Summary
The production of meats is responsible for 18% of man made green house gas emissions and 25% of man made methane emissions. No wonder there is talk that eating beef is not very green. WIll sustainable farming and green consumers move away from meats and towards a vegetarian diet?
Analysis
Meat free Mondays is already being pushed in Ghent, Belgium and has been picked up by some major celebrities, including Sir Paul McCartney. This comes as a result of campaigns against large commercial livestock farms and growing concerns about global warming. Will this become the next big trend after organic and sustainable farming?
Agriculture is the most destructive industry that man has invented. It is responsible for the world population reaching nearly 7 billion this year and will need to feed 9 billion before the global population peaks somewhere around 2050. As people move up the economic ladder they desire more meat on their plate, just as in the beginning when we were all hunter gatherers. Population growth and the demand for more meat has resulted in greater demand for corn, soybean meal and other feed ingredients. This has been especially beneficial the past 3 years for the large agriprocessors such as Cargill, ADM, Bunge Ltd., Noble Group, Glencore and Louis Dreyfus, as well as major global meat producers prior to the recession including Tyson Foods, JBS, Smithfield and Seaboard. Major feed and feed ingredient companies have been expanding, especially in China to meet the growing need of the fastest growing market. Some of the key players include Nutreco, Provimi, DSM, Land O'Lakes, Cargill, ADM, Charoen Pokhand Group, New Hope Group and Brazil Foods.
With growing concerns about global warming, Lord Stern, a former advisor to the UK Government, believes that there needs to be a push away from meat consumption and a move towards vegetarianism. A UN study from 2006 found that 18% of all greenhouse gases came from livestock production and the attached article mentions 25% of all man made methane coming from those same animals. Animal, especially beef are not efficient converters of feed to meat, not to mention the water consumed by the crops they eat and the that they consume themselves. Beef are the least efficient using about 16 pounds of feed (including hay) during their full life to produce one pound of meat. Poultry are much more efficient with a feed to meat ration of under 2 pounds of feed to 1 pound of meat. So what is a meat and potato lover to do, especially when on top of the environmental and sustainability issues, you add health related issues from the consumption of red meats.
Though I do not believe that global meat consumption will drop anytime soon (though it has declined in many countries during the current recession), I do believe that beef consumption will continue to decline as has been the case in the US and other developed countries. There will be a continued switch to less environmental meats that are cheaper and healthier. In the long term, I do anticipate that beef and meats in general will garner additional negative labels and like cigarettes will grow socially unacceptable.
