its factory-farmed counterpart and reduces the risk of disease and exposure to toxic chemicals. Well-managed pasture systems can improve carbon sequestration, reducing the impact of livestock on the planet. And the use of fewer energy-intensive inputs conserves soil, reduces pollution and erosion, and preserves biodiversity.

Further Highlights from the Research:

• Pork is the most widely consumed meat in the world, followed by poultry, beef, and mutton.
• Poultry production is the fastest growing meat sector, increasing 4.7 percent in 2010 to 98 million tons.
• Worldwide, per capita meat consumption increased from 41.3 kilograms in 2009 to 41.9 kilograms in 2010. People in the developing world eat 32 kilograms of meat a year on average, compared to 80 kilograms per person in the industrial world.
• Of the 880 million rural poor people living on less than $1 per day, 70 percent are partially or completely dependent on livestock for their livelihoods and food security.
• Demand for livestock products will nearly double in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, from 200 kilocalories per person per day in 2000 to some 400 kilocalories in 2050.
• Raising livestock accounts for roughly 23 percent of all global water use in agriculture, equivalent to 1.15 liters of water per person per day.
• Livestock account for an estimated 18 percent of human-caused greenhouse gas emissions, producing 40 percent of the world's methane and 65 percent of the world's nitrous oxide.
• Seventy-five percent of the antibiotics used on livestock are not absorbed by the animals and are excreted in waste, posing a serious risk to public health.
• An estimated 11 percent of deaths in men and 16 percent of deaths in women could be prevented if people decreased their red meat consumption to the level of the group that ate the least.
• Eating organic, pasture-raised animals can be healthier and environmentally beneficial compared to industrial feedlot systems.

Crossposted from the Worldwatch Institute's Nourishing the Planet.

 

 

 

Follow Danielle Nierenberg on Twitter: www.twitter.com/@NourishPlanet

Comments

[sabelmouse]

05:51 AM on 10/18/2011

Paul108
each person isn't automatically bad. it's all a question of what and how much they use, abuse, waste and pollute.

[Kenny Torrella]

12:05 PM on 10/16/2011

I went vegan because of the way animals are treated on factory farms. Plus, we don't need to eat animals to survive, so it just contributes to unnecessary killing. MeatVideo.com.

[Cimms]

08:17 PM on 10/14/2011

"Global Meat Production and Consumption Continue to Rise"

That is great news. More and more people are learning meat and fat are not the enemy.

[John D Rachel]

06:35 PM on 10/14/2011

This problem will go away of its own accord. The Earth will become uninhabitable by homo sapiens, 99% of the human population will be vanquished by starvation. Problem solved. It's the great thing about ecological systems. They are self-regulating.

[Karl Wilder]

12:52 PM on 10/14/2011

The growing population is part of the problem. We need to create fewer people.

[frank day]

04:50 PM on 10/14/2011

Would you choose to not exist?

[Karl Wilder]

05:43 PM on 10/14/2011

Rather a ridiculous comment. Once people do exist we have no choice but to feed them. However we can choose to not have children and we can choose to stop overpopulating the planet.

I already exist. I chose to never have kids and add to the population problem. My brother chose to have two kids and stop.

[intolleft]

11:26 AM on 10/14/2011

Note to self....get the prime rib tonight for dinner.

[KPinSEA]

05:01 AM on 10/14/2011

The planet has a huge problem with overproduction of meat: babies.

Plenty to eat if we just stop adding so darned many MOUTHS.

[TomP100]

10:19 PM on 10/13/2011

In light of facts like this, I think it's pretty rich when vegans make claims like they are the future, society is turning vegan,etc.. Just another disconnect from reality.

[Paul108]

02:51 PM on 10/17/2011

Please read this other recent HuffPo article:

www.huffingtonpost.ca/2011/10/13/less-meat-save-world_n_1009056.html

... and think again about who is disconnected from reality.


However, I don't say vegans or vegetarians are taking over, only that meat eaters are destorying the possibility of a prosperous next century. Veg*ns are offering a nice solution to world hunger and environmental degradation, that's all. It's also good for the conscience.

