Excessive meat consumption threatens global food supply

According to a study by management consultancy PwC Strategy&, the current way of food production and especially the high meat consumption endanger the future global food supply.

According to the PwC study “The Coming Sustainable Food Revolution”, the food industry is now responsible for two-thirds of global freshwater consumption, three-quarters of nutrient pollution in water and a quarter of all greenhouse gas emissions.

In view of the further growing world population, a change of direction in food production is urgently needed, the experts write. Because the current system is not resilient. The war in Ukraine was enough to trigger a dramatic rise in global food prices.

According to the PwC research, the strong increase in global meat consumption in recent decades