Animal-based products taking toll on the Earth

Global research organization World Resources Institute (WRI) released a report on April 22 revealing that the demand for animal-based protein has been on the rise for over five decades, and estimated the worldwide consumption of animal products to rise by 79 percent between 2006 and 2050.

In its website, WRI wrote that the global average protein consumption was approximately 68 grams per person per day—or more than a third higher than the average daily adult requirement. In the world’s wealthiest regions, protein consumption was higher still. In addition, the share of animal-based protein is growing in people’s diets relative to that of plant-based protein.

“Between 1961 and 2009, global average per person availability of animal-based protein grew by 59 percent, while that of plant-based protein grew by only 14 percent. Looking forward, total consumption of animal-based food is expected to rise by nearly

80 percent between 2006 and 2050. Although per person animal-based food consumption may be peaking in developed countries where consumption is already high, it is projected to rise in developing countries, especially in emerging economies and in urban areas,” said WRI.

“Animal protein is not only linked to serious health problems—like heart disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity and some types of cancer—but it’s also the most resource-intensive and environmentally harmful type of protein to produce,” said Dr. Neal Barnard, MD, of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.

“Producing animal-based foods already takes an enormous toll on the planet, accounting for 75 percent of our global agricultural land use and two-thirds of food-related greenhouse gas emissions. Beef is one of the biggest culprits. Compared with plant-based protein sources like pulses, beef requires 20 times more land and creates 20 times more greenhouse gas emissions per unit of protein consumed. Shockingly, only 1 percent of the gross calories fed to cattle translate into human-edible calories. Yet, we use a quarter of our global landmass (excluding Antarctica) to farm cattle. It only gets scarier: The report finds that by 2050, demand for beef is expected to rise by 95 percent,” said Barnard in his blog site.

Lester R. Brown, president of Earth Policy Institute, assessed: “Even as we are multiplying in number, some 3 billion of us are trying to move up the food chain, consuming more grain-intensive livestock products. As incomes rise, annual grain consumption per person climbs from less than 400 pounds, as in India today, to roughly 1,600 pounds, as in the United States, where diets tend to be heavy with meat and dairy products.”