Meat production is a main driver of deforestation in Venezuela.Cereal-use statistic showing an estimated large fraction of crops used as fodder
Multiple studies have found that increases in meat consumption are currently associated with human population growth and rising individual incomes or GDP and therefore, the environmental impacts of meat will increase unless behaviors change.[2][3][4][5]
Changes in demand for meat may change the environmental impact of meat production by influencing how much meat is produced. It has been estimated that global meat consumption may double from 2000 to 2050, mostly as a consequence of increasing world population, but also partly because of increased per capita meat consumption (with much of the per capita consumption increase occurring in the developing world).[6] The human population is projected to grow to 9 billion by 2050, and meat production is expected to increase by 40%.[7] Global production and consumption of poultry meat have recently been growing at more than 5 percent annually.[6] Meat consumption typically increases as people and countries get richer.[8] According to an article written by Dave Roos "industrialized Western nations average more than 220 pounds of meat per person per year, while the poorest African nations average less than 22 pounds per person."[9] Trends vary among livestock sectors. For example, global per capita consumption of pork has increased recently (almost entirely due to changes in consumption within China), while global per capita consumption of ruminant meats has been declining.[6]
It takes seven pounds of feed to produce a pound of beef (live weight), more than three pounds for a pound of pork, and less than two pounds for a pound of chicken.[10] These numbers may vary depending on the quality of feed,[11] for example, when grain is used as feed instead of human-inedible roughages, less feed is required for meat production.[11]
About 85 percent of the world's soybean crop is processed into meal and vegetable oil, and virtually all of that meal is used in animal feed.[12] Approximately six percent of soybeans are used directly as human food, mostly in Asia.[12] In the contiguous United States, 127.4 million acres of crops are grown for animal consumption, compared to the 77.3 million acres of crops grown for human consumption.[13]
For every 100 lb of food we make for humans from crops, 37 lbs of human inedible byproducts are created,[14] and many countries feed their cows these crop byproducts.[15] Raising animals for human consumption accounts for approximately 40% of the total amount of agricultural output in industrialized countries.[16]
Data of a USDA study indicate that about 0.9 percent of energy use in the United States is accounted for by raising food-producing livestock and poultry. In this context, energy use includes energy from fossil, nuclear, hydroelectric, biomass, geothermal, technological solar, and wind sources. (It excludes solar energy captured by photosynthesis, used in hay drying, etc.) The estimated energy use in agricultural production includes embodied energy in purchased inputs.[21]
An important aspect of energy use of livestock production is the energy consumption that the animals contribute. Feed Conversion Ratio is an animal's ability to convert feed into meat. The Feed Conversion Ratio (FCR) is calculated by taking the energy, protein, or mass input of the feed divided by the output of meat provided by the animal. A lower FCR corresponds with a smaller requirement of feed per meat out-put, therefore the animal contributes less GHG emissions. Chickens and pigs usually have a lower FCR compared to ruminants.[22]
Intensification and other changes in the livestock industries influence energy use, emissions, and other environmental effects of meat production. For example, in the US beef production system, practices prevailing in 2007 are estimated to have involved 8.6 percent less fossil fuel use, 16 percent less greenhouse gas emissions, 12 percent less water use and 33 percent less land use, per unit mass of beef produced, than in 1977.[23] These figures are based on an analysis taking into account feed production, feedlot practices, forage-based cow-calf operations, backgrounding before cattle enter a feedlot, and production of culled dairy cows.
Manure can also have environmental benefits as a renewable energy source, in digester systems yielding biogas for heating and/or electricity generation. Manure biogas operations can be found in Asia, Europe,[24][25] North America, and elsewhere.[26] System cost is substantial, relative to US energy values, which may be a deterrent to more widespread use. Additional factors, such as odor control and carbon credits, may improve benefit to cost ratios.[27] Manure can be mixed with other organic wastes in anaerobic digesters to take advantage of economies of scale. Digested waste is more uniform in consistency than untreated organic wastes, and can have higher proportions of nutrients that are more available to plants, which enhances the utility of digestate as a fertilizer product.[28] This encourages circularity in meat production, which is typically difficult to achieve due to environmental and food safety concerns.
