A new research, published in the academic journal Science this year, shows that the meat and dairy industry uses the vast majority of farmland — 83 percent — in over 40.000 farms across 119 countries. On top of this, the industry also produces 60 percent of agriculture's greenhouse gas emissions.
These numbers wouldn't be as alarming if production rates came close to them but meat and dairy are failing, badly, at feeding people.
"Where do you get your protein from?" is the first question many vegetarian and vegans get asked but the meat and dairy industry only accounts for 38 percent of protein humans consume.
More so, only 18 percent of all calories in our collective diet is provided by meat and dairy.
Hard to comprehend right? How come something can take up that much space, produce as much waste but fall so behind on what actually counts?
Thing is, the meat and dairy industry doesn't only consist of animals. It also means a lot of grain production for animal feed, as we need to feed the animals before we can feed ourselves.
To illustrate this further, here is what 100 calories of grain as animal feed turns into when it comes out on the other side for human consumption:
If you want to know more about how we can reduce the global consumption of animals by 50 percent by the year 2040, check out Proveg, a leading international organization that is active in the field of food awareness.