Archive:000/Zero food-feed competition - Revision history

Elie: Elie moved page Zero food-feed competition to Archive:000/Zero food-feed competition without leaving a redirect: Huge_refactor

2024-10-26T20:30:18Z

Elie moved page Zero food-feed competition to Archive:000/Zero food-feed competition without leaving a redirect: Huge_refactor

← Older revision	Revision as of 16:30, 26 October 2024
(No difference)

Elie: /* For comparison, status quo: */

2022-11-12T10:41:21Z

For comparison, status quo:

← Older revision		Revision as of 06:41, 12 November 2022
Line 156:		Line 156:
	In other words, globally most cows are ''already'' fed mostly non-human-edible matter, but beef and dairy production are fairly low.		In other words, globally most cows are ''already'' fed mostly non-human-edible matter, but beef and dairy production are fairly low.

	<!-- TODO: ~~expand~~ about countries that eat more beef/dairy~~: how it's done~~:		Chicken and pig consumption is moderate, but even this level requires [[:File:food-funnel.png\|36% of human-edible calories to be fed to animals]].
	- either by already having a lot of pasture land (i.e. australia)
	- or by destroying wildlife to make new pasture (i.e. brazil)		<!-- Just think how much higher this would be if the whole world ate as much animal protein as the average "first world" citizen. -->
	- or by growing enormous amounts of corn and soy, which could have been fed to humans instead (i.e. usa and also brazil)		<!-- TODO: uncomment the above line after adding data about how much animal protein is eaten in particular countries.
			There are a few ways it could be presented:
			* isochromic world map: population, animal protein consumption, crop land, pasture land. But since we can't fit 4 things perfectly, we have to decide how to compromise.
			* Add code to [[Code:food2.sql]] to calculate "total protein from ruminants" and "total protein from other animals", globally and also by region.
			** If we don't want to list too many regions, could just do a general 'OECD aggregate'. Not sure how practical this is with the input data tho.
			** If we're already using [[Code:food2.sql]], might as well also have it replace the inline calculations for status quo.
			*** Although isn't it nicer to have specific stats for cows, chickens, pigs?
			**** How about just write "total protein from ruminants (cows, sheep, goats, buffalo)" and "total protein from non-ruminants (chickens, pigs, etc)"?
			Should there also be some mention of [[fish]]? Should we just declare that it's (currently?) not in the scope of the analysis?
			-->
			<!-- btw, should we fit this in somewhere:
			: how do some countries manage to eat more beef/dairy:
			: * either by already having a lot of pasture land (i.e. australia)
			: * or by destroying wildlife to make new pasture (i.e. brazil)
			: * or by growing enormous amounts of corn and soy, which could have been fed to humans instead (i.e. usa and also brazil)
	-->		-->

Elie at 11:46, 11 November 2022

2022-11-11T11:46:48Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 07:46, 11 November 2022
Line 8:		Line 8:
	The big question is: How much animal protein could be produced if these were the '''only''' sources of animal feed?		The big question is: How much animal protein could be produced if these were the '''only''' sources of animal feed?

	~~Here's a~~ simple estimate ~~assuming only cows~~:		====A simple estimate:====

	{{dp		{{dp
	\|pasture		\|pasture
Line 42:		Line 43:
	<br />The number is mentioned in the Abstract: https://www.tabledebates.org/research-library/livestock-our-plates-or-eating-our-table		<br />The number is mentioned in the Abstract: https://www.tabledebates.org/research-library/livestock-our-plates-or-eating-our-table
	}}		}}

	{{dp		{{dp
	\|world.population		\|world.population
	\|7.9 billion		\|7.9 billion
	}}		}}

	{{calc		{{calc
	\|(pasture + residues) / conversion_ratio		\|(pasture + residues) / conversion_ratio
	\|(grams/day per capita)(world.population)		\|(grams/day per capita)(world.population)
	}}		}}
	^ Total amount of protein from both meat and dairy, combined. {{x\|This is probably a slight overestimate, because some sources say that feed efficiency ratios are lower when the cows are fed less human-edible grains.}}		^ Total amount of protein from both meat and dairy, combined. {{x\|This is probably a slight overestimate, because some sources say that feed efficiency ratios are lower when the cows are fed less human-edible grains.}} {{x\|Research needed on this page: How do the feed-efficiency ratios of cows compare to other ruminants such as goats, sheep, and buffalo?}}

	There would be no animal protein from chickens, pigs, or any other non-ruminant animals.		There would be no animal protein from chickens, pigs, or any other non-ruminant animals.