The amount of globally needed agricultural land would be reduced by almost half if no beef or mutton would be eaten.
Grazing occupies 26% of the earth's ice-free terrestrial surface, and crop production used for animal feed uses about one third of all arable land[16] or about 75% of agriculturally used land.[30][31] More than one-third of U.S. land is used for pasture, making it the largest land-use type in the contiguous United States.[13]
In many countries, livestock graze from the land which mostly cannot be used for growing human-edible crops, as seen by the fact that there is three times as much agricultural land[32] as arable land.[33]
Free-range animal production, particularly beef production, has also caused tropical deforestation because it requires land for grazing.[34] The livestock sector is also the primary driver of deforestation in the Amazon, with around 80% of all deforested land being used for cattle farming.[35][36][37][38] Additionally, 91% of deforested land since 1970 has been used for cattle farming.[39][40] Research has argued that a shift to meat-free diets could provide a safe option to feed a growing population without further deforestation, and for different yields scenarios.[41] According to FAO, "Ranching-induced deforestation is one of the main causes of loss of some unique plant and animal species in the tropical rainforests of Central and South America as well as carbon release in the atmosphere."[42]
Overgrazing sometimes decreases the soil quality by constantly depleting it of necessary nutrients.[43] By the end of 2002, the US Bureau of Land Management (BLM) found that 16% of the evaluated 7,437 grazing allotments had failed to meet rangeland health standards because of their excessive grazing use.[44]Overgrazing seems to cause soil erosion in many dry regions of the world.[16] However, on US farmland, much less soil erosion occurs on land used for livestock grazing than with land used for crop production. According to the US Natural Resources Conservation Service, on 95.1% of US pastureland, sheet and rill erosion is within the estimated soil loss tolerance, and on 99.4% of US pastureland, wind erosion is within the estimated soil loss tolerance.[45]
Grazing can have positive or negative effects on rangeland health, depending on management quality,[46] and grazing can have different effects on different soils[47] and different plant communities.[48] Grazing can sometimes reduce, and other times increase, biodiversity of grassland ecosystems.[49][50] In beef production, cattle ranching helps preserve and improve the natural environment by maintaining habitats that are well-suited for grazing animals.[51] Lightly grazed grasslands also tend to have higher biodiversity than overgrazed or nongrazed grasslands.[52]
Grazing can affect the sequestration of carbon and nitrogen in the soil. This sequestration which helps mitigate the effects of greenhouse gas emissions, and in some cases, increases ecosystem productivity by affecting nutrient cycling.[53] A study found that grazing in US virgin grasslands causes the soil to have lower soil organic carbon but higher soil nitrogen content.[54] In contrast, at the High Plains Grasslands Research Station in Wyoming, the soil in the grazed pastures had more organic carbon and nitrogen in the top 30 cm than the soil in nongrazed pastures.[55] Additionally, in the Piedmont region of the US, well-managed grazing of livestock on previously eroded soil resulted in high rates of beneficial carbon and nitrogen sequestration compared to non-grazed grass.[56]
Manure provides environmental benefits when properly managed. Manure that is deposited on pastures by grazing animals is an effective way to preserve soil fertility. Many nutrients are recycled in crop cultivation by collecting animal manure from barns and concentrated feeding sites, sometimes after composting. For many areas with high livestock density, manure application substantially replaces the application of synthetic fertilizers on surrounding cropland. Manure was spread as a fertilizer on about 15.8 million acres of US cropland in 2006.[57] Manure is also spread on forage-producing land that is grazed, rather than cropped. Altogether, in 2007, manure was applied on about 22.1 million acres in the United States.[58]
Estimated water requirements for various foods[59]
Food Types
Litre per kilocalorie
Litre per gram of protein
Litre per kilogram
Litre per gram of fat
Sugar crops
0.69
0.0
197
0.0
Vegetables
1.34
26
322
154
Starchy roots
0.47
31
387
226
Fruits
2.09
180
962
348
Cereals
0.51
21
1644
112
Oil crops
0.81
16
2364
11
Pulses
1.19
19
4055
180
Nuts
3.63
139
9063
47
Milk
1.82
31
