In 1960, the world population reached 3 billion people. Sixty years later, and it hasn’t quite trebled yet, although we’re likely to get there in the next decade. Meat consumption, however, has more than quadrupled in the same time. I’ll save you the trouble and do the maths: per capita meat consumption has more than doubled in the last 60 years.
A recent report by the UNEP (United Nations Environment Program) projects that global meat consumption will double again by 2050. It doesn’t look like the world is going vegan anytime soon.
That’s not good news for our planet. Animal agriculture’s impacts on the environment are much higher than those of crops directly fed to humans. Although farm animals might not be at risk of extinction any time soon, several other species are. If we’re to curtail climate change, a reduction in meat and dairy production is crucial.