Archive:000/Limits to sustainable animal consumption: Difference between revisions
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Tl;dr: The limit is about '''17 g protein/day''' per person - in total, from all grass-fed | Tl;dr: The limit is about '''17 g protein/day''' per person - in total, dairy and meat, from all grass-fed animals and wild-caught fish. | ||
==Farming== | ==Farming== | ||
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Grass-fed animal production can't really increase without [[habitat loss|destroying forests and other wildlife]], because most of the world's [[land|farmland]] is ''already'' pasture, and that's not even counting rangelands which are also already grazed upon. | Grass-fed animal production can't really increase without [[habitat loss|destroying forests and other wildlife]], because most of the world's [[land|farmland]] is ''already'' pasture, and that's not even counting rangelands which are also already grazed upon. | ||
==Hunting== | ==Hunting== | ||
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The rest of fish is farmed, which, as mentioned earlier, is a net loss of protein. Farmed fish are fed food crops that humans could otherwise eat. | The rest of fish is farmed, which, as mentioned earlier, is a net loss of protein. Farmed fish are fed food crops that humans could otherwise eat. | ||
==FAQ== | |||
Q: "What about chickens & pigs?"<br /> | |||
A: Since chickens & pigs are not ruminants, they depend on eating grains and other foods that humans ''could have'' eaten instead - this ''includes'' the "table scraps" often mentioned by people who own chickens.{{x|To see how to really use vegetables to the fullest, see [[food/full_use#vegetables]].}} | |||
[[Backyard chickens]] can't solve the ''food-inefficiency'' problem, but they ''can'' at least reduce the ''animal cruelty'' problem. Backyard chickens are generally treated better{{x|with some exceptions,<!--TODO: write about electric fences--> unfortunately}} than chickens in [[factory farms]]. Also, chickens are useful on crop lands because they can eat insects that would otherwise be pests.{{x|This can help with [[crop yields]]. Chickens also poop which can help [[fertilizer|fertilize]] the soil, but from a higher perspective, this doesn't add any minerals that weren't already there in the first place (the [[soil]] page will explain this in more detail).}} This could certainly contribute ''some'' chicken & eggs to the food supply, but it probably wouldn't be much compared to the status quo of chicken consumption.{{qn}} To be fair, when it comes to exceeding the "limits to sustainable animal consumption", chicken isn't as bad as beef. Cows have a much worse [[feed efficiency]], which is a problem when they are fed grains. | |||
==See also== | |||
* [[Food]] - main topic | |||
* [[Food/faq]] - <!--to clear up some misunderstandings about animal-based vs [[plant-based]] diets-->to answer questions such as "if we ate less meat, what would happen to existing farm animals?" | |||
Revision as of 05:53, 14 March 2023
Tl;dr: The limit is about 17 g protein/day per person - in total, dairy and meat, from all grass-fed animals and wild-caught fish.
Farming
- Vegans rightly point out that meat-containing diets require more land (and thus more deforestation). Feeding crops to animals is a net loss of protein and calories. But...
- Pro-meat folks rightly point out that some land is only suited for grazing animals. And unlike humans, cows can live on eating grass
.
This raises a more important question:
- If farm animals only ever ate...
- grasses and other plants from pasture & range
, and - the parts of food crops that humans can't eat
,
- grasses and other plants from pasture & range
- and never...
- human-edible food crops
, nor - crops grown specifically for animal feed
,
- human-edible food crops
- how much animal protein
could be produced?
Clearly it's less than the status quo, as there are fewer sources of feed. But how much less?
Estimate
About 12 grams of animal protein per day, per capita, globally.
This includes both meat and dairy, from all animals (ruminants).
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.
Soybean meal is not counted here, 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.
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
(calculation loading)
^ Total amount of protein from both meat and dairy, combined.
This is less than the status quo, because the animals wouldn't be fed corn grain or soybean meal
Status quo
Ruminants (cows, buffalo, goats and sheep) produce a total of about 16 grams of protein per day per capita globally.
- 10 g protein/day from milk
per capita - 6 g protein/day from meat
per capita - This was calculated in Code:food2.sql.
Some of this food goes to waste unfortunately, but there might be ways to mitigate that problem.
Grass-fed animal production can't really increase without destroying forests and other wildlife, because most of the world's farmland is already pasture, and that's not even counting rangelands which are also already grazed upon.
Hunting
Hunter-gatherer lifestyles were sustainable in prehistoric times when the world population was less than 0.1 billion - today we are at 8.0 billion. Hunting might be a great survival tactic if you're lost in the woods. But it's not going to feed the world. There would be mass extinctions of wild animals if we tried.
Fishing
Wild-caught fish could provide 5 or 6 grams/day of protein per capita globally, if none of it was wasted.
Using most recent data available.
Fishing grew a lot from 1960 to 1990 but (unlike fish farming) has not increased since 1995. This suggests that we've reached the ecological limit.
https://ourworldindata.org/fish-and-overfishing
Last updated in 2023
Grams of fish: (calculation loading) Grams of protein: (calculation loading)
The sustainable level of consumption might be a bit less than this, because overfishing is still an issue.
The rest of fish is farmed, which, as mentioned earlier, is a net loss of protein. Farmed fish are fed food crops that humans could otherwise eat.
FAQ
Q: "What about chickens & pigs?"
A: Since chickens & pigs are not ruminants, they depend on eating grains and other foods that humans could have eaten instead - this includes the "table scraps" often mentioned by people who own chickens.