The U.S. beef industry is responding to a new global study that says the planet won’t be able to sustain enough meat production to feed the more than 9-billion people expected by mid-century. 23 authors across the globe argue in the study that a dramatic change in dietary habits, including much less meat and more produce, will be needed to feed a massive world population without destroying the planet. The authors say growing meat consumption will require more feed crops, land, water, and energy use, further depleting resources and harming the climate.
Sustainable beef production research director for the NCBA, Sarah Place counters that the beef industry is taking proactive measures.
The report also cites food waste as another big problem, with about a third of food, some 25-hundred dollars per family per year, thrown out.
But Place doesn’t see meat consumption going down.
Place says a National Academy of Science study last year concluded if all Americans stopped eating meat and there were no livestock, U.S. greenhouse gas emissions would drop by just 2-point-6 percent, while diets would lack vitamin B-12 and enough protein.
Source: National Association of Farm Broadcasters