The world consumes around 350 million tons of meat each year. In many places, as people are getting more aware of climate change and animal cruelty, we hear talk of decreasing the consumption of meat. There are many people who are turning vegetarian, or even vegans. But overall, consumption hasn’t seen a visible decline, for which there must be a reason. In fact, there are not one but many causes due to which we have seen this pattern.
There has been a steady increase in the consumption of meat globally, as seen in the graph from Our World in Data. This shows the global daily consumption of meat per person. There are some countries which have seen a huge increase, such as Spain, which has an increase of 79kg of meat intake per person per year in the last half century. There are only a handful of countries that have neither such large numbers nor a big increase such as Mongolia, India etc. In India, almost two-thirds of the population eats meat, but the per capita intake is still the lowest in the world. Mongolia has seen one of the shocking trends, a decline of almost 60kg of meat in the past 50 years. Overall, though, the world has seen a steady increase at a constant rate, with nothing stopping it
A common global trend is that as the wealth of a household increases, so does their meat consumption. The chart below shows how the countries that are moving upwards also move towards the right. We know that the Chinese economy, now second-largest in the world has come a long way in the past 60 years. The same has been the trend for its meat per capita consumption, which has grown approximately 15-fold since 1961. The only exception is India, which does have a large economy but its mean per capita meat consumption in 2013 was almost exactly the same as in 1961, at less than 4 kilograms per person. This is partly due to religious reasons, as many Indians don’t believe in the consumption of meat, while others only consume specific types. Many people would classify themselves as non-vegetarians, but the frequency of intake of meat is quite low as these people also often eat vegetarian. All of these factors combined has led to a very low per capita consumption of meat.
The main reason for this is that as households start to grow richer, they are able to afford more expensive goods. In fact, it is in normal human nature to spend more on luxury goods such as expensive food as you get richer. These types of food often include dairy, fruit and meat. The graph below also shows how as households start to earn more, their expenditure also increases.
In 2019, the average retail price of beef, pork and broilers (a type of chicken) were (in USD), $13.32/kg, $8.47/kg, and $4.14/kg respectively, which is not always affordable for lower to middle-income families.
Urbanisation is also an important factor that has caused an increase in non-vegetarian consumption. It stimulates improvement in infrastructure, such as cold chains, which permit trade in perishable goods. Due to this, the diets of people get more varied and rich in livestock products and fats, which were typically difficult to transport.
Livestock products not only provide high-value protein but are also important sources of a wide range of essential micronutrients such as iron and zinc, as well as having the desired taste. It is still a luxury for some rural people to obtain livestock products. Their diet is not as varied as those of city dwellers. As people have migrated, they have had a better chance of eating these, and we don’t expect them to abandon it.
Finally, there is processed meat. As per the Globe News Wire, the global meat sector was valued at US$945.7 billion in 2018. Out of this total market, the market of processed meat was US$587.13 billion. Thus processed meat accounts for ~62% of total meat usage globally.
Processed meat is a type of meat that has gone one further step of processing or preparing such as grinding, smoking, adding an ingredient, and cooking, amongst others, which changes the appearance, texture or taste of the meat. Processed meat is convenience food, being readily available at most supermarkets. For most households, it became more convenient as it was less time-consuming and far easier to cook. In fact, they don’t even need to cook it. It became really popular, especially in families where adults were working. As a result, its demand is constantly increasing.
The factors stated have helped explain why the consumption of meat has not stopped increasing. None of us know when the consumption of meat is going to peak, or is it ever going to peak at all. But at least, I hope there is some more clarity as to why it hasn’t peaked yet.
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