A better world requires convincing consumers to give up meat, as it is one of the most popular food groups in the world. Consumption of meat will decrease not only because of the environment and moral hazards associated with meat but also because of the economic damage it causes. Plant-based mock meats have made tremendous strides in recent years, including the infamous veggie burger like Impossible Burger. Environmental, societal, and nutritional factors may promote consumption of these type of products.
What is the future of food?
Cows, pigs, and poultry raise more greenhouse gases and use more fossil fuels than any other food group. While the population is growing, animal agriculture has to double by 2050 to feed the world’s rapidly growing human population. Livestock contributes over 70% of methane and nitrous oxide emissions from agriculture worldwide and the highest environmental costs of producing any food group. Animals require feed in one-third of their food calories, which typically comes from grains. Furthermore, when land and water are limited, the only possible choice for raising animals is to have intensive farming systems. Livestock use more water than crops and are responsible for 72% of the planet’s deforestation, not to mention the massive waste of food production caused by animals’ waste.
Toward a better world
This is not about people deciding not to eat meat, but about the industry ultimately switching to veggie-based products, which I believe is more sustainable. Food products such as “Veggie burgers” aren’t completely safe from the realities of modern agriculture: nitrates are still used to preserve them. In addition, they are not much better for the environment than conventional meat. Once you factor in the resources required to grow them, they are still much worse than meat. Particularly with “fake meat,” the focus on “reduced impact” gives the wrong message to consumers. Many consumers don’t want to buy less; they want to buy better. So, at this year’s World Economic Forum, we launched the Future of Food – a better world, in which animal suffering is reduced.
The Environmental Impact
A staggering 80% of world meat production takes place in the United States and Europe, where farmland can be extremely difficult to work with and water is scarce. One study found that the amount of animal-derived methane released into the atmosphere annually is equivalent to that of every car in the US. One particularly damaging gas is ‘Nitrogen dioxide’, which is emitted through the digestive process of a cow. It’s more than 90 times more toxic than carbon dioxide, which scientists are beginning to suspect was a major contributing factor to climate change. The process of rendering the meat produces a large amount of nitric oxide, a toxic gas that can cause asthma and increase the risk of lung cancer.
The Social Impact
People have different relationship with food; some would go to a restaurant to enjoy a dish that they are partial to, while others prefer to cook their own meal in their own kitchen. But, everyone deserves to be able to eat a meal that they can be proud of. The future of food is about a better world. It is about people using their bodies to create new and better food that can feed the world’s hungry. It is the least you can do, the least you can do for your body and the world around you, in order to make a difference. By reducing your meat consumption, you can help feed the hungry, and you can also eat a better meal.
Conclusion
In the world we inhabit, humans for consumption of meat are slaughtering millions of animals, it is only rational to ban the slaughtering of animals and for food. The animals have had their way with human life. They have flooded our ecosystems with their blood and manure. It is high time for us to protect them from the animal cruelty.
