Should We Become Vegetarians?

We need our proteins. But where should we get them from? Pigs or peas? What is the best solution for sustainable food production and consumption? That's what the multidisciplinary Dutch research program, PROFETAS (PROtein Foods, Environment, Technology and Society), has been studying.

Take the following facts: To produce one kilogram of animal protein, three to ten kilograms of plant protein are required, depending on the particular animal species and circumstances. Presently, 40-50% of the global cereals harvest is used to feed the animals and satisfy the demand for their products. In other words, meat production isn't exactly efficient - you feed the domestic animals more proteins than you're actually getting from them.

So, the question is: Why don't we just eat the plants directly, instead of feeding them to various animals and then eating the animal products? That would allow a drastic reduction of the areas under crop. At present, food production appropriates about 75% of globally available freshwater and 20% of available energy, so the transition to plant proteins would also translate into an increased availability of freshwater and energy (i.e. their prices would fall). "Within the food area, meat production has a disproportionate environmental impact via both resource utilization (land use, biodiversity, freshwater) and pollution (climate change, pesticides, eutrophication)."

If that wasn't enough, animal stocks are associated with all the most dreadful diseases that ever plagued human society. All these diseases were transmitted from the domesticated animals to humans - the large herds of animals are perfect ground for the quick development and evolution of microbes and viruses. The current issue of avian influenza is just the latest story in a very long line.

Moreover, meat consumption is associated with various diseases such as heart diseases and obesity.

So, why don't we eat more plants and less meat?

According to researchers, "the craving for animal food seems to be rather universal. During the last forty years, the supply of animal proteins has steadily increased from 7 kg to 10 kg per person globally (by comparison, animal protein supply in the European Union has reached the point of saturation at 20 to 27 kg!)." But as the world's population doubled in the last 50 years (we're now more than 6.5 billions and it's estimated that we'll be around 9 billions by 2050), meat production increased fivefold from 45 to 233 billion kilos per year. So, is meat production really sustainable? "In theory, a reduction of animal proteins in high income diets would reduce such inefficient use of grains (feeding the domestic animals) and spare the resources (land, water, nitrogen) required for their production and would thus be more sustainable."

Although, there are many different diets and various kinds of foods around the globe, there exists a general trend in the relationship between food consumption and income: "Diets of people with low income rely on staple foods: coarse cereals such as barley and millet, and roots and tubers such as tapioca. With a rise in income, the initial response is to satisfy the demand for food and the consumption of staples increases. Once the basic need has been satisfied, more expensive cereals like wheat and rice replace the coarse staples. With a further rise in income, more luxurious foodstuffs such as fruits, vegetables, meats and sweets gradually replace part of the cereals. Finally a point of saturation is reached - there is after all only so much food you can eat - with a diet generally high in animal proteins, in sugars and in fats."

The PROFETAS study is now available in a book from Springer called "Sustainable Protein Production and Consumption: Pigs or Peas?".

"The emphasis is on improving the food system by reducing the use of energy, land and freshwater, at the same time limiting the impacts on health and animal welfare associated with intensive livestock production. It is clear that such a new perspective calls, not only for advanced environmental and technological research, but also for in-depth societal research, as the acceptance of new food systems is critically contingent on perceptions and attitudes of modern consumers."

So, it seems that in the end the questions are: Why do we like meat so much? And is this preference just another bad habit?