Lesson Five: Meat Consumption
And why not learning about it would be a missed-steak
DISCLAIMER: Whether you eat meat every meal or you’ve been vegan for 10 years, it’s your life and your choice. I’m not here to persuade you in one direction or another. I am however a strong believer in the facts and I think this is something everyone should be aware of.
It’s hard to talk about meat consumption without talking about population growth. In November 2019, we are currently sitting at 7.7 billion people and steadily climbing. 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 - particularly China, which became the world’s biggest consumer of meat as its economy boomed. Currently, scientists are scrambling to devise a diet plan that can
A little quiz for you.
Meat, poultry and dairy farming accounts for nearly three quarters of emissions that come from the agriculture industry.
Meat farming produces much higher emissions per calorie than vegetables. Beef is by far the worst culprit 🐮– four times higher than chicken 🐔or pork 🐷.
Here’s a breakdown of the greenhouse gas emissions per calorie:
Again, beef requires the highest amount of resources. How much you may ask? I’m glad you asked:
In addition to water and food resources, in order to raise livestock, we:
To top it all off, the legislature around this topic is complex. For starters, the meat packing industry provides employment for a large number of people. Similarly, livestock trade is a core component of the economies of many countries.
Essentially, we need to find a solution that properly balances environmental and economic needs.
Some good news though! Food engineering has stepped 👏 up 👏 its 👏 game 👏 this past decade.
From beyond meat burgers, to lab-grown meat, scientists are working hard to creative meat-alternatives that will alleviate the immense food-shortage issue we’re facing. Fascinated to see how this trend unfolds 👀
As always, if you have any questions, let me know! I always love hearing from you 💚🌎
