Some plant-based brands have struggled to lower their prices so they’re on par with meat and dairy products. But while beef burgers, bacon and chicken nuggets might be easier on household budgets, they have all sorts of planetary and socio-economic costs that don’t show up on receipts.
Forests
Livestock farming is responsible for almost 40% of global deforestation, mostly in the vital rainforests of the Amazon.
Risks
Increased climate-related natural disasters could lower the profits of the 40 largest livestock companies by almost US$24 billion in 2030 from 2020 levels.
Subsidies
Governments spend billions per year in subsidies for animal agriculture to help keep the cost of meat low: $38 billion in the U.S. and $1.7 billion in Canada.
Climate change and pollution
Animal farming is responsible for 12% to 20% of global greenhouse gas emissions (including methane), making it a major contributor to the climate crisis. Factory farms and feedlots emit almost 170 different air-polluting gases. In the U.S., these facilities collectively produce up to 1.37 billion tons of manure each year, which often runs off into waterways.
Animal lives
Around 202 million chickens, 3.8 million pigs and 900,000 cows are slaughtered every day around the world for food.
Antiobiotic resistance and disease
An estimated 66% of the world’s antibiotics are used on livestock. This is contributing to the global rise of antibiotic resistance, which could kill 10 million people a year by 2050.
Meat-heavy diets are also linked to higher rates of cancer and heart disease. If upper-middle-income countries reduced their consumption of red and processed meat by 14%, it could prevent 65,000 deaths per year.
Sources: UNEP, FAO, FAIRR, AIER, Business for Nature, Our World in Data, As You Sow, WHO, Sierra Club, ASPCA.
This story is part of our Spring 2024 Plant Power package.