	There ''could'' be some animal protein from goats, sheep, buffalo or other ruminants - but it would subtract from the amount of animal protein available from cows {{x\|because they both depend on the same feed supply above}}. {{x\|Research needed on this page: How do the feed-efficiency ratios of other ruminants compare to cows? If we switched to other ruminants, would there be more animal protein available or less?}}

	Also, there would be even less animal protein available if we [[rewilding\|rewilded]] some crop land {{x\|since we don't have to grow as many crops if we aren't raising chickens, pigs, etc. There would be less crop residue available for ruminants, so we'd have to raise fewer of them.}} or some pasture land {{x\|either allowing it to become forest, or allowing it to become wilder grasslands which are less optimized for feeding cows etc. Both types of rewilding are beneficial in that they sequester more carbon than conventional pasture.}}.		Also, there would be even less animal protein available if we [[rewilding\|rewilded]] some crop land {{x\|since we don't have to grow as many crops if we aren't raising chickens, pigs, etc. There would be less crop residue available for ruminants, so we'd have to raise fewer of them.}} or some pasture land {{x\|either allowing it to become forest, or allowing it to become wilder grasslands which are less optimized for feeding cows etc. Both types of rewilding are beneficial in that they sequester more carbon than conventional pasture.}}.
Line 66:		Line 67:
	\|Global production of milk		\|Global production of milk
	\|Using data from 2019. Other years are almost the same.		\|Using data from 2019. Other years are almost the same.
	~~<br />~~<br />Source: <cite>Crop and livestock products - FAOSTAT</cite>Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations [https://www.fao.org/faostat]		<br />Source: <cite>Crop and livestock products - FAOSTAT</cite><br />Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations [https://www.fao.org/faostat]
	}}		}}
	{{dp		{{dp
Line 73:		Line 74:
	\|Global production of beef (edible parts)		\|Global production of beef (edible parts)
	\|Using data from 2019. Other years are almost the same.		\|Using data from 2019. Other years are almost the same.
	~~<br />~~<br />Source: <cite>Crop and livestock products - FAOSTAT</cite>Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations [https://www.fao.org/faostat]		<br />Source: <cite>Crop and livestock products - FAOSTAT</cite><br />Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations [https://www.fao.org/faostat]
	}}		}}
	{{dp		{{dp
Line 100:		Line 101:
	\|Global production of chicken meat (edible parts)		\|Global production of chicken meat (edible parts)
	\|Using data from 2019. Other years are almost the same.		\|Using data from 2019. Other years are almost the same.
	~~<br />~~<br />Source: <cite>Crop and livestock products - FAOSTAT</cite>Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations [https://www.fao.org/faostat]		<br />Source: <cite>Crop and livestock products - FAOSTAT</cite><br />Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations [https://www.fao.org/faostat]
	}}		}}
	{{dp		{{dp
Line 107:		Line 108:
	\|Global production of eggs (from hens) (edible parts)		\|Global production of eggs (from hens) (edible parts)
	\|Using data from 2019. Other years are almost the same.		\|Using data from 2019. Other years are almost the same.
	~~<br />~~<br />Source: <cite>Crop and livestock products - FAOSTAT</cite>Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations [https://www.fao.org/faostat]		<br />Source: <cite>Crop and livestock products - FAOSTAT</cite><br />Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations [https://www.fao.org/faostat]
	}}		}}
	{{dp		{{dp
Line 134:		Line 135:
	\|Global production of pig meat (edible parts)		\|Global production of pig meat (edible parts)
	\|Using data from 2019. Other years are almost the same.		\|Using data from 2019. Other years are almost the same.
	~~<br />~~<br />Source: <cite>Crop and livestock products - FAOSTAT</cite>Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations [https://www.fao.org/faostat]		<br />Source: <cite>Crop and livestock products - FAOSTAT</cite><br />Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations [https://www.fao.org/faostat]
	}}		}}
	{{dp		{{dp

