Report: Global Meat Supply Doubled Since 1961, Poultry Up Sixfold

Is rising meat consumption a worrying environmental crisis or are its impacts overstated?

Published 1 day ago

Report: Global Meat Supply Doubled Since 1961, Poultry Up Sixfold

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Above: People walk by the Chicken Shop in London, U.K., on April 8. Image credit: Mike Kemp/In Pictures/Getty Images

The Spin

Left narrative

Global meat consumption has doubled since 1961 and livestock now drive roughly 80% of projected agricultural emission increases — a trajectory that's incompatible with a livable climate. Antibiotic use on livestock is set to rise nearly a third in 15 years, threatening to unleash drug-resistant superbugs on everyone. Rich nations are eating far more meat than doctors recommend, and the environmental cost keeps climbing while other sectors clean up their act.

Guardian

Right narrative

The capitalist food system is a global success story, and the astronomical rise in meat production since 1961 is a remarkable feat. In countries like the U.S., farm output nearly tripled while land use shrank, and Americans spent just 9.5% of disposable income on food in 2019. Letting bureaucrats dictate diets and penalize meat through taxes and alarmist "climate change" policies undermines the very productivity and freedom that made affordable food possible for everyone.

The Heritage Foundation Human Progress