Meat industry
The meat industry are the people and companies engaged in modern
.A great portion of the ever-growing[1] meat branch in the food industry involves intensive animal farming in which livestock are kept almost entirely indoors[2] or in restricted outdoor settings like pens. Many aspects of the raising of animals for meat have become industrialized, even many practices more associated with smaller family farms, e.g. gourmet foods such as foie gras.[3][4] The production of livestock is a heavily vertically integrated industry where the majority of supply chain stages are integrated and owned by one company.
Efficiency considerations
The
Meat sources
type | 1999 | 2000 | 2012 | % change 1990–2012 |
---|---|---|---|---|
Cattle and Buffaloes | 1445 | 1465 | 1684 | 16.5 |
Pigs | 849 | 856 | 966 | 13.8 |
Poultry | 11788 | 16077 | 24075 | 104.2 |
Sheep and Goats | 1795 | 1811 | 2165 | 20.6 |
Global production of meat products
Companies
Among the largest meat producers worldwide are:
World beef production
Country | million tonnes (2017) | % Of World |
---|---|---|
United States | 11.91 | |
Brazil | 9.55 | |
China | 6.90 | |
Argentina | 2.84 | |
Australia | 2.05 | |
Mexico | 1.93 | |
Russia | 1.61 | |
France | 1.42 | |
Germany | 1.14 | |
South Africa | 1.01 | |
Turkey | 0.99 |
Criticism
Criticized aspects and effects of industrial meat production include:
- consuming meat from animals raised with these on human consumers (see also Beef hormone controversy)[9]
- Spread of animal diseases, e.g. mad-cow disease (H5N1), foot-and-mouth disease,[1], including to human consumers
- The commonness of cruelty to animals in the meat industry
- Certain animal rights advocates and groups believe that the production of meat is unethical[10] and the industry should be abolished[11]
- Contribution of the overconsumption of meat products to obesity
- Spread of human disease associated with E. coli
- Cost of state services associated with the above, including meat inspection and health care
- Cost of
- Spread of human disease associated with workers in meat and poultry processing facilities[12]
- The animal wastedisposal
- Heavy use of groundwater for feeding animals
- Amazon region or other places where beef cattle are raised in what was formerly rainforestedland
- greenhouse gases generated by the meat industry is significantly greater than growing and processing fruits and vegetables. The largest agricultural methane source on the planet is livestock. Global greenhouse gas emissions from animal-based foods are twice those of plant-based foods.[13]
Many observers[who?] suggest that the expense of dealing with the above is grossly underestimated by present economic metrics and that true cost accounting would drastically raise the price[14] of industrial meat.[15][16][17][18]
Effects on livestock workers
American slaughterhouse workers are three times more likely to suffer serious injury than the average American worker.
The worst thing, worse than the physical danger, is the emotional toll. If you work in the stick pit [where hogs are killed] for any period of time—that let's [sic] you kill things but doesn't let you care. You may look a hog in the eye that's walking around in the blood pit with you and think, 'God, that really isn't a bad looking animal.' You may want to pet it. Pigs down on the kill floor have come up to nuzzle me like a puppy. Two minutes later I had to kill them – beat them to death with a pipe. I can't care.
— Gail A. Eisnitz, [26]
The act of slaughtering animals, or of raising or transporting animals for slaughter, may engender psychological stress or trauma in the people involved.[27][28][20][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36] A 2016 study in Organization indicates, "Regression analyses of data from 10,605 Danish workers across 44 occupations suggest that slaughterhouse workers consistently experience lower physical and psychological well-being along with increased incidences of negative coping behavior."[37] A 2009 study by criminologist Amy Fitzgerald indicates, "slaughterhouse employment increases total arrest rates, arrests for violent crimes, arrests for rape, and arrests for other sex offenses in comparison with other industries."[37] As authors from the PTSD Journal explain, "These employees are hired to kill animals, such as pigs and cows, that are largely gentle creatures. Carrying out this action requires workers to disconnect from what they are doing and from the creature standing before them. This emotional dissonance can lead to consequences such as domestic violence, social withdrawal, anxiety, drug and alcohol abuse, and PTSD."[38]
Slaughterhouses in the United States commonly illegally employ and exploit underage workers and illegal immigrants.
Possible alternatives
Cultured meat (aka "clean meat") potentially offers some advantages in terms of efficiency of resource use and animal welfare. It is, however, still at an early stage of development and its advantages are still contested.
Alternative meat industry
A growing trend towards
See also
- Agricultural engineering
- Agricultural robot
- Dairy industry in the United Kingdom
- Dairy industry in the United States
- Dairy industry
- Golden Triangle of Meat-packing
- Grinder-mixer
- ICT in agriculture
- Leather
- List of largest meat companies in Germany
- Meat Industry Workers Federation
- Meat market
- North American Meat Institute (NAMI)
- white slime
- Poultry industry
- Red meat
- Rendering (animal products)
- Slaughterhouse
- World Beef Report
References
- ^ a b "Global Meat Production and Consumption Continue to Rise". Worldwatch Institute. Archived from the original on 24 January 2013. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
- ^ Paul Ebner. "Modern Livestock Facilities". Purdue University. Archived from the original on 22 May 2018. Retrieved 1 March 2016.