Elie: /* For comparison, status quo: */

2022-11-11T11:20:27Z

For comparison, status quo:

@@ Line 65: / Line 65: @@
 |708264265 tonnes/year
 |Global production of milk
-|Using data from 2019. Other years are almost the same.<br /><br />
+|Using data from 2019. Other years are almost the same.
-Source: <cite>Crop and livestock products - FAOSTAT</cite>Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations [https://www.fao.org/faostat]
+<br /><br />Source: <cite>Crop and livestock products - FAOSTAT</cite>Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations [https://www.fao.org/faostat]
 }}
 {{dp
 |beef.production
 |67915624 tonnes/year
-|Global production of beef
+|Global production of beef (edible parts)
-|Using data from 2019. Other years are almost the same.<br /><br />
+|Using data from 2019. Other years are almost the same.
-Source: <cite>Crop and livestock products - FAOSTAT</cite>Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations [https://www.fao.org/faostat]
+<br /><br />Source: <cite>Crop and livestock products - FAOSTAT</cite>Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations [https://www.fao.org/faostat]
 }}
 {{dp
@@ Line 85: / Line 85: @@
 |beef.protein
 |19.42%
-|Protein as a fraction of beef, by weight.
+|Protein as a fraction of beef (edible portion), by weight.
 |Source: <cite>FoodData</cite>US Department of Agriculture
 <br /><br />Using database food named "Beef, grass-fed, ground, raw" because (even though not all beef is grassfed) it was the only database entry that wasn't a specific cut of beef.
@@ Line 93: / Line 93: @@
 |(grams/day per capita)(world.population)
 }}
-<!-- TODO: protein from chickens, pigs, sheep, goats, other, total. Use the same FAOSTAT source and year. -->
 In other words, globally most cows are ''already'' fed mostly non-human-edible matter, but beef and dairy production are fairly low.

Elie: Created page with "Cows, goats and sheep can digest fibre and use it as calories. These animals can thus eat a few things that don't compete with food production: # Crop residues (also known as biomass waste) which are the fibrous leftover parts of food crops we have to grow anyway. # Grass from pasture lands. This feed can't be eaten by humans, chickens, or pigs. {{x|Except in very small quantities for roughage only. Humans, chickens and pigs can't extract any s..."

2022-11-08T10:39:46Z

Created page with "Cows, goats and sheep can digest fibre and use it as calories. These animals can thus eat a few things that don't compete with food production: # Crop residues (also known as biomass waste) which are the fibrous leftover parts of food crops we have to grow anyway. # Grass from pasture lands. This feed can't be eaten by humans, chickens, or pigs. {{x|Except in very small quantities for roughage only. Humans, chickens and pigs can't extract any s..."

New page

[[ruminants|Cows, goats and sheep]] can digest fibre and use it as calories.

These animals can thus eat a few things that don't compete with [[food]] production:
# Crop residues (also known as [[biomass waste]]) which are the fibrous leftover parts of food crops we have to grow anyway.
# Grass from [[pasture]] lands.
This feed can't be eaten by humans, chickens, or pigs. {{x|Except in very small quantities for roughage only. Humans, chickens and pigs can't extract any significant amount of calories from fiber.}} {{x|Should mention: There are also some fibrous crops grown specifically to feed ruminants; we don't count those, because those still compete with food production: The same land could have grown some other crops that humans could eat. Even when soil is poor, there are options. However, the same reasoning doesn't apply to pasture grasses, because pasture has permanent ''roots'' which store carbon. Uprooting pasture and converting it to crop land, would produce significant carbon emissions{{qn}}. Crops, on the other hand, already get uprooted every year (harvest), so they don't sequester any carbon long-term.}}

The big question is: How much animal protein could be produced if these were the '''only''' sources of animal feed?

