# INTRODUCTION

here is changing trend that is occurring globally in how people eat. As the economic status of people changes, the food consumption pattern changes as well. Communication technology and bombarded advertisements and modern lifestyle have made the best tools for forcing people to shift from vegetarian to non vegetarian. There is a substantial social science literature that examines the factors that influence the meat consumption behavior of individuals (Dietz et al., 1995). Agricultural economists have examined the factors that influence demand for different types of food at the aggregate . Economic analyses have led to sophisticated models used to project future demand for various food types, including meat. They find that population growth, changing lifestyle due to economic growth, and urbanizations are the key factors influencing global food consumption trends .

Attraction towards non veg food is high in modern era. The tendency of eating non veg, fast food in hotels, restaurants and at home has become a fashion which has boost up the global market of non veg food. The study of Popkin BM (2001) has suggested that rapid changes in diets resulting from modernization (i.e. improved standards of living and continued development) and market globalization have had a significant impact on lifespan of people. In the present modern life style we do not take care of our eating habits, only when we land into trouble we realize the consequences of the modern life style. The modernization perspective identifies economic development and connection to global markets as key influences on production and consumption processes. The modernization perspective generally assumes that meat consumption are determined by the economic means of a society to acquire these ''superior goods''i.e. it is assumed that as national affluence rises, meat and fish consumption will also rise since they are desirable, although expensive, food sources (Brown, 1995;. The modern life style with high Per capita Purchasing Power (PPP) has increased the meat production and consumption. The consumption and production of non veg food is rising enormously in developing countries since the per capita income is growing. In fact, in 2007 at least 60 percent of meat was produced in developing nations (Henning S, Pius C. 2007).

Food consumption patterns, particularly meat and fish consumption, have serious consequences for environmental Sustainability (Gerbens-Leenes and Nonhebel, 2002; Goodland, 1997;White, 2000). Meat production is resource intensive and of growing concern in environmental circles. Up to 10 times the quantity of resources (land, energy, and water) is needed to produce meat relative to equivalent amounts of vegetarian food (Durning and Brough, 1991;Dutilh and Kramer, 2000). Beef production in particular has serious environmental consequences, contributing to deforestation, desertification, and global warming (Durning and Brough, 1991). In 2007, meat production remained steady at an estimated 275 million tons; in 2008, output is expected to top 280 million tons. (FAO, 2008) And by 2050 nearly twice as much meat will be produced as today (FAO, Livestock's Long Shadow, 2007).

So far, systematic studies analyzing the meat consumption pattern of world and its consequences on environmental resource have not been carried out. This analysis tends to fill this gap by examining the nexus between meat consumption and environmental degradation. The study estimates population growth, per capita income and per capita meat consumption for 2050 and finds association between per capita income and meat consumption and focuses on exploring the impacts of meat consumption on various environmental aspects.

Overall objective of this study is to identify relation between modern lifestyle and meat consumption, estimate per capita meat consumption by 2050, find its correlation with per capita income and to examine whether meat consumption has any sorts of environmental impacts, in particular, on water, land use, climate change, rain forest and biodiversity and if there is, to what extent? II. The models developed by Gerbens-Leenes , Nonhebel, and Susan Subak are used for estimation of land required for production of (Beef, Pork, and Broiler) per m2and estimation of CO2 emission per kg meat. Both descriptive and analytical method of data analysis is applied in this study. Data is presented in tabulated as well as graphical forms for in-depth analysis.


# MATERIALS AND METHODS


# III.


# DISCUSSION

The demand of non veg food (beef, pork, and broiler) is growing higher since they are regarded as the chief source of protein. It is essential to find, why non veg food consumption is growing with growth in modernization? Table 1 indicates the reasons for it. Modern life style is by and large associated with per capita income. Higher the per capita income, better the life style. Over the time, the Per capita Purchasing Power (PPP) of people have increased with increase in Per capita GDP so the per capita meat consumption has also increased as indicated in table 1 (25.3Kg meat/ person in 1965 to 68.8 kg meat /person in 2050). The increase in income has brought change in the food consumption pattern. People have attracted towards non veg food (meat) and this situation is going to be more serious in days to come (Galloway et al.). By 2050, the demand of meat will be 624,530000 metric tons. Production of such amount of meat by live stocks will certainly hamper the environment.   With no more, and perhaps less, productive farmland available over the next 50 years this projected growth in meat production represents a major challenge to both farmers and the environment. More meat means more feed and forage will need to be produced, and more land will be required for housing the additional animals that will be on farms. In addition, more production of all crops will be needed, including those used for direct human consumption and for industrial uses.