- ^ "Foie Gras: Cruelty to Ducks and Geese | Ducks and Geese Used for Food | Factory Farming: Misery for Animals | The Issues". PETA. 21 June 2010. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
- ^ "An Animal Equality investigation". Foie Gras farms. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
- ^ Nina Rastogi (28 April 2009). "The Kindest Cut – Which meat harms our planet the least?". Slate.com. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
- ^ "FAO's Animal Production and Health Division: Meat & Meat Products". Fao.org. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
- ^ "FAOSTAT". www.fao.org. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
- ^ "World Beef Production: Ranking Of Countries". Beef2live.com. 30 December 2016. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
- ^ "Steroid Hormone Implants Used for Growth in Food-Producing Animals". FAO. 2015.
- ^ "Definition of veganism". The Vegan Society. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
- ^ "The Six Principles of the Abolitionist Approach to Animal Rights – Animal Rights The Abolitionist Approach". www.abolitionistapproach.com. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
- S2CID 218555116.
COVID-19 cases among U.S. workers in 115 meat and poultry processing facilities were reported by 19 states. Among approximately 130,000 workers at these facilities, 4,913 cases and 20 deaths occurred.
- S2CID 240562878.
- ^ "USDA ERS – Retail Meat Prices & Price Spreads". Ers.usda.gov. 2 December 2016. Archived from the original on 28 October 2016. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
- ^ "Food wastage footprint – Full cost accounting" (PDF). FAO. 2014.
- ^ "Unfair fare: Why prices for meat from small local farms are too high". Ethicurean.com. Archived from the original on 28 January 2017. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
- ^ "Getting Real About the High Price of Cheap Food". TIME. 2009.
- ^ "The Triple Whopper Environmental Impact of Global Meat Production". TIME. 2013.
- ^ "Meatpacking". Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
- ^ a b Lowe, Peggy (11 August 2016). "Working 'The Chain,' Slaughterhouse Workers Face Lifelong Injuries". NPR.
- ^ "Two amputations a week: the cost of working in a US meat plant". The Guardian. 5 July 2018. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
- ^ Lewis, Cora (18 February 2018). "America's Largest Meat Producer Averages One Amputation Per Month". Buzzfeed News. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
- ^ "Revealed: Shocking safety record of UK meat plants". The Bureau of Investigative Journalism. 29 July 2018. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
- PMID 30046554.
- PMID 15150395.
- ISBN 978-1-57392-166-4.[page needed]
- ^ Sharman, Jon (30 January 2019). "Sheep farmer who felt so guilty about driving his lambs to slaughter rescues them and becomes a vegetarian". The Independent.
- PMID 27104340.
- ^ "PTSD in the Slaughterhouse". The Texas Observer. 7 February 2012. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
- ^ Newkey-Burden, Chas (19 November 2018). "There's a Christmas crisis going on: no one wants to kill your dinner – Chas Newkey-Burden". The Guardian. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
- ^ "Psychological Distress Among Slaughterhouse Workers Warrants Further Study – SPH – Boston University". School of Public Health. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
- ^ Dillard, Jennifer (September 2007). "A Slaughterhouse Nightmare: Psychological Harm Suffered by Slaughterhouse Employees and the Possibility of Redress through Legal Reform". ResearchGate.net. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
- ^ S, Serina; hu (2 March 2018). "'I couldn't look them in the eye': Farmer who couldn't slaughter his cows is turning his farm vegan". Inews.co.uk. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
- ^ Fox, Katrina. "Meet The Former Livestock Agent Who Started An International Vegan Food Business". Forbes.com. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
- ^ Lebwohl, Michael (25 January 2016). "A Call to Action: Psychological Harm in Slaughterhouse Workers". The Yale Global Health Review. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
- ^ Nagesh, Ashitha (31 December 2017). "The harrowing psychological toll of slaughterhouse work". Metro. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
- ^ S2CID 148368906.
- ^ "The Psychological Damage of Slaughterhouse Work". PTSDJournal. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
- ^ Waldman, Peter (29 December 2017). "America's Worst Graveyard Shift Is Grinding Up Workers". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
- ^ Grabell, Michael (1 May 2017). "Exploitation and Abuse at the Chicken Plant". The New Yorker. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
- ^ Varia, Nisha (11 December 2010). "Rights on the Line". Human Rights Watch. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
- ^ Grabell, Michael (23 May 2018). "Live on the Live". Oxfam America. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
- ^ How Beyond Meat's Stock Surged 500 Percent In 2019 – YouTube
Further reading
- Fuquay, John W. ed. Encyclopedia of Dairy Sciences (2nd Edition, 4 vol 2011), comprehensive coverage
- Nierenberg, Danielle; Lisa Mastny (2005). "Happier meals: rethinking the global meat industry" (PDF). Worldwatch Institute. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 July 2019. Retrieved 23 February 2018.
- Walsh, Margaret (1982). "From Pork Merchant to Meat Packer: The Midwestern Meat Industry in the Mid Nineteenth Century". Agricultural History. 56 (1): 127–137. JSTOR 3742304.
- Warren, Wilson J. (1 January 2021). "The Meat Industry Goes Back to the Jungle". Current History. 120 (822): 21–27. S2CID 231906705.
- "Meat Atlas 2021, facts and figures about animals we eat" (PDF). Friends of the Earth, Heinrich Böll Foundation, Bund für Umwelt und Naturschutz Deutschland. September 2021. Retrieved 9 September 2021.