Here's a simple estimate assuming only cows:
{{dp
|pasture
|2.8 billion tonnes/year
|Dry mass of all grass & leaves, grazed from all pasture land
|Source:
 Breewood, H. & Garnett, T. (2020). What is feed-food competition? (Foodsource: building blocks). Food Climate Research Network, University of Oxford.
 Page 10
 References primary source:
 Mottet, A., de Haan, C., Falcucci, A., Tempio, G., Opio, C., & Gerber, P. (2017). Livestock: On our plates or eating at our table? A new analysis of the feed/food debate. Global Food Security.
}}

{{dp
|residues
|1.7 billion tonnes/year
|Dry mass of all crop residues, byproducts, and oilseed cakes except for soybean
|This should be, in principle, all human-inedible parts of food crops (inedible due to being too fibrous, whereas ruminants can digest the fiber and get calories from it). Soybean meal is not counted, because it can be turned into human food (soy flour).
 Source:
 Breewood, H. & Garnett, T. (2020). What is feed-food competition? (Foodsource: building blocks). Food Climate Research Network, University of Oxford.
 Page 10
 References primary source:
 Mottet, A., de Haan, C., Falcucci, A., Tempio, G., Opio, C., & Gerber, P. (2017). Livestock: On our plates or eating at our table? A new analysis of the feed/food debate. Global Food Security.
}}

{{dp
|conversion_ratio
|133
|Ruminants produce 1 gram of human-edible protein for every 133 grams of dry matter they eat.
|Dry matter includes all materials eaten by ruminants (both human-edible and human-inedible).

Source:
 Mottet, A., de Haan, C., Falcucci, A., Tempio, G., Opio, C., & Gerber, P. (2017). Livestock: On our plates or eating at our table? A new analysis of the feed/food debate. Global Food Security.
 The number is mentioned in the Abstract: https://www.tabledebates.org/research-library/livestock-our-plates-or-eating-our-table
}}
{{dp
|world.population
|7.9 billion
}}
{{calc
|(pasture + residues) / conversion_ratio
|(grams/day per capita)(world.population)
}}
^ Total amount of protein from both meat and dairy, combined. {{x|This is probably a slight overestimate, because some sources say that feed efficiency ratios are lower when the cows are fed less human-edible grains.}}

There would be no animal protein from chickens, pigs, or any other non-ruminant animals.

There ''could'' be some animal protein from goats, sheep, buffalo or other ruminants - but it would subtract from the amount of animal protein available from cows {{x|because they both depend on the same feed supply above}}. {{x|Research needed on this page: How do the feed-efficiency ratios of other ruminants compare to cows? If we switched to other ruminants, would there be more animal protein available or less?}}

Also, there would be even less animal protein available if we [[rewilding|rewilded]] some crop land {{x|since we don't have to grow as many crops if we aren't raising chickens, pigs, etc. There would be less crop residue available for ruminants, so we'd have to raise fewer of them.}} or some pasture land {{x|either allowing it to become forest, or allowing it to become wilder grasslands which are less optimized for feeding cows etc. Both types of rewilding are beneficial in that they sequester more carbon than conventional pasture.}}.

====For comparison, status quo:====

Protein from cows:
{{dp
|milk.production
|708264265 tonnes/year
|Global production of milk
|Using data from 2019. Other years are almost the same. 
Source: <cite>Crop and livestock products - FAOSTAT</cite>Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations [https://www.fao.org/faostat]
}}
{{dp
|beef.production
|67915624 tonnes/year
|Global production of beef
|Using data from 2019. Other years are almost the same. 
Source: <cite>Crop and livestock products - FAOSTAT</cite>Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations [https://www.fao.org/faostat]
}}
{{dp
|milk.protein
|3.15%
|Protein as a fraction of whole milk, by weight.
|Source: <cite>FoodData</cite>US Department of Agriculture
 Using database food named "Milk, whole, 3.25% milkfat, without added vitamin A and vitamin D"
}}
{{dp
|beef.protein
|19.42%
|Protein as a fraction of beef, by weight.
|Source: <cite>FoodData</cite>US Department of Agriculture
 Using database food named "Beef, grass-fed, ground, raw" because (even though not all beef is grassfed) it was the only database entry that wasn't a specific cut of beef.
}}
{{calc
|milk.production*milk.protein + beef.production*beef.protein
|(grams/day per capita)(world.population)
}}


In other words, globally most cows are ''already'' fed mostly non-human-edible matter, but beef and dairy production are fairly low.