Washington, D.C.----Global
meat production rose to 297 million tons in 2011, an increase of 0.8
percent over 2010 levels, and is projected to reach 302 million tons by
the end of 2012, according to new research conducted by the Worldwatch
Institute's Nourishing the Planet project (www.worldwatch.org) for the Institute's Vital Signs Online
service. By comparison, meat production rose 2.6 percent in 2010 and
has risen 20 percent since 2001. Record drought in the U.S. Midwest,
animal disease outbreaks, and rising prices of livestock feed all
contributed to 2011 and 2012's lower rise in production, write report
authors Danielle Nierenberg and Laura Reynolds.
Also bucking a
decades-long trend, meat consumption decreased slightly worldwide in
2011, from 42.5 kilograms (kg) per person in 2010 to 42.3 kg. Since
1995, however, per capita meat consumption has increased 15 percent
overall; in developing countries, it increased 25 percent during this
time, whereas in industrialized countries it increased just 2 percent.
Although the disparity between meat consumption in developing and
industrialized countries is shrinking, it remains high: the average
person in a developing country ate 32.3 kg of meat in 2011, whereas in
industrialized countries people ate 78.9 kg on average.
Pork was the most
popular meat in 2011, accounting for 37 percent of both meat production
and consumption, at 109 million tons. This was followed closely by
poultry meat, with 101 million tons produced. Yet pork production
decreased 0.8 percent from 2010, whereas poultry meat production rose 3
percent, making it likely that poultry will become the most-produced
meat in the next few years.
A breakdown of meat
production by geographic region reveals the dramatic shift in centers of
production from industrialized to developing countries over the last
decade. In 2000, for example, North America led the world in beef
production, at 13 million tons, while South America produced 12 million
tons and Asia, 10 million tons. By 2011, North America had lowered its
beef output by 200,000 tons and was overtaken by both South America and
Asia, which produced 15 million and 17 million tons, respectively.
Widespread and intense drought in China, Russia, the United States, and the Horn of Africa contributed to lower meat production----and higher prices----in
2010 and 2011. The combination of high prices for meat products and
outbreaks of new and recurring zoonotic diseases in 2011 curtailed
global meat consumption. Zoonotic diseases, or zoonoses, are diseases
that are transmitted between animals and humans. In 2011
alone, foot-and-mouth disease was detected in Paraguay, African swine
fever in Russia, classical swine fever in Mexico, and avian influenza
(H5N1) throughout Asia. According to a 2012 report by the International
Livestock Research Institute, zoonoses cause around 2.7 million human
deaths each year, and approximately 75 percent of all emerging
infectious diseases now originate in animals or animal products.
Many zoonotic disease
outbreaks can be traced to concentrated animal feeding operations
(CAFOs), also known as factory farms. These systems now account for 72
percent of poultry production, 43 percent of egg production, and 55
percent of pork production worldwide.
"Factory farming
systems contribute to disease outbreaks in several ways," said Danielle
Nierenberg, report co-author and Worldwatch's Nourishing the Planet
project director. "They keep animals in cramped and often unsanitary
quarters, providing a breeding ground for diseases; they feed animals
grain-heavy diets that lack the nutrients needed to fight off disease
and illness; and many CAFOs feed animals antibiotics as a preventative
rather than a therapeutic measure, causing the animals----and the humans who consume them----to develop resistance to antibiotics."
But not all livestock are reared in industrial or mechanized environments. Nearly 1 billion people living on less than $2 a day depend to some extent on livestock,
and many of these people are raising animals in the same ways that
their ancestors did. Reconnecting meat production to the land and its
natural carrying capacity, as well as reducing meat consumption, can
thus greatly improve both public and environmental health.
Further highlights from the report:
- Production of both beef and sheep meat stagnated between 2010 and 2011, at 67 million and 13 million tons, respectively.
- Over the last decade, meat production grew nearly 26 percent in Asia, 28 percent in Africa, and 32 percent in South America.
- In 2012, drought and corn crop
failures continue throughout the United States, causing the U.S.
Department of Agriculture to estimate that by 2013, beef will cost 4-5
percent more than in 2010, pork 2.5-3.5 percent more, and poultry 3-4
percent more.
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