The Cost of Eating Meat
Animal foods are part of the diet of most Americans. In the world at large, there is an increasing use of meats and animal products. What is the cost to the environment, the economy, and our health of eating a diet rich in animal products?
In the first place, it takes a lot of food to grow meat. An animal will only add a percentage to its weight of the food it consumes. For pigs, they have to consume approximately seven pounds of grain to gain one pound of body mass. For chickens, this is slightly less, and for cattle it is more. Ruminants like sheep and cattle can be raised on a diet of grass and hay, but they gain weight at a slower rate and take longer to come to market. Still, this use of grazing land can offset the reliance on grain feeds that could be used for human food directly.
Aside from the increasing costs of grains for feed, there are other problems associated with raising many animals for food. There are health problems associated with large concentrations of food animals. Their waste products can pollute the soil and atmosphere. High densities of animals feeding on a plot of ground can cause loss of valuable pasture. There are many environmental problems caused by raising animals in too crowded conditions.
Then, there are the health effects of eating a lot of animal products. Meat, milk, eggs, all are high in saturated fats. Aside from fats, there are high concentrations of cholesterol in some products. Doctors tell us we should limit our intake of saturated fats and cholesterol. Meat and animal products are good sources of protein, but the associated fats can offset any benefits of added protein to our diet.
Plant foods are much more efficient at providing food for people. Plants can provide carbohydrates, protein, and healthy fiber. Plant foods have more vitamins and minerals than most meats. The only vitamin missing from plant-based foods is vitamin B-12. This can be supplied with supplements, or by brewer’s yeast. Feeding grains and soy products to people directly is a much more efficient use of available nutrients than cycling them through the systems of an animal.
Many people object to eating meat because they view it as being cruel to animals. You have to kill an animal in order to eat it. Many high-density farms house animals in cramped and crowded conditions. Farm animals often are fed large quantities of antibiotics and hormones to increase their productivity. There is some question as to whether this is good for human health or not.
With the cost of food rising and the supplies dwindling, it might be time to re-evaluate our use of animal-based foods. Some meat can certainly be grown on pasture land and provide food from a resource that can not be utilized by humans. Rising grain prices may make meat un-economical in the future. It would be better for the environment, for health, and for the people of the world if we did not rely so much on an inefficient and possibly cruel source of food. As a protein source, meat is a good supplement, but as a main food it is lacking in balance. Better utilization of crops could be effected by using plant sources of food for human nutrition.