1020
33
Eggs
2.29
29
3265
33
Chicken meat
3.00
34
4325
43
Butter
0.72
0.0
5553
6.4
Pig meat
2.15
57
5988
23
Sheep/goat meat
4.25
63
8763
54
Bovine meat
10.19
112
15415
153
Almost one-third of the water used in the western United States goes to crops that feed cattle.[60] This is despite the claim that withdrawn surface water and groundwater used for crop irrigation in the US exceeds that for livestock by about a ratio of 60:1.[61] This excessive use of river water distresses ecosystems and communities, and drives scores of species of fish closer to extinction during times of drought.[62]
Irrigation accounts for about 37 percent of US withdrawn freshwater use, and groundwater provides about 42 percent of US irrigation water.[61] Irrigation water applied in production of livestock feed and forage has been estimated to account for about 9 percent of withdrawn freshwater use in the United States.[63] Groundwater depletion is a concern in some areas because of sustainability issues (and in some cases, land subsidence and/or saltwater intrusion).[64] A particularly important North American example where depletion is occurring involves the High Plains (Ogallala) Aquifer, which underlies about 174,000 square miles in parts of eight states, and supplies 30 percent of the groundwater withdrawn for irrigation in the US.[65] Some irrigated livestock feed production is not hydrologically sustainable in the long run because of aquifer depletion. Rainfed agriculture, which cannot deplete its water source, produces much of the livestock feed in North America. Corn (maize) is of particular interest, accounting for about 91.8 percent of the grain fed to US livestock and poultry in 2010.[66]: table 1–75 About 14 percent of US corn-for grain land is irrigated, accounting for about 17 percent of US corn-for-grain production, and about 13 percent of US irrigation water use,[67][58] but only about 40 percent of US corn grain is fed to US livestock and poultry.[66]: table 1–38
Water pollution
Water pollution due to animal waste is a common problem in both developed and developing nations.[16] The USA, Canada, India, Greece, Switzerland and several other countries are experiencing major environmental degradation due to water pollution via animal waste.[68]: Table I-1 Concerns about such problems are particularly acute in the case of CAFOs (concentrated animal feeding operations). In the US, a permit for a CAFO requires the implementation of a plan for the management of manure nutrients, contaminants, wastewater, etc., as applicable, to meet requirements under the Clean Water Act.[69] There were about 19,000 CAFOs in the US as of 2008.[70] In fiscal 2014, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) concluded 26 enforcement actions for various violations by CAFOs.[71] Environmental performance of the US livestock industry can be compared with several other industries. The EPA has published 5-year and 1-year data for 32 industries on their ratios of enforcement orders to inspections, a measure of non-compliance with environmental regulations: principally, those under the Clean Water Act and Clean Air Act. For the livestock industry, inspections focused primarily on CAFOs. Of the 32 other industries, (including crop production) had a better 5-year environmental record than the livestock industry, 2 had a similar record, and 25 had a worse record in this respect. For the most recent year of the five-year compilation, livestock production and dry cleaning had the best environmental records of the 32 industries, each with an enforcement order/inspection ratio of 0.01. For crop production, the ratio was 0.02. Of the 32 industries, oil and gas extraction and the livestock industry had the lowest percentages of facilities with violations.[72]
Meat production is a leading cause of harmful particulate matter pollution in the atmosphere. This type of production chain produces copious byproducts; endotoxin, hydrogen sulfide, ammonia, and particulate matter (PM), such as dust,[73][74] which can all negatively impact human respiratory health.[75] Furthermore, methane and CO2—the primary greenhouse gas emissions associated with meat production—have also been associated with respiratory diseases like asthma, bronchitis, and COPD.[76]
