Meat Atlas

Magda Stoczkiewicz, director of Friends of the Earth Europe, argues in the report that "[n]othing epitomizes what is wrong with our food and farming more than the livestock sector and the quest for cheap and plentiful meat."

She writes that livestock farming is one of the biggest greenhouse gas emitters, and is responsible for health pandemics and the use of a significant percentage of the world's grain and water.[4] According to the report, based on figures from the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization, the production of 1 kg (2.2 lb) of beef requires 15,455 litres of water (32,662 pints, or 110 bathtubs), cheese 5,000 litres, rice 3,400 litres and carrots 131 litres.[5] Over 75 kg (165 lb) of meat is consumed in the United States per person per year, 60 kg in Germany, 38 kg in China, and under 20 kg in Africa.[1]

The report states that animals are kept in cramped conditions, in artificial light, and fed antibiotics and hormones to ward off disease and speed up growth cheaply.[4][6] Pigs can reach their market weight with 10–15 percent less food if they are kept on antibiotics, but overuse has created antibiotic-resistant bacteria, so-called "superbugs."[5] Stoczkiewicz argues instead in favour of sustainable farming, where animals are kept in much smaller numbers and are allowed to graze freely, with farmers growing their own crops to feed them.[4]

World's largest meat producers

European sales of antimicrobial agents for food-producing animals, 2011

Through mergers and acquisitions across borders and species, meat production is handled by an ever-diminishing number of large companies.[7] The report lists the world's top-ten meat producers (see right), calculated by total food sales in the years 2011–2013.[8]

JBS, headquartered in São Paulo, Brazil, heads the list. The company's 2012 revenue of $38.7 billion exceeded the gross domestic product of Barbados, Iceland, Mauritius and Zimbabwe combined.[5] JBS is followed by Tyson Foods, Cargill, BRF, Vion, Nippon Meat Packers, Smithfield Foods, Marfrig, and Danish Crown. Just ten companies kill 88 percent of pigs.[8]

Because profit margins are tight, companies aim for greater efficiency and lower costs, with as much profit as possible from "field to fork."[9] According to the report, JBS can accommodate a daily slaughter of 12 million birds, 85,000 head of cattle and 70,000 pigs, the produce of which is sold in 150 countries.[10] Tyson Foods kills 42 million chickens, 350,000 pigs and 170,000 head of cattle every week.[11]

The kind of environment in which this occurs means that pathogens can spread easily, both during slaughter and transport.[8] For the animals it means increased cruelty because of long journeys to slaughterhouses, inadequate stunning, and violence from stressed workers. For the workers, it means low wages, a noisy and highly stressful working environment, and long shifts spent making high-speed repetitive movements with dangerous equipment and frightened animals. For the consumer, it severs the relationship between the animals and the end product on the supermarket shelf.[12]

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  Worldwide meat production
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  Numbers of birds killed
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  Direct subsidies for animal products and feed (in OECD countries)
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  Estimated chicken consumption per person, 2012, in kilograms,
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  Animal genetics industry: the Big Seven global breeders (Charoen Pokphand, EW Group, Genus, Groupe Grimaud, Hendrix Genetics, Smithfield Foods, Tyson Foods)