The text is a discussion on the unsustainability of meat production, the high consumption of resources, and the suffering of animals in the meat industry. It highlights the fact that humans keep billions of animals for food, transforming Earth into a giant feeding ground. It mentions that 83% of Earth's farmland is used for livestock, and that meat and dairy production account for 27% of global fresh water consumption. The text also discusses the high resource consumption of meat production, with cows needing to eat up to 25 kilos of grain and use up to 15,000 liters of water to produce one kilogram of steak. It mentions that meat production is like a black hole for resources, as most of the nutrients from fodder crops end up in the meat we buy. The text also talks about the high number of animals killed every day, with globally about 200 million animals killed every day, amounting to about 74 billion a year. The text also mentions the poor living conditions of animals in factory farms, with pigs, cows, and chickens kept in small spaces, forced to breed continually, and separated from their calves hours after birth. The text also discusses the use of antibiotics in livestock, with up to 80% in the US used for livestock. The text ends with a call to action to respect meat and to consider more sustainable alternatives, such as opting out of meat more often, buying from trusted producers, and choosing chicken and pig over lamb and beef.
1. Humans love meat, particularly steak, fried chicken, bacon, pork belly, and sausages.
2. Meat consumption has become so common that many people don't consider something a proper meal if there's no animal involved.
3. Only a few decades ago, meat was a luxury product. Today, you can get a cheeseburger for a dollar.
4. Meat is the most inefficient way of feeding humans on a global scale.
5. The meaty diet is literally eating up the planet.
6. Humans keep a lot of animals for food, currently about 23 billion chickens, 1.5 billion cattle, and roughly 1 billion pigs and sheep.
7. 83 percent of Earth's farmland is used for livestock.
8. Meat and dairy production account for 27 percent of global fresh water consumption.
9. Cows, for example, convert only about four percent of the proteins and three percent of the calories of the plants we feed to them into beef.
10. To create one kilogram of steak, a cow needs to eat up to 25 kilos of grain and uses up to 15,000 liters of water.
11. Globally, we kill about 200 million animals every day, about 74 billion a year.
12. A lot of our meat comes from factory farms, huge industrial systems that house thousands of animals.
13. Most pigs are raised in gigantic windowless sheds and never get to see the sun.
14. Dairy cows are forced to breed continually to ensure their milk supply but are separated from their calves hours after birth.
15. The majority of antibiotics we use are for livestock.
16. In factory farms, chickens are kept in such vast numbers and so close to each other that they can't form the social structures they have in nature.
17. Several hundred million baby chickens are killed each year.
18. Organic farming regulations are designed to grant animals a minimum of comfort.
19. Organic meat might be less cruel but needs even more resources than conventional meat production.
20. An average American throws out nearly a pound of food per day, a lot of which is meat.
21. Various startups have successfully grown meat in labs and are working on doing so on a commercial scale.
22. For now, enjoy your steak but also respect it.
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