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Chapter 6 Meat Consumption Statistics
This entry summarises the amount of meat people eat worldwide and is based on official statistics from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Animals and meat on this page mean livestock and poultry and exclude sea food (see Fish Statistics, in Chapter 6). Summary
More & More Meat The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) started collecting records in 1961. Their statistics show that the average amount of meat consumed per person has doubled over the last 40 years, increasing steadily from 21 kilograms per person in 1961 to 40 kilograms per person in 2002. Most of this growth is in the developing countries as their populations and incomes increase. China, for example, eats over 20 times its 1961 tonnage. However, although China is the biggest meat eating country (Table 1) the average consumption per Chinese is 52 kg per year, way below America at 125 kg of meat per human per year (Table 2) and western European counties, such as Britain at 80 kg of meat per human annually. In addition to meat, people are also consuming more eggs and milk. This increased consumption of animals has been called the 'Livestock Revolution'. According to the UN, the average meat consumption of livestock (cattle, sheep, pigs, etc, excluding sea food) per human will reach 54 kilograms per person in 2050 (The State of Food and Agriculture. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2009). For the foreseeable future, perhaps for as long as humanity persists, therefore, billions of animals will continue their cataclysmic fall every year down the abyssal human throat. It is not possible to collect totally accurate statistics about millions of animals from all over the world. As FAO says, "Data are reported by individual countries, which may have varying capacities for data collection." Therefore the statistics on this page are only a rough guide to consumed animal tonnage and you should look upon them as minimum figures.
For the source of these figures see Notes for Tables 1 & 2, below.Average Annual Meat Consumption per Human
For the source of these figures see Notes for Tables 1 & 2, below.Notes for Tables 1 & 2 Figures from both tables are based on statistics collected by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), FAOSTAT on-line statistical service (FAO: Rome, 2005). Both accessed online February 2008. FAO define meat consumption as "...the total meat retained for use in country for each country per year. Total meat includes meat from animals slaughtered in countries, irrespective of their origin, and comprises horsemeat, poultry, and meat from all other domestic or wild animals such as camels, rabbits, reindeer, and game animals."
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