Also them: more adults globally eat too many calories
40% of lost calories globally are from beef, needing 33 cal of feed per 1 cal
41–50 of 360 posts
Re: 40% of lost calories globally are from beef, needing 33 cal of feed per 1 cal
#42> If excess beef consumption were reduced to healthy quantities, as defined by the EAT-Lancet healthy reference diet, and substituted with chicken in forty-eight higher-income countries, the lost calories avoided would be enough to meet the caloric needs of 850 million people. It's really impressive how efficient chickens are compared to beef. Obviously thinks like legumes are way more efficient, but we've really bre…
They aren't just amazingly efficient in converting calories to protein, they're great at eating things without much other (agricultural) value to us. They eat the invasive spotted lantern fly!
Re: 40% of lost calories globally are from beef, needing 33 cal of feed per 1 cal
#43Not trying to be overly flippant... who cares? The paper opens with "to feed a growing population" without asking is that what we need? want? where we are actually heading to? Is feeding the world a real problem? I've yet to see compelling evidence that it really is except as a secondary effect of logistics, energy supply, and war. edit: I understand the environmental impacts. I think we should solve our energy probl…
Agreed. The market should decide if beef consumption is viable. Ultimately energy is the basis all food production. Cheap and plentiful energy solves the food production and distribution problem, then its just matter of preferences.
> The market should decide if beef consumption is viable
The market has decided, ant it decided that the well off are more important than the rest so they get what they want at everyone elses expense.
Maybe we should stop thinking market forces are in any way right or moral. At least saying 'I got mine, fuck you' would be honest.
Re: 40% of lost calories globally are from beef, needing 33 cal of feed per 1 cal
#44Earlier quoted context omitted.
Most cows don't eat grass like a wandering herd. Most cows eat stuff we grow on farms that could grow stuff we can eat instead. https://www.ers.usda.gov/amber-waves/2024/december/ers-data-... and https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/crops/corn-and-other-feed-gr... Let me surface a more direct article: https://insideanimalag.org/land-use-for-animal-ag/#:~:text=1... Of the total land area of the contiguous 48 states, ~45% i…
The first link you posted says that 29% of the land is used for pasture and 15% is used for crops (which will include both human and animal). So yes, most cows are eating grass like a wandering herd.
The data doesn't prove either point. For all we know, a very low number of cattle are being grazed on those 29%. Or a lot of them. We don't know.
Re: 40% of lost calories globally are from beef, needing 33 cal of feed per 1 cal
#45> "needing 33 cal of feed per 1 cal"
The calories cows eat are ... useless to humans. We cannot digest cullulose (grass) and most of the rest of the things we feed to cows. Anyone throwing this number around has an agenda, and is not objective
Re: 40% of lost calories globally are from beef, needing 33 cal of feed per 1 cal
#46Not trying to be overly flippant... who cares? The paper opens with "to feed a growing population" without asking is that what we need? want? where we are actually heading to? Is feeding the world a real problem? I've yet to see compelling evidence that it really is except as a secondary effect of logistics, energy supply, and war. edit: I understand the environmental impacts. I think we should solve our energy probl…
> Is feeding the world a real problem? Yes, but it is not a production capacity problem. The constraints on food are mostly in the logistics chain, often having to do with corruption or distribution targets (food goes where the money is), or regulation (did you know that cherry growers in the Upper Midwest are required --_by Federal law_-- to destroy unsold crops?). A huge amount of food goes to waste simply because…
This is for good reason though. You want to overproduce significantly in ordinary times so that if there is a big negative shock you will still be able to produce enough to feed everyone merely by not destroying the excess anymore.
Re: 40% of lost calories globally are from beef, needing 33 cal of feed per 1 cal
#47There are people who for various ideological reasons hate beef.
If the market demands more chicken over beef, producers are perfectly capable of making a switch.
Cows are able to make delicious beef from grass and thistles; that they are often fed other things is not a proof that eating cows is bad.
Re: 40% of lost calories globally are from beef, needing 33 cal of feed per 1 cal
#48Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Is feeding the world a real problem? Yes, but it is not a production capacity problem. The constraints on food are mostly in the logistics chain, often having to do with corruption or distribution targets (food goes where the money is), or regulation (did you know that cherry growers in the Upper Midwest are required --_by Federal law_-- to destroy unsold crops?). A huge amount of food goes to waste simply because…
This is for good reason though. You want to overproduce significantly in ordinary times so that if there is a big negative shock you will still be able to produce enough to feed everyone merely by not destroying the excess anymore.
There is no reason to obliterate food, you should give it away to those in need.
Re: 40% of lost calories globally are from beef, needing 33 cal of feed per 1 cal
#49Not trying to be overly flippant... who cares? The paper opens with "to feed a growing population" without asking is that what we need? want? where we are actually heading to? Is feeding the world a real problem? I've yet to see compelling evidence that it really is except as a secondary effect of logistics, energy supply, and war. edit: I understand the environmental impacts. I think we should solve our energy probl…
> Is feeding the world a real problem? Yes, but it is not a production capacity problem. The constraints on food are mostly in the logistics chain, often having to do with corruption or distribution targets (food goes where the money is), or regulation (did you know that cherry growers in the Upper Midwest are required --_by Federal law_-- to destroy unsold crops?). A huge amount of food goes to waste simply because…
I think your fun cherry fact is pretty inaccurate. If you're referring to USDA Marketing Order #930, it's basically about setting sales limits in bumper crop years to avoid a situation where so many cherries hit the market that farmers lose money simply by harvesting them. They're free to donate the cherries etc. but again, they would be essentially wasting their own money by putting in the time and effort to harvest them beyond the amount they're allowed to sell.
Re: 40% of lost calories globally are from beef, needing 33 cal of feed per 1 cal
#50But the beef delivers way more nutrition and calories than the crop they eat.