Meat for thought: Why 100bn animals die every year
- Nandita Sengupta
- TNN Jun 19, 2024, 21:33 IST IST
The scale of animal slaughter for food is unsustainable. May be, just may be, science will find a way
Global demand for animal protein is fast growing. That demand has been met by a sharp increase in meat and fish production. Animal farming has grown to the point that almost a third of all land is used for raising livestock. This, in turn, has increased carbon emissions.
The most jarring statistic is that to meet this demand, 900,000 cows, 1.4mn goats, 1.7mn sheep, 3.8mn pigs, 12mn ducks and 202mn chickens are slaughtered daily for human consumption, per FAO 2021 data. Add to that, fish consumed – an average 211mn killed daily, by one estimate. Caveat: fish stocks, production and consumption are reported in tonnes, so numbers of fish killed daily have various estimates.
The most jarring statistic is that to meet this demand, 900,000 cows, 1.4mn goats, 1.7mn sheep, 3.8mn pigs, 12mn ducks and 202mn chickens are slaughtered daily for human consumption, per FAO 2021 data. Add to that, fish consumed – an average 211mn killed daily, by one estimate. Caveat: fish stocks, production and consumption are reported in tonnes, so numbers of fish killed daily have various estimates.
