What’s your beef? (Image: Mikael Andersson/Plainpicture)

Health worries won’t curtail the growing global appetite for meat – perhaps environmental concerns will be more persuasive

NOT long ago, a meal centred on meat was a rare treat. No longer. Most of us in the West now eat meat every day; many consume it at every meal. And people in less carnivorous cultures are getting a taste for it, too: in China it has become aspirational. Worldwide meat production has surged from 78 million tonnes per year in 1963 to 308 million tonnes in 2014.

The problem, setting aside issues around the morality of eating animals, is that the planet cannot support this growing appetite. Pasture used to graze livestock already accounts for 26 per cent of the planet’s ice-free landmass; the meat industry is responsible for 15 per cent of all greenhouse gas emissions.


There is a strong case that meat is now too cheap, its price pushed down by ever more intensive farming practices. While that is ostensibly good for consumers, it’s bad for the environment – in terms of pollution and antibiotic resistance, as well as climate – and very often bad for animals. And it can be bad for consumers if corners are cut to keep prices low (16 February 2013, p 6).

Is it possible to push the price back up? Governments have succeeded in reducing the consumption of alcohol and tobacco by taxing them. But a “sin tax” on meat lacks the clear case established for drinking and smoking: there is mixed evidence on potential links between high levels of meat consumption, cancer and heart disease. And it depends on exactly what you eat (see “Let them eat steak: How to eat meat the healthy way“). A more viable option might be to pull back on the agricultural subsidies that underpin meat production.

Persuasion may work better than coercion. In the UK and US, health concerns have already reduced consumption of red and processed meat. Later this month, the US Department of Agriculture will issue its latest dietary guidelines. This time, the recommendations may address effects on the environment as well as health. The industry won’t like it, but the public may find that a lower-meat diet is more to its taste.

This article appeared in print under the headline “The real cost of meat”