PAYING A HIGH PRICE IN RESOURCES FOR CHEAP MEAT
Since 1960, global meat production has quadrupled, while the population has doubled.1 With a few exceptions, the large increase in meat consumption in the global North took place during the second half of the twentieth century. In the South this trend began later, but is now occurring at an accelerated pace, since circumstances favor it. However, the environmental impact of meat production is so serious that it would be wise for all of us to moderate our meat consumption. This is also a good idea for health reasons.
Meat devours resources
Meat takes more natural resources to produce than any other food. Much more land, water and energy is needed to produce a single calorie of food from animal sources than to produce the same calorie from vegetable sources. This is even true when comparing animal protein to vegetable protein, as we will see below.
This is also true whether you compare intensive animal husbandry (factory farming) or extensive production (free-range meat). Factory farming clearly consumes more energy per kilo of meat produced (the animal feed must be transported). Though we have not found studies comparing this, free range farming may actually make better use of the same amount of land. That is because, despite being able to produce many more kilos of meat per hectare, factory farming consumes far more resources.
Agricultural land A small part of the nutrients in the plants that animals eat go on to become nutrients in the milk or meat that is consumed. This is why far more people can be fed by directly harvesting a given area of cultivated land for human consumption than by using it to feed dairy animals or livestock. For example, a one hectare field will feed 22 people a year if used to grow potatoes, 19 if used to grow rice, 2 if used to raise lambs, and only 1 person if used as feed for calves.2
A diet high in meat implies the cultivation of around 4000 square meters, while a mainly vegetarian diet only requires 1000 square meters.3
Half of the world's wheat, 70% of the corn, and 95% of the soybeans are used to feed livestock.4
In 1999, the world total of grazing land was more than twice that of total cropland.5
Because of this, much of the malnutrition in the global South is related to the hoarding of farmlands to satisfy the North's taste for meat. Here is a study of one actual case of this.
Water To produce one kilo of potatoes requires 150 liters; 1,400 for wheat; 4,000 for chicken; and 15,000 liters for beef.6
Energy Consumption To produce one calorie of factory-farmed veal, it requires the input of 30 calories (in machinery, transportation, etc.).7 The difference in overall energy consumption for a person consuming a diet rich in meat compared to a vegetarian diet for one year can be compared to driving some 10,000 km.8
Generally speaking, the species that requires the most resources per kilo of meat produced is beef, followed by pork, lamb, rabbit and chicken. However, this may vary in individual cases; for example: meat from a calf grazed in mountainous areas unsuitable for agriculture may represent a more sustainable use of resources than that of a chicken which spent its entire life in a cage. In other words, when comparing the resources needed by different species or different methods of raising them, one can only speak in the broadest terms, because the large number of variables makes each case so different.
Worse than many industries
Climate change A recent study shows that, given the consumption of the same number of calories, a diet which is high in meat results in the generation of far more CO2 than a diet free of animal products. According to this study, adopting a vegetarian diet for one month will save as many emissions (125,000 kilos)8 as are generated by driving 700 miles in a medium sized car that runs on gasoline.9
Another important factor is that livestock farming is the world's main source of methane, another greenhouse gas that causes climate change.
Deforestation For example, soybean farming for feedlots and livestock are responsible for about 47% of the Amazonian deforestation,10
This situation is also repeated in many other parts of the world.
Overdoing it isn't good for you
Most people know by now that eating too much meat is unhealthy. The World Health Organization explains: A few risk factors, and for the most part preventable ones, are responsible for the large part of global disease. This is a reflection of significant changes in dietary habits and levels of physical activity[..], the result of industrialization, urbanization, economic development and further globalization of food markets.11
Eating too much meat, particularly fatty meat (such as lamb and pork), leads to high levels of cholesterol and saturated fat. These accumulate in the veins and arteries and lead to cardiovascular disease (hardening of the arteries, high blood pressure, heart attacks, etc...), Type 2 diabetes and some cancers (those of the colon, pancreas, or stomach - a cancer mostly associated with cured and salted meats and sausages). Other lesser-known problems of overconsumption of meat are:
-
Meat, particularly organ meats, may contain toxic residues (pesticides, drugs, metabolic toxins such as urea). There is a waiting period that farmers must observe before slaughtering an animal that has taken antibiotics. Apparently, this is now strictly controlled in many countries..
-
Meat acidifies the blood. The body neutralizes this effect by taking calcium from bones, increasing the risk of osteoporosis. This also occurs due to the high phosphorus content.
[1] FAOSTAT (FAO Statistics).
[2] World Health Organization: Diet, Nutrition and the Prevention of Chronic Diseases. 2003.
[3]
Jorge
Riechmann: Cuidar la T(t)ierra. Icaria ed. 2003.
[4] Ecologistas en Acción: educational panels.
[5] FAO: World agriculture: towards 2015/2030. 2002
[6] Own work, based on The Worldwatch Institute: State of the World 2004.
[7] Several authors of the Wuppertal Institute: Report to the Club of Rome, Factor 4. Círculo de lectores, 1997.
[8] Own work, based on G. Eshel and P. Martin: Diet, energy and global warming. Review Earth interactions vol. 10, 2006.
[9] Ministerio de Industria de España: Guía de vehículos turismo en España, con indicación de consumos y emisiones de CO2.
[10] Greenpeace, internal document, 2005.
[11] www.who.int/dietphysicalactivity/en.