Farmers are not the only ones at risk for exposure to these harmful byproducts. In fact, concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) in proximity to residential areas adversely affect these individuals' respiratory health similarly seen in the farmers.[77] Concentrated hog feeding operations release air pollutants from confinement buildings, manure holding pits, and land application of waste. Air pollutants from these operations have caused acute physical symptoms, such as respiratory illnesses, wheezing, increased breath rate, and irritation of the eyes and nose.[78][79][80] That prolonged exposure to airborne animal particulate, such as swine dust, induces a large influx of inflammatory cells into the airways.[81] Those in close proximity to CAFOs could be exposed to elevated levels of these byproducts, which may lead to poor health and respiratory outcomes.[citation needed]
Especially when modified by high temperatures, air pollution can harm all regions, socioeconomic groups, sexes, and age groups. Approximately seven million people die from air pollution exposure every year. Air pollution often exacerbates respiratory disease by permeating into the lung tissue and damaging the lungs.[82]
Diets high in plant protein and low in meat and dairy are associated with lower GHG emissions (high confidence). Ruminant meat shows the highest GHG intensity. Beef from dairy systems has lower emissions intensity than beef from beef herds (8–23 and 17–94 kgCO2-eq (100 g protein)–1, respectively) when some emissions are allocated to dairy products. The wide variation in emissions reflects differences in production systems, which range from intensive feedlots with stock raised largely on grains through to rangeland and transhumance production systems. Where appropriate, a shift to diets with a higher share of plant protein, moderate intake of animal-source foods and reduced intake of saturated fats could lead to substantial decreases in GHG emissions. Benefits would also include reduced land occupation and nutrient losses to the surrounding environment, while at the same time providing health benefits and reducing mortality from diet-related non-communicable diseases.[84]
According to a 2022 study quickly stopping animal agriculture would provide half the GHG emission reduction needed to meet the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global warming to 2 °C.[85]
The global food system is responsible for one-third of the global anthropogenic GHG emissions,[86][87] of which meat accounts for nearly 60%.[34][88] Given this information, and the knowledge that non-livestock agriculture accounts for 83% of the global calorie consumption,[89] we can conclude that replacing the global consumption of livestock agriculture with plant-based agriculture would make agriculture have half the current emissions (as seen from ), and it would decrease global GHG emissions by 17% (as seen from ).
Mitigation options for reducing methane emission from livestock are a change in diet, that is consuming less meat and dairy.[90] According to a 2018 study in the journal Nature, a significant reduction in meat consumption will be "essential" to mitigate climate change, especially as the human population increases by a projected 2.3 billion by the middle of the century.[5] A 2019 report in The Lancet recommended that global meat consumption be reduced by 50 percent to mitigate climate change.[91]
Producers can reduce ruminant enteric fermentation using genetic selection,[92][93] immunization, rumen defaunation, outcompetition of methanogenic archaea with acetogens,[94] introduction of methanotrophic bacteria into the rumen,[95][96] diet modification and grazing management, among others.[97][98][99] The principal mitigation strategies identified for reduction of agricultural nitrous oxide emission are avoiding over-application of nitrogen fertilizers and adopting suitable manure management practices.[100][101] Mitigation strategies for reducing carbon dioxide emissions in the livestock sector include adopting more efficient production practices to reduce agricultural pressure for deforestation (such as in Latin America), reducing fossil fuel consumption, and increasing carbon sequestrationin soils.[102]
Grazing (especially overgrazing) may detrimentally affect certain wildlife species, e.g. by altering cover and food supplies. The growing demand for meat is contributing to significant biodiversity loss as it is a significant driver of deforestation and habitat destruction; species-rich habitats, such as significant portions of the Amazon region, are being converted to agriculture for meat production.[112][105][113] World Resource Institute (WRI) website mentions that "30 percent of global forest cover has been cleared, while another 20 percent has been degraded. Most of the rest has been fragmented, leaving only about 15 percent intact."[114] WRI also states that around the world there is "an estimated 1.5 billion hectares (3.7 billion acres) of once-productive croplands and pasturelands – an area nearly the size of Russia – are degraded. Restoring productivity can improve food supplies, water security, and the ability to fight climate change."[115] Around 25% to nearly 40% of global land surface is being used for livestock farming.[111][116]
