Tastes Like Chicken

As societies get richer, there is a concomitant increase in their consumption of animal protein. As populations get larger, those demand factors further increase the aggregate consumption of such protein. Today’s blog is not about the cruelty inherent in mass-production farms raising all forms of chickens, cattle, hogs and sheep in various descriptions of hell, some of these processing systems wildly efficient and wildly hard to stomach. Today is about the “other” impacts of this rising trend.

Most folks know its takes a lot of feed grain to raise livestock (generally, thirteen pounds of grain are needed to produce one pound of animal protein), that animal waste generates massive amounts of greenhouse gasses and that food prices – particularly for meat – are skyrocketing in light of the new demand. Scarce water resources are also feeling the strain. Butt weight, there’s more, so much more.

A 2009 article in Nature.com, adds these facts to the mix: “Livestock production has undergone a massive transformation in the past few decades. As meat demand has increased around the globe, small holdings and independent farms have been replaced with colossal corporate facilities, where animals are crammed into excrement-filled cages, and injected with antibiotics and hormones to maintain health and maximize growth. And with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization predicting that meat production will double by the middle of this century, conditions are set to worsen.

“This is bad news for the planet. Animal manure is a rich source of nitrous oxide, the fourth most important greenhouse gas... What's more, making animal feed releases large amounts of carbon dioxide, and the animals themselves, particularly cows, emit startling quantities of yet another greenhouse gas — methane [which has over twenty times the greenhouse impact of carbon dioxide].

“The meat industry is also a catalyst for deforestation, particularly in South America. [Nature.com] draws attention to the colossal speed at which the Amazon is being destroyed to make way for cattle and their feed. Making meat also requires huge quantities of antibiotics and hormones, which pollute the air and waterways. And intensive animal production units are hotbeds of disease transmission and viral evolution.”

Not to mention the massive amounts of fuel needed to move feed grains and livestock around and through the market system or to deploy fishing fleets in pursuit of “harvests in the seas.” Depletion of oceanic resources from over-fishing has become a serious global issue. And everyone has been on notice as to the health risks associated with the kinds of saturated fats associated with the consumption of red meat.

Bottom line: rising consumption of animal protein is pushing food prices higher – even basic grains because of the higher demand for feed (a very nasty impact on the world’s poorest classes who actually consume very little meat) – depleting natural resources, increasing heart disease and fomenting obesity as well as tanking the environment. Add the destruction of agricultural capacity from climate change in some of the poorest regions of the world with these changes in demand statistics and you are watching some alarming starvation realities in third world nations. Even in the United States, where the value food stamps has been reduced, the impact on our poorest citizens has been “difficult” to put it mildly.

On the other hand, there is small but growing trend in developed societies to build dietary habits much less based on animal protein, often seeking vegetarian substitutes for meat-driven culinary standards. For example, we might call the protein substitute “chick’n” as opposed to “chicken,” but the trend towards “fake meat” is definitely accelerating. Often the ingredients are soy-bean-based, some with added eggs (fake eggs, anyone?). For those with allergies to these substitutes, reading the label becomes essential. Coming up with catchy and consumer-enticing labels for these products has been challenging. “Fake meat,” “plant-based protein,” “imitation crabmeat,” etc. just don’t tempt the palate the way a “Texas cut, bone in ribeye” or “Chilean sea bass” might.

“‘Much of the new growth in the segment is coming from younger consumers who seek foods that fit an overall lifestyle, be it for health reasons or personal ethics,’ [Andrew Loucks, president of the United States frozen foods business at the Kellogg Company] wrote [in an email]. ‘They are not just seeking foods that mimic meat. Instead they specifically want vegetarian foods with distinctive flavors and visible, recognizable ingredients.’

“For whatever reason, the desire to replace meat proteins with proteins derived from plants is spreading, although the market is still minuscule. Mintel, a market research firm, reports that sales of meat alternatives grew 8 percent from 2010 to 2012, when sales hit $553 million.

“‘Not that long ago, electrical cars were considered nonperformers, and when Prius came out, a lot of people didn’t think there was a market for it,’ said Yves Potvin, founder and chief executive of Gardein Protein International, which makes the Gardein line of meatless products. ‘Now people are willing to pay $70,000 for a Tesla, and more than one million Prius cars are sold each year.’” New York Times, April 2nd. Is this a trend that will grow based on health consciousness or implemented out of economic necessity? Undoubtedly a combination of these and other factors. How have/will your consumption patterns change as a result of these trends?

I’m Peter Dekom, and changing food consumption patterns are going to be huge factor in our lifestyle, life expectancy and environmental sustainability.