[elcerritan]

02:48 AM on 10/18/2011

Veganism is not a solution to world hunger or environmental degradation. Agro-ecology, aka sustainable agriculture, which necessarily involves the use of animals, including for food, is the solution to the problem of food security, particularly in the developing world. Veganism isn't even on the radar screen as a solution.

http://www.srfood.org/images/stories/pdf/officialreports/20110308_a-hrc-16-49_agroecology_en.pdf

http://www.acresusa.com/toolbox/reprints/Sept10_Salatin.pdf

[SanJoaquinValleyGrower]

10:47 AM on 10/18/2011

here's a meat eaters solution that's good for the environment, the economy, animal welfare, and the human conscience

http://www.americangrassfed.org/
localharvest.org
http://eatwild.com/

[Terry S Singeltary Sr]

08:42 PM on 10/13/2011

This is an interesting editorial about the Mad Cow Disease debacle, and it's ramifications that will continue to play out for decades to come ;


Monday, October 10, 2011

EFSA Journal 2011 The European Response to BSE: A Success Story

snip...

EFSA and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) recently delivered a scientific opinion on any possible epidemiological or molecular association between TSEs in animals and humans (EFSA Panel on Biological Hazards (BIOHAZ) and ECDC, 2011). This opinion confirmed Classical BSE prions as the only TSE agents demonstrated to be zoonotic so far but the possibility that a small proportion of human cases so far classified as "sporadic" CJD are of zoonotic origin could not be excluded. Moreover, transmission experiments to non-human primates suggest that some TSE agents in addition to Classical BSE prions in cattle (namely L-type Atypical BSE, Classical BSE in sheep, transmissible mink encephalopathy (TME) and chronic wasting disease (CWD) agents) might have zoonotic potential.

snip...


http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/efsajournal/pub/e991.htm?emt=1


http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/efsajournal/doc/e991.pdf



see follow-up here about North America BSE Mad Cow TSE prion risk factors, and the ever emerging strains of Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy in many species here in the USA, including humans ;


http://transmissiblespongiformencephalopathy.blogspot.com/2011/10/efsa-journal-2011-european-response-to.html

[USisLiberal]

01:41 PM on 10/13/2011

Good article, but let's be clear; there are two main negatives facing global meat production.

One, and perhaps the greatest, is that with increased global human population comes increased demand for foods of all sorts. That comes with the challenge of providing it. Thus, it should be no surprise that demand is up. The problem is, as of now in order to meet the demands of this increased population some meat producers in some countries have resorted to deforestation to create rangeland. That has to be stopped and countered. But the demand will still exist. A 'just say no to meat' approach as some preach just won't cut it.

A second is industrialization of meat production with the obvious drawbacks you mention. This likewise has to be challenged and dismantled. But in such a way that demands will still be met.

So what we are really looking at as the problem here is deforestation and industrialization of meat production. Otherwise, meat as a food source produced sustainably and with beneficial effects on land and atmosphere as you suggest, is the reality we should strive for when trying to meet the challenges of the 21st century human diet.

Here's a little more information on that end. Check out the "Angus Australia National Conference: Carbon friendly beef - is it possible?" article on http://amazingcarbon.com/

[Tiffany Hardesty]

01:00 PM on 10/13/2011

I am glad to see this article as it raises awareness of the damage meat consumption does to our health, environment and future generations. I encourage others to check out their local Meatless Monday as a way to experiment with how easy it is to find alternatives to animal-product consumption for one day a week. I would also caution consumers to not be lulled into a sense of trust for labels that claim 'organic, grass-fed, cage free, hormone-free'...it usually pretty close to the factory-farmed treatment of animals.

[frank day]

04:55 PM on 10/13/2011

Great post.

Good advice about labels.

[TomP100]

10:20 PM on 10/13/2011

" I would also caution consumers to not be lulled into a sense of trust for labels that claim 'organic, grass-fed, cage free, hormone-fr­ee'...it usually pretty close to the factory-fa­rmed treatment of animals."
---------------------

Proof? Or just an overgeneralized statement of opinion?

[Tiffany Hardesty]

02:06 PM on 10/14/2011

For your consideration: (In January 2003 Consumer Reports noted, "When we visited one free-range chicken farm a few years ago, we found a penned, 10x30-foot patch of dirt topped with chicken manure and grass." The USDA hasn't established criteria for the size of the "range" or the amount of space per bird, so things can get nearly as crowded outside as inside. Free-range chickens are typically debeaked, just like the caged kind, and the males are killed as chicks, since they don't lay eggs. in addition to a wonderfully researched booked called Eating Animals)