In North America, various studies have found that grazing sometimes improves habitat for elk,[117]
blacktailed prairie dogs,[118]
sage grouse,[119]
and mule deer.[120][121] A survey of refuge managers on 123 National Wildlife Refuges in the US tallied 86 species of wildlife considered positively affected and 82 considered negatively affected by refuge cattle grazing or haying.[122] The kind of grazing system employed (e.g. rest-rotation, deferred grazing, HILF grazing) is often important in achieving grazing benefits for particular wildlife species.[123]
A 2022 report from World Animal Protection and the Center for Biological Diversity found that, based on 2018 data, some 235 million pounds (or 117,500 tons) of pesticides are used for animal feed purposes annually in the United States alone, in particular glyphosate and atrazine. The report emphasizes that 100,000 pounds of glyphosate has the potential to harm or kill some 93% of species listed under the Endangered Species Act. Atrazine, which is banned in 35 countries, could harm or kill at least 1,000 listed species. Both groups involved in the report advocate for consumers to reduce their consumption of animal products and to transition towards plant-based diets in order to reduce the growth of factory farming and protect endangered species of wildlife.[124]
The biologists Rodolfo Dirzo, Gerardo Ceballos, and Paul R. Ehrlich write in an opinion piece for Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B that reductions in meat consumption "can translate not only into less heat, but also more space for biodiversity." They insist that it is the "massive planetary monopoly of industrial meat production that needs to be curbed" while respecting the cultural traditions of indigenous peoples, for whom meat is an important source of protein.[125]
In the Western United States, many stream and riparian habitats have been negatively affected by livestock grazing. This has resulted in increased phosphates, nitrates, decreased dissolved oxygen, increased temperature, turbidity, and eutrophication events, and reduced species diversity.[126][127] Livestock management options for riparian protection include salt and mineral placement, limiting seasonal access, use of alternative water sources, provision of "hardened" stream crossings, herding, and fencing.[128][129] In the Eastern United States, a 1997 study found that waste release from pork farms have also been shown to cause large-scale eutrophication of bodies of water, including the Mississippi River and Atlantic Ocean (Palmquist, et al., 1997).[130] In North Carolina, where the study was done, measures have since been taken to reduce the risk of accidental discharges from manure lagoons;[further explanation needed] also, since then there is evidence of improved environmental management in US hog production.[131] Implementation of manure and wastewater management planning can help assure low risk of problematic discharge into aquatic systems.[citation needed]
While levels of use vary dramatically from country to country, for example some Northern European countries use very low quantities to treat animals compared with humans,[138][139] worldwide an estimated 73% of antimicrobials (mainly antibiotics) are consumed by farm animals.[140] Furthermore, a 2015 study also estimates that global agricultural antibiotic usage will increase by 67% from 2010 to 2030, mainly from increases in use in developing BRIC countries.[141]
Increased antibiotic use is a matter of concern as antibiotic resistance is considered to be a serious threat to human and animal welfare in the future, and growing levels of antibiotics or antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the environment could increase the numbers of drug-resistant infections in both.[142] Bacterial diseases are a leading cause of death and a future without effective antibiotics would fundamentally change the way modern human as well as veterinary medicine is practised.[142][143][144] However, legislation and other curbs on antibiotic use in farm animals are now being introduced across the globe.[145][146][147] In 2017, the World Health Organization strongly suggested reducing antibiotic use in animals used in the food industry.[148]