To support the higher animal product with reference to production level of 2050. It is required that feed crop yields will need to more than double if we are to increase meat production in line with increases in GDP and changing life style. Failure to substantially increase crop yields in line with the meat production projections , will result in increased pressure to push crop production onto more of the world's fragile lands that are not being farmed today.

If feed crops production is pushed onto marginal land the result will be a degraded environment, increased soil erosion, increase water pollution, reduced wildlife habitat, and increased use of chemical and fertilizer inputs.

IV.


# IMPACTS OF MEAT PRODUCTION/ CONSUMPTION IN ENVIRONMENT

The findings of Gerbens-Leenes , Nonhebel and Susan Subak has developed a model to measure the CO 2 e / kg( carbon dioxide equivalent per kg ) and land required( m2 )for production of 1 kg meat production . One of the problems with meat production is the amount of land required. To produce 1 kg of beef, pork and broiler in the Netherlands requires 20.9, 8.9, 7.3 m2 of land respectively. (Gerbens-Leenes and Nonhebel 2002). If same model is followed, the total land used for meat production was 2526347 Km2 in 2002 whereas it is estimated to be more than double by 2050 i.e. 6594227 Km2 (table 3).


# b) Green House Emission and Climate Change

Livestock buildings are a major anthropogenic [caused by human activity] source of atmospheric pollutants, such as ammonia, nitrous oxide, methane and carbon dioxide, which contributes to soil acidification and global warming(CM Wathes et al, 1997).Methane and nitrous oxide are the principal outputs of livestock systems that impact on GHG. Emissions arise "directly" and "indirectly". Direct emissions refer to those directly produced by the animal from enteric fermentation of fiber by ruminants, manure and urine excretion. Indirect emissions include those from feed crops used for animal feed, emissions from manure application, CO 2 emissions from fertilizer production for feed and CO 2 emissions from processing and transportation of refrigerated livestock products (IPCC,1997). The greenhouse gas emissions associated with different stages in the animal food chain production cycle are shown in Table4. It is obvious from the table ( 5) that the meat consumption has adverse effect in global warming and climate change. As the demand of meat will grow in future the production of Co 2 Equivalent responsible for climate change will also increase. The CO 2 E produced from livestock and poultry farming was 982108000 metric tons in 2002 whereas it is going to be almost triple of it (2753452000 metric tons) by 2050. Such a huge amount of CO 2 Equivalent emission certainly affects the climate change. Methane is 23 times more responsible of global warming than CO 2 and the number one source of methane worldwide is animal agriculture. Methane emission from livestock contribute around 6 percent of global green house gas.(World Agriculture Towards 2015) .Cow , Sheep and Goat emit methane through the digestive process(enteric fermentation), while manure is also high in methane(Table 4). As meat and diary consumption increases, methane emission is predicted to raise by up to 60 percent by 2030.( Livestock's long shadow 2006) which is going to be a burning environmental issues in near future.


# c) Global Water Crisis and Meat Production

Probably even more crucial than the inefficient feed conversion ratios for animal products is their drain on the world's water resources. For there is now widespread acceptance that water scarcity will become at least as important a constraint on future food production as lack of available land. Demand has tripled in the past two decades and is expected to accelerate further in the next two -considerably more so if predictions for growth in the livestock population prove accurate. Water from dwindling supplies will have to serve both a growing human population and an explosion in the number of livestock.

Between watering the crops that farmed animals eat, providing drinking water for billions of animals each year, and cleaning away the filth in factory farms, transport trucks, and slaughterhouses, the farmed animal industry places a serious strain on our water supply. Recent projections by the International Food Policy Research Centre (IFPRI) indicate that if current trends in water management continue, we can expect a combined rise of 62 per cent in consumption for domestic, industrial and livestock use in the period 1995-2025. Figures for livestock production, while lower than for industry and domestic use, are predicted to rise by 71 per cent in the same period -19 per cent in the developed world and more than double in developing nations. ( Mark W. et al, 2002) . In India, the pumping of underground water is estimated to be double the rate of aquifer recharge from rainfall.( Janice Cox & Sari Varpama,,2000) . A potentially catastrophic crisis is looming for a country whose human population is already greater than 1 billion in such case wattage of huge amount of water is worthless.


