Where is the most meat eaten in the world?

 Where is the most meat eaten in the world?

You must have heard that a large number of people have reduced the amount of meat in their diet or have made a commitment to completely eliminate it from their diet.

There are several reasons for this practice, including being healthy, not creating a negative environmental impact, and considering animal welfare.

A third of Britons claim to have stopped or reduced their meat intake, while two-thirds of Americans say they have reduced their consumption of one type of meat.

This trend is due to efforts like Meat Mondays and Vignoire. Along with this, a number of documentaries and advocates of veganism have also highlighted the benefits of eating less meat.

But have these feelings made any difference in reality?

Rising income

We do know that the world's meat consumption has grown exponentially over the past 50 years.

If we compare the beginning of the 1960s with 2017, it can be seen that the production of meat has increased five times from 70 million tons to 330 million tons in 2017.

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The main reason for this increase is rapid population growth.

In the 1960s, the world population was 3 billion and today it has reached 7.6 billion, which shows that the population has doubled since then.

Increase in income is also an important reason. People around the world have become richer and global average incomes have tripled in the last 50 years.

If we compare consumption around the world, we can see that the richer people are, the more meat they consume.

Not only are there more people in the world, but there are also more people who can eat meat.

Who eats the most meat?

If we study the trend of meat consumption across the world, it is directly related to wealth.

According to the statistics of 2013, USA and Australia were on the top among the countries that eat the most meat. In Argentina and New Zealand, each person consumed 100 kg of meat per year, which is equivalent to 50 chickens or half a beef.

In fact, meat consumption in the West is quite high, with Western Europe consuming between 80 and 90 kg of meat per person per year.

In contrast, relatively little meat is eaten in most of the world's poorest countries.

A resident of Ethiopia eats 7 kg, a resident of Rwanda 8 kg and a resident of Nigeria eats an average of 9 kg of meat, which is ten times less than a European resident.

Meat is still considered a luxury in underdeveloped countries.

These figures indicate the availability of meat per person, but do not take into account food waste at home or in stores. In reality, people eat less meat than these figures, but these figures are still fairly accurate.

Middle-income countries are increasing the demand for meat.

It is clear that the richest countries consume the most meat, while the poorest countries consume less meat.

These facts have been around for the past 50 years, but why are we consuming more meat now?

The main reason for this trend is the rise of a certain class in middle-income countries.

The past few decades have seen a tremendous increase in meat consumption in the fast developing countries of China and Brazil.

By contrast, in the 1960s, China consumed less than five kilograms of meat per person per year. By the end of the 1980s, this amount had reached 20 kg and in the last few decades, it has tripled to over 60 kg.

In India the situation is significantly different. Although average income has tripled since 1990, meat consumption has not.

Another misconception is that the majority of India's population is vegetarian, while according to a survey, two-thirds of the people in India must eat some kind of meat.

Despite this, very little meat is consumed in India. India consumes less than 4 kg of meat per person, which is the lowest in the world. The main reason is the avoidance of different types of meat due to religious and social factors.

Is meat consumption declining in the West?

Most people in North America and Europe say they have cut down on meat. But according to statistics, there is nothing like that in reality.

According to recent data from the US Department of Agriculture, meat consumption has actually increased over the past few years.

We tend to think that less meat is being eaten, but the amount of meat consumed in the US in 2018 was significantly higher than in the past few decades.

Although meat consumption in the West has increased relatively little, the variety of meat consumed is changing.

This means that people prefer poultry instead of beef and pork.

In the 1970s, poultry accounted for half of the meat consumption in the United States, up from a quarter.

Effects of eating meat

Sometimes eating meat can be beneficial.

Eating adequate amounts of meat and dairy products improves health, especially in countries where income and food variety are scarce.

But in many countries, meat is eaten so frequently that the nutritional benefits cannot be obtained.

In fact, it is a health hazard. According to many studies, processed meat can increase the risk of heart disease, stroke and various types of cancer.

Using chicken instead of beef and pork can also be beneficial. .

Balanced and sustainable meat consumption in the future will require fundamental changes.

For this, we not only have to reduce the amount of meat we eat, but we also have to consider different types of meat.