The use of antibiotics for growth promotion purposes was banned in the European Union from 2006,[149] and the use of sub-therapeutic doses of medically important antibiotics in animal feed and water[150] to promote growth and improve feed efficiency became illegal in the United States on 1 January 2017, through regulatory change enacted by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which sought voluntary compliance from drug manufacturers to re-label their antibiotics.[151][152]
However, substantially reducing meat intake could result in nutritional deficiencies if done inadequately, especially for groups such as children, adolescents, and pregnant and lactating women "in low-income countries". A review suggests that the reduction of meat in people's diets should be accompanied by an increase in alternative sources of protein and micronutrients to avoid nutritional deficiencies for healthy diets such as iron and zinc.[2] Meats notably also contain vitamin B12,[167]collagen[168] and creatine.[169] This could be achieved with specific types of foods such as iron-rich beans and a diverse vatiety of protein-rich foods[170] like red lentils, plant-based protein powders[171] and high-protein wraps, and/or dietary supplements.[159][172][173] Dairy and fish and/or specific types of other foods and/or supplements contain omega 3, vitamin K2, vitamin D3, iodine, magnesium and calcium many of which were generally lower in people consuming types of plant-based diets in studies.[174][175]
Nevertheless, reviews find beneficial effects of plant-based diets versus conventional diets on health and lifespan[176] or mortality.[2][177][178][179]
Meat-reduction strategies
(Large-scale) education and awareness building are important strategies to promote more sustainable consumption styles. In 2022 the city of Haarlem, Netherlands announced that advertisements for factory-farmed meat will be banned in public places, starting in 2024.[180]
Relevant to such a strategy, estimating the environmental impacts of food products in a standardized way – as has been done with a dataset of more than 57,000 food products in supermarkets – could also be used to inform consumers or in policy and would make consumers more aware of the environmental impacts of animal-based products (or require them to take such into consideration).[185][186]
A review concluded that "low and moderate meat consumption levels are compatible with the climate targets and broader sustainable development, even for 10 billion people".[2]
The Netherlands is reducing the amount of livestock by buying out some farmers.[187]
Environmental effects
A study quantifiedclimate change mitigation potentials of 'high-income' nations shifting diets – away from meat-consumption – and restoration of the spared land, finding that if these were combined they could "reduce annual agricultural production emissions of high-income nations' diets by 61%".[188][189]
Measures which increase state revenues from meat consumption/production could enable the use of these funds for related research and development and "to cushion social hardships among low-income consumers". Meat and livestock are important sectors of the contemporary socioeconomic system, with livestock value chains employing an estimated >1.3 billion people.[2]
Beneficial environmental effects
One environmental benefit of meat production is the conversion of materials that might otherwise be wasted or turned into compost to produce food. A 2018 study found that, "Currently, 70 % of the feedstock used in the Dutch feed industry originates from the food processing industry."[190] Examples of grain-based waste conversion in the United States include feeding livestock the distillers grains (with solubles) remaining from ethanol production. For the marketing year 2009–2010, dried distillers grains used as livestock feed (and residual) in the US was estimated at 25.5 million metric tons.[191] Examples of waste roughages include straw from barley and wheat crops (edible especially to large-ruminant breeding stock when on maintenance diets),[11][192][193] and corn stover.[194][195] Also, small-ruminant flocks in North America (and elsewhere) are sometimes used on fields for removal of various crop residues inedible by humans, converting them to food.
Small ruminants[example needed] can control of specific invasive or noxious weeds (such as spotted knapweed, tansy ragwort, leafy spurge, yellow starthistle, tall larkspur, etc.) on rangeland.[196] Small ruminants are also useful for vegetation management in forest plantations and for clearing brush on rights-of-way. Other ruminants, like Nublang cattle, are used in Bhutan to help of a species of bamboo, Yushania microphylla, which tends to crowd out indigenous species of plants.[197] These represent alternatives to herbicide use.[198]
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