# A pril 2012 kg of meat

One indication of the relative water requirement per unit of product is provided in Figure (3). The high value attributed to beef is notable. The production of 1 kg potato requires merely 900 liters of water where as 1 kg beef production requires 15500 liters of water Excessive water used for meat production has lead to. scarcity of water for agricultural land causing less production. Low food productivity is causing malnutrition and untimely death of many children. Less production of meat using more water is irrational, it could be resolved if consumption of meat is stopped.  As population was less during 1965 and the meat consumption rate was also low. Modernization had not much influenced the human life, the per capita GDP was low thus meat consumption rate had not gone very high in late 20th century but now scenario is different. Water demand for meat production is going on increasing with high demand of meat world wide. The water required for meat production was around 2,000,000,000 thousand kilo liters in 1965 where as it is estimated to be around six times more i.e. 12,000,000,000 thousand kilo liters by 2050(fig4).


# d) Food Insecurity and Livestock Farming

In spite of the enthusiasm among poorer countries to enter the international trade in animal products, it defies all logic for them to import grain to feed animals which they then export to richer nations. This situation is leading them towards food insecurity with in the country. Intensively produced meat cannot 


# 1.4E+10

possibly feed the world's poor. Poor nations are unable to provide even the basic foodstuffs (grains) to sustain their poorest people, how can they utilize land to grow grains for animals feeding and sell such animal meat in lower price than the food grains to people? Given that the hungry are hungry because they cannot even grow or afford to buy enough low-priced grain for sustenance. It is far-fetched to suppose that they will suddenly be able to afford relatively high priced mutton, pork and chicken.

Indian broiler industry is one of many that exemplify the problem. It has grown phenomenally from 31 million birds slaughtered per annum in 1981 to 300 million in 1992 and roughly 800 million by the turn of the century. (B. S. Bhattu, 2002). Consumption has tripled in the past decade. Yet as the industry itself acknowledges, this has had no impact upon human hunger. Anuradha Desai, Indian Branch President of the World Poultry Science Association, states that the target audience for the Indian broiler market is 'the fast growing middle class of over 250 million potential customers'. (Dr. M A Ibrahim, 1997). Increase in live stock farming is causing excessive increase in price of food grains since much of the food grains of agricultural countries is exported for livestock farming. Such situation has created food scarcity and increment in food price causing poor people die with starvation. According to very conservative estimates, a 50 per cent reduction in meat eating in developed nations could save 3.6 million children from malnutrition.


# e) Poisoning the Environmental Resources

Land and water pollution is extremely high with live stock farming. The improper management of manure and over use of insecticide and pesticide on land for production of grains for live stock is poisoning the land and water. Waste from CAFOs is emerging as a leading cause of water pollution in China(Xiayon, 2005). It is estimated that around 90% of industrial farm of China lack adequate pollution control, and that only 5% of waste is actually treated-the remainder ending up in water system. f) Deforestation and loss of biodiversity As consumer's demand for meat increases, more land is needed. Hundreds of miles of the South American rainforest is burned and cut annually and converted to crop and grazing land (ibid, 2009). The New York Times reported that 1,250 miles of Brazilian rain forest were lost for feed and livestock production in just 5 months.

The Amazon rain forest is on of the world's largest tropical forest which is the habitat of many rare and endangered flora and fauna. Such a valuable forest is being converted in to farm land for cattle rearing. According to Greenpeace, all the wild animals and trees in more than 2.9 million acres of the Amazon rain forest in Brazil were destroyed in the 2004-2005 in order to grow crops that are used to feed chickens and other animals in factory farms. By 2005 over 6 million hector had been converted to soy with in legal boundaries of Cerrado (Eating up the Amazon, 2006). It is estimated that a further 9.6 million hectors of Amazon forest could be lost to soy expansion by 2020.(The impact of Soy production , 2008).Such a massive deforestation in resulting into excessive destruction of biodiversity.

V.


# CONCLUSION

It is clear that the current model of livestock production is no longer affordable in environmental or social terms. The climate, water systems, soil and wildlife cannot sustain the damage that is being caused. Impacts of meat consumption on environmental resources are not a small issue, both today and especially in the future. The way the system is currently setup is not sustainable, and so a range of issues must be dealt with by the governments of the world sooner rather than later.

Action to replace livestock products not only can achieve quick reductions in atmospheric GHGs, but can also reverse the ongoing world food and water crises so organizations should consider making advocating vegetarianism a major part of their "Save the Earth" campaigns. At a minimum, environmental advocates should mention vegetarianism in any information about actions individuals can take to address meat consumption and global warming. An alternative could be, food companies producing and marketing such products that are alternatives to livestock products but taste similar, are healthier and easier to cook and made up of grains.

There should be change in Government's food procurement policies, special emphasize should be given to encourage vegetarian diets. Possible mechanisms include an environmental tax on meat, a shift in farm subsidies to encourage plant agriculture over animal agriculture, or an increased emphasis on vegetarian foods in government-run programs like school lunch program.
1![Figure 1 : The relationship between meat consumption and per capita income 2005.](image-2.png "Figure 1 :")
2![Figure 2 : Meat consumption per capital by country, 2010.](image-3.png "Figure 2 :")
2![Fig(2) indicates high per capita meat consumption in Australia, North and South America and some parts of Europe. The per capita meat consumption is less in Africa and South Asia. This also indicates association of meat consumption with Per capita GDP.With no more, and perhaps less, productive farmland available over the next 50 years this projected growth in meat production represents a major challenge to both farmers and the environment. More meat means more feed and forage will need to be produced, and more land will be required for housing the additional animals that will be on farms. In addition, more production of all crops will be needed, including those used for direct human consumption and for industrial uses.To support the higher animal product with reference to production level of 2050. It is required that feed crop yields will need to more than double if we are to increase meat production in line with increases in GDP and changing life style. Failure to substantially increase crop yields in line with the meat production projections , will result in increased pressure to push crop production onto more of the world's fragile lands that are not being farmed today.If feed crops production is pushed onto marginal land the result will be a degraded environment, increased soil erosion, increase water pollution, reduced wildlife habitat, and increased use of chemical and fertilizer inputs.](image-4.png "Fig ( 2 )")
3![Figure 3 : Water Use for Agricultural Products (liters per kg).](image-5.png "Figure 3 :")

1Per CapitaTotal Meat/Per CapitaYearGDP $2000PopulationGDP $2000000 Metric Tons Meat in kg1965$2,8253,337,974$9,429,55684,43725.31970$3,2993,696,588$12,194,430100,62427.21975$3,5814,073,740$14,587,570115,76528.41980$3,9664,442,295$17,616,910136,68230.81985$4,1364,843,947$20,032,840154,42131.91990$4,5355,279,519$23,944,060179,95834.11995$4,7275,692,353$26,910,310206,75536.32000$5,2176,085,572$31,745,760235,12138.62005$5,6546,464,750$36,554,731265,23641.02010$6,1036,842,923$41,765,656296,19943.32015$6,5887,219,431$47,562,691331,13845.92020$7,1117,577,889$53,888,672368,31648.62025$7,6767,905,239$60,680,624407,14851.52030$8,2868,199,104$67,934,006447,47554.62035$8,9438,463,265$75,691,056489,44757.82040$9,6548,701,319$83,999,657533,23461.32045$10,4208,907,417$92,817,529578,42964.92050$11,2489,075,903 $102,083,102624,53068.81965-2005Increase100.2%93.7%287.7%214.1%62.2%2005-2050Increase98.9%40.4%179.3%135.5%67.7%
2commodity.of arable land is used for live stock farming and growing crops for live stocks. It eventually affects the human life causing food insecurity as increased livestock farm will reduce the supply of soybean, wheat, maize and other crops to people since these products are used for livestock rearing.
3In 2002BeefPorkPoultryTotalLand usage (km 2 )12528496576926158062526347In 2020Land usage (km 2 )214460993618010174474098236In 2050Land usage (km 2 )3604887132453216648086594227
4Life CycleProcess Creating EmissionsType Of EmissionsStageProduction OfProduction Of Nitrogenous AndN 2 o Emissions From Grazing Land,AnimalOther Fertilizers, AgriculturalFertilizer Production; Co 2 From FertilizerMachinery, Pesticides EtcProductionHousing,Heating, Lighting EtcCo 2Maintenance,MachineryDigestionEnteric FermentationCh 4(Ruminants)WasteManure And UrineCh 4 And N 2 oProductsSlaughtering,Machinery, Cooking, Cooling,Co 2 And Refrigerant EmissionsProcessing, WasteChilling, Lighting, Leather And WoolTreatmentProduction, Rendering And Incineration
5In 2002BeefPorkPoultryTotalCO 2 equivalent (1000's mt)8871858108513838982108In 2020CO 2 equivalent (1000's mt)1518671115419228631656953In 2050CO 2 equivalent (1000's mt)2552743163298374112753452
			Theme: Is Your Life Style Killing Earth? Modern Lifestyle, Non Veg Food and its Impact on Environmental Aspects © 2012 Global Journals Inc. (US)
			© 2012 Global Journals Inc. (US)
		
		
			

				


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