As scientists warn, No one has yet estimated how many animals are killed unnecessarily in slaughterhouses He did not mention the amount of meat that is thrown in the trash and wasted. The problem goes beyond animal rights.
Leiden University scientists were the first to attempt to estimate how much meat is wasted around the world each year. They calculated it 18 billion animals die without cause, and 52.4 million tons of meat are produced from them. This is approximately 1/6 of the entire global production. Data are from 2019 so estimates are not affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. They are shocking for many reasons.
In developed countries, most meat is wasted in trade, restaurants and consumers. Supermarkets order too much, restaurants serve too much, and at home, leftovers are thrown in the trash. In developed countries, such as the USA, most meat is wasted.
The scale of the phenomenon shows the disproportion between rich and poor societies: UNICEF indicates that 735 million people in the world suffer from hunger, while huge amounts of food are wasted in supermarkets in industrialized countries. People in the United States, Brazil and South America waste the most meat in the world. Meanwhile, for example, the Indians throw away very little of it per person.
From an animal rights perspective, wasting billions of tons of meat contributes to senseless suffering. Animals raised for meat often live in terrible conditions on factory farms and then die completely unnecessarily.
Animal farming is also a large source of greenhouse gas emissions. Rainfall and food waste also generate methane, one of the worst gases contributing to global warming. 14.5 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions are attributable to animal agriculture.
Therefore, researchers conclude that Reducing meat waste has positive consequences for animal welfare and the fight against climate change.
Scientists emphasize that, depending on the economy, individual solutions should be sought to reduce the scale of the problem. “In developing countries Emphasis should be placed on improving animal conditions and increasing the efficiency of product storage and meat transportation. “In Western countries, changing behavior will make a difference,” wrote scientists from Leiden. However, they admit that changing your shopping and eating habits is not easy.
“Consuming behavior is difficult to change,” says Julianne Clora. “People quickly get angry when the topic of changes to their diet comes up.” “They feel like someone is taking something from them. However, it may be helpful to clarify that the billions of animals killed every year are not eaten. The expert concludes that this could be an important first step towards positive action.
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