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The per capita meat consumption, which shows how the pounds per year of meat eaten have gone up.

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The problems with meat, and how we can fix them

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The problems with meat, and how we can fix them

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We can start solving our meat related problems in a few different ways. First, we can reduce our risk of heart disease, pneumonia, diabetes, obesity, colon polyps and other illnesses by eating less/no meat, and consuming diets with high legumes, fruits, and vegetables, and grains. A diet like this has been shown to help prevent these illnesses and keep you healthy. Consuming a diet like this will also help solve another problem: high greenhouse gas emissions and overpopulation. If the world went on a mediterranean-style-diet like this, greenhouse gas emissions could be reduced by 29% by 2050, and we could use 25-50% less land globally for agriculture. This means that that land could be repurposed into housing, forests, and much more. Finally, we could increase the mental health and well being of almost a million factory farm workers globally by implementing global standard on factory farm excrement removal policies and machine operator standards, reducing machine related injury and mental health issues caused from toxic chemicals in animal fecal matter.

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Meat production has huge economic and political impacts. Globally, the meat industry is worth over 1 trillion dollars and employs over 150 million people. In the United States alone, the meat industry contributes over a trillion dollars to the economy and supports 5.4 million jobs. However, as mentioned earlier, meat production is also a major source of greenhouse gas emissions, with livestock responsible for up to 14.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions. This has led to more regulation of the meat industry, with countries like Denmark and New Zealand implementing taxes on meat and livestock emissions to help reduce meat consumption and pollution. In the economy, plant-based meat alternatives like Impossible Burgers and Beyond Meat have been competing with the livestock industry, with analysts saying that the plant-based meat market could be worth $35.4 billion by 2027. This could reduce the amount of meat eaten and produced, therefore lowering greenhouse gas emissions and other negative environmental effects.

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There are several environmental issues caused by meat production. Meat production is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, which destroy the ozone layer and contribute to global warming. The livestock sector is responsible for approximately 14.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions, because of the release of methane and nitrous oxide from animal waste and other factory farm emissions. Meat production also requires large amounts of land, water, and other resources in order to maintain cattle. In fact, 77% of global farming land is used for animal agriculture, and animal agriculture accounts for nearly 20% of all freshwater use globally. The production of crops to feed animals also requires lots of land and water, which contributes to deforestation and water scarcity. Finally, the use of chemicals like ammonia and chlorine in meat production can lead to water and soil pollution, harming local ecosystems and wildlife. If we could all just start cutting meat out of our diets, we could be on our way to nearly 15% less global greenhouse gas emissions, less land and water waste, and healthier ecosystems!

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Meat has many human impacts, and almost all are negative. High consumption of processed and unprocessed meat is associated with a higher risk of heart disease, pneumonia, diabetes, obesity, and colon polyps. This is caused by meat’s high saturated fat and cholesterol content, high energy density, carcinogenic compounds like L-carnitine that may promote plaque build-up in the arteries, and the lack of health-protective plant foods in high-meat diets. Instead, studies show that low-meat diets based around fruits, vegetables, and legumes can help prevent these diseases and promote health. Another meat related issue with negative human impacts is factory farming. Factory farms have been shown to contribute to depression in workers for a variety of reasons, including the repeated exposure to gruesome violence and the brain's reaction to the toxic chemicals produced by animal waste. These toxic chemicals can also be harmful to any people living near factory farms, causing illness and depression. Full time factory farm workers who are at high risk of illness and injury only make $23,000 a year on average, and are often employed in third world countries to keep labor costs down. In 2019, factory farms were responsible for 975,000 human deaths and 35 million illnesses due to bad hygiene policies, which led to “superworms” such as Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Campylobacter, and Salmonella getting into the food of millions of Americans.

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There is a long history of meat and meat eating. Humans started eating meat 2.6 million years ago, when our ancestors hunted wild animals for food. As societies began to develop, the farming of cattle, pigs, and poultry led to a rise in meat eating and production. In ancient civilizations like the Greeks and Romans, meat was a symbol of wealth and power, mainly eaten by the elite classes. During the Middle Ages, meat became common for both the upper and lower class to eat, with a variety of meats eaten including beef, pork, and fish. Then, with the industrialization of the 19th and 20th centuries, meat production became cheaper and faster to produce through factory farming. This led to increased consumption worldwide. Recently, studies have shown environmental and human impacts of meat consumption, and how meat can harm us and our planet.

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An extremely tight and unhygienic poultry enclosure, where chickens are often sick and mistreated

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Sparacio, Micah. “How Much Meat Does the Average Family Eat in a Year (or Month)?” Cove Creek Farm, 24 Mar. 2020, www.covecreekfarm.com/how-much-meat-does-the-average-family-eat-in-a-year-or-month/#:~:text=So%20we%20can%20say%20that,second%20and%20pork%20in%20third. Accessed 20 Apr. 2023.

“Meat Consumption: Trends and Health Implications.” Center for a Livable Future, 2019, clf.jhsph.edu/projects/technical-and-scientific-resource-meatless-monday/meatless-monday-resources/meatless-monday-resourcesmeat-consumption-trends-and-health-implications. Accessed 20 Apr. 2023.

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“Danish Climate Council Recommends Meat Tax & Replacing Two-Thirds of Meat with Plants - Vegconomist - the Vegan Business Magazine.” Vegconomist - the Vegan Business Magazine, 2 Mar. 2023, vegconomist.com/sustainability-environment/danish-climate-council-meat-tax/. Accessed 21 Apr. 2023.

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Rosen, Julia. “Why Your Hamburger Might Be Leading to Nitrogen Pollution.” NPR, 25 Feb. 2016, www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/02/25/467962593/why-your-hamburger-might-be-leading-to-nitrogen-pollution#:~:text=And%20most%20of%20this%20problematic,leak%20out%20into%20the%20environment. Accessed 20 Apr. 2023.

World Animal Protection. “One Million Human Deaths Linked to Factory Farming, Set to Double by 2050.” Prnewswire.com, 7 Apr. 2023, www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/one-million-human-deaths-linked-to-factory-farming-set-to-double-by-2050-301792539.html#:~:text=In%20the%20first%20study%20of,35%20million%20illnesses%20in%202019. Accessed 21 Apr. 2023.

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Kilgore, Georgette. “Carbon Footprint of Meat Calculator: Chicken, Beef, Steak, Bison, Turkey.” 8 Billion Trees: Carbon Offset Projects & Ecological Footprint Calculators, 7 Dec. 2022, 8billiontrees.com/carbon-offsets-credits/carbon-ecological-footprint-calculators/carbon-footprint-of-meat/. Accessed 21 Apr. 2023.

ReportLinker. “Global Plant-Based Meat Market to Reach $35 Billion by 2027.” GlobeNewswire News Room, ReportLinker, 6 Sept. 2021, www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2021/09/06/2292025/0/en/Global-Plant-based-Meat-Market-to-Reach-35-Billion-by-2027.html. Accessed 21 Apr. 2023.

Guardian staff reporter. “Climate-Friendly Diets Can Make a Huge Difference – Even If You Don’t Go All-out Vegan.” The Guardian, The Guardian, 4 June 2022, www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jun/04/meat-diets-climate-emissions-plant-based-vegan. Accessed 21 Apr. 2023.

Mock, Jillian and Schwartz, John “What If We All Ate a Bit Less Meat? (Published 2019).” The New York Times, 2023, www.nytimes.com/2019/08/21/climate/what-if-we-all-ate-a-bit-less-meat.html. Accessed 21 Apr. 2023.

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