Should We Eat Meat?

Can we balance the undeniable benefits of eating meat with its environmental toll, or must humanity rethink its carnivorous habits altogether?

1. Meat's Exceptional Nutrition Supports Human Growth

Meat provides critical nutrition that plays a vital role in human development, particularly for young children. Rich in high-quality proteins, fats, and essential micronutrients, meat delivers nutrients that are harder to obtain in similar quantities from plant-based foods.

Throughout evolution, humans adapted to eating meat. Our digestive tracts developed enzymes specifically designed for breaking it down, which makes it an efficient source of nutrients. Meat offers proteins that fuel brain development, aiding children’s cognitive growth. Fat content in meat supplies more energy per gram compared to carbohydrates, making it an efficient dietary choice. Furthermore, meat is an excellent source of iron, a nutrient essential for brain function and maternal health, and a common global deficiency.

However, meat’s environmental cost cannot be ignored. Today, global meat consumption exceeds rational levels, fostering unsustainable production practices that deplete resources.

Examples

• Meat proteins are crucial for children's brain development, aiding cognitive functions.
• Meat provides nearly double the energy per gram compared to carbohydrates, supporting active lifestyles.
• Iron deficiency, afflicting up to 1.6 billion people, can often be mitigated with moderate meat inclusion.

2. Meat Shaped Human Evolution and Social Behavior

Eating meat was not just about survival; it critically influenced how humans evolved, both biologically and socially. The high levels of proteins and nutrients in meat allowed our brains to grow in complexity and size compared to our ancestors.

In terms of social organization, hunting meat larger than small prey, such as mammoths or bison, required teamwork. Such collective efforts led early humans to develop communication skills, language, and cooperative behaviors. Hunting success determined social ranks, with meat being a highly valued commodity in early human societies. Religious ceremonies, strategic thinking, and negotiations often revolved around meat consumption.

Specific dietary habits also evolved. While early humans consumed a wide range of animal species, the domestication of goats, sheep, and cows around 11,000 years ago transformed how we consumed, bred, and controlled animals.

Examples

• Collective hunts for large game led to the development of language and teamwork.
• Meat consumption gave rise to social hierarchies, with leaders gaining the choicest cuts.
• Domesticated animals like sheep and cows began replacing wild game around 10,000 years ago.

3. Industrialization Increased Meat Availability and Demand

The nineteenth century marked a turning point in meat production, with advancements like refrigeration and global trade making meat more accessible worldwide. This era transformed meat from a luxury to a commonplace staple.

Efficient transportation, such as refrigerated train cars and ships, enabled large-scale meat exports. Demand soared further with the advent of fertilizers; crops could grow more efficiently, which fueled livestock feeding. Eventually, the mid-twentieth century industrial boom, bolstered by women joining the workforce, increased disposable incomes. This prompted demand for convenient, nutritious meals, making meat a dietary cornerstone for families.

These shifts, paired with mechanized farming, resulted in record-high meat consumption globally. Now, it wasn’t just the wealthy who ate meat; it became integral to diets across different socioeconomic classes.

Examples

• Refrigerated meat from Argentina to France revolutionized food transportation in 1876.
• Women entering the workforce post-World War II contributed to rising meat purchases.
• Mechanization improved crop yields, indirectly promoting large-scale animal feeding.

4. Mass Production Ushers in Factory Farming

Modern meat production has grown into a systematic chain, beginning with breeding and ending with global distribution. This industrial model focuses on efficiency, often at the expense of humane treatment and environmental health.

Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) house and raise animals under packed, controlled conditions. The focus on maximizing profit leads to practices such as genetic alterations to speed up growth cycles and the use of antibiotics to maintain overcrowded animals' health. But these methods come at a cost – toxic waste from overfed animals degrades the environment and poses health risks.

The enormous scale of these operations supplies consumers in distant locations with affordable meat, but it relies on sustained refrigeration, causing additional environmental harm. Animals like chickens have become by far the most efficient, yet the broader meat industry remains fraught with ethical and environmental issues.

Examples

• Chickens grow to maturity in 6 weeks today, compared to 6 months in the past due to genetic tweaks.
• Toxic manure from CAFOs damages soil and water ecosystems.
• Transportation and refrigeration add significant emissions to the meat supply chain.

5. Factory Farms Harm the Environment

The environmental cost of factory farming includes deforestation, pollution, and excessive resource use. Clearing land for feed crops and livestock has devastating effects on biodiversity and ecosystems.

Brazil's soaring soy production, largely for animal feed, exemplifies this trend. Between 1960 to today, soy production increased from 0.25 million tons to nearly 70 million tons annually. With much of this land originating from cleared rainforests, deforestation releases enormous amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Furthermore, ruminant animals, such as cows, emit methane, a potent greenhouse gas, during digestion.

The industry also affects water resources — meat production requires vast amounts of “virtual” water. It takes 15,000 liters of water to produce just one kilogram of beef, considering the crop irrigation alone.

Examples

• Soy farming in Brazil has cleared rainforest land, compounding carbon emissions.
• Cows’ digestion emits methane, a harmful contributor to climate change.
• Broiler chickens require approximately 2,000 liters of virtual water per kilogram of meat.

6. Meat Alternatives Face Hurdles

While plant-based diets or meat substitutes offer alternatives, they come with challenges of their own. Vegetarian diets can meet nutritional needs but often demand considerable effort in ensuring adequate intake of key nutrients like iron and protein.

Popular alternatives, such as tempeh or seitan, have seen increased sales in Western markets, but not enough to rival traditional meat. Even laboratory-cultured meat faces obstacles, requiring extraordinary advances in technology to replace even a fraction of today’s production scale.

Despite innovation, cultural preferences drive resistance. Many societies, even those with previously low meat consumption like China, now see rising demand for animal protein. It seems unlikely that alternatives will fully replace traditional meat on dinner tables anytime soon.

Examples

• Vegetarian diets lack easy equivalents to meat’s density of nutrients like iron.
• Lab-made meat would need to produce 30 million tons annually just to replace 10% of current meat.
• Asian countries’ rising meat consumption demonstrates deep cultural trends.

7. Dairy, Eggs, and Fish Are Better Protein Alternatives

If reducing meat is the goal, dairy products, eggs, and fish could fill part of the gap. These lower-meat alternatives pack plenty of protein while lessening the environmental burden.

Milk offers an incredible energy-to-input conversion, vastly outperforming meat. A dairy cow produces 65 gigajoules of energy through milk over three years compared to 2 gigajoules from its meat in the same span. Eggs and fish are similarly efficient, with freshwater or farmed fish offering options that don’t contribute to ocean overfishing.

Cultures adopting these sources as staples could reduce intensive factory farming reliance. However, addressing lactose intolerance and sustainable fishing will prove essential to ensuring availability.

Examples

• Eggs offer high protein efficiency while requiring less feed compared to meat.
• Dairy yields far more energy over a cow’s lifespan than meat production.
• Farmed fish like tilapia can reduce strain on wild populations.

8. Rational Meat Production Offers a Solution

A sustainable future could incorporate moderate meat consumption while improving production efficiency. Currently, areas like the United States consume over 100 kilograms per person annually — far from sustainable levels.

Reducing waste and prioritizing efficient animals like chicken provides immediate ways to scale back environmental costs. Targeting per capita consumption of 16 to 28 kilograms annually, as seen in France and Japan, would align diets with environmental capacity.

Strategies must revolve around practical reduction rather than eliminations, such as encouraging diets combining small meat portions with plant proteins and substitutes.

Examples

• High-efficiency animals like chickens yield a 2:1 feed-to-meat ratio compared to cows’ 8:1 ratio.
• Japan’s 28 kilograms annual per capita meat leads to the highest global life expectancy.
• France sustains moderate consumption levels around 16 kilograms per person annually.

9. Balancing Meat Consumption Is Achievable

Moderation holds the key to solving our meat consumption woes. By combining diversified diets, innovative farming, and mindful consumer habits, humanity can chart a sustainable course.

Promoting awareness of meat’s environmental toll is essential. Governments and industries can work to educate consumers while incentivizing rational consumption. Labels highlighting environmentally friendly practices, for instance, empower shoppers to make informed decisions.

Ultimately, balance, rather than excess or avoidance, offers the way forward.

Examples

• Educational campaigns could inform people about meat’s environmental impact.
• Incentives like tax benefits for sustainable farming encourage rational practices.
• Labels for ethical farming practices would help consumers make informed choices.

Takeaways

1. Incorporate alternative proteins like eggs, fish, and dairy to reduce reliance on meat.
2. Support policies that promote sustainable farming and reduce environmental costs.
3. Educate yourself and others about practical ways to limit waste and scale back meat consumption.