The amount of meat consumed by people might be surprising to many to be a driver behind so many important trends. However, it does have both local and global implications for trends across all STEEP categories.
Meat is defined here is meat from mammals. This is primarily beef, pork, and lamb. Other sources of meat raised on land could also be included such as poultry but they don't have as significant of an impact except as disease vectors.
Often dairy consumption is included with meat consumption. This is because the number of livestock is a key factor in this driving force and cattle have the highest impact per animal. Dairy consumption is tied to some negative health effects has well but meat itself is much more significant.
Following are descriptions of the trend areas that this force can drive:
- Human Health: High consumption of meat, particularly red meat, has been scientifically linked to many health conditions that can lead to premature death. Heart disease, diabetes and cancer are just a few of these conditions. Higher meat consumption will drive these trends in a negative direction.
- Disease: Livestocks can be both the source and vector of disease. A particular problem is livestock that is in contact with either humans or other animals. Diseases can 'jump' between species via this contact. The higher the consumption of meat the more livestock there are and the higher the chance of contact and spread of disease. Diseases 'jumping' species are a current cause of many dangerous viruses that pose the possibility of becoming major pandemics.
- Alternative Food Sources: The development and viability of alternatives to meat in human diets is driven by the consumpton of meat. If consumptiion of meat is down then it is likely consumption of alternatives sources of protein will rise, or at least, people will be looking for and demanding alternatives. This will affect both the amount of money invested in alternative food technologies and sources as well as their potential success in the consumer marketplace.
- Markets: Globally, meat makes up a signficant factor in commodity markets. Historically, demand for meat has increased. However, if there was a significant and continued reverse in meat consumption then this could greatly impact markets.
- Energy Consumption: The process of preparing meat for consumption requires signficant amounts of energy. This energy use is across the entire chain from the farm to the table. Decreased consumption of meat would mean decreased energy consumption.
- GHG Emissions: In addition to the gases created by the energy used to prepare meat for consumption, livestock itself emits GHG in the form of methane. The methane released by all livestock on Earth is considered significant. Higher meat consumption means higher demand, more livestock being raised and high methane emissions.
- Land Use: It requires a significant amount of land to raise livestock, particularly cattle. Overgrazing by cattle one negative impact to the land while deforestation, in order to create grazing land, can be another. The most significant factor is that land used both by the animals and to raise crops for the animals can be better utilized in the process of creating food. Higher meat consumption means more land used to grow crops to feed livestock instead of going directly to feed people.
- Water Use: Livestock require a significant amount of potable water for both consumption and their general care. Water is also used to grow the crops used in their feed. Additionally, livestock waste can have negative impact on local water resources if not properly managed. The higher the meat consumption the more water that is required by the agro-businesses that raise the livestock.
- Global Policies and Initiatives: High meat consumption is on the global political agenda. Many political institutions, such as the UN and EU, are concerned about the sustainability of high consumption of meat by the global populace. As countries like Brazil and China have seen jumps in their development there have been jumps in their consumption of meat. This consumption drives policies and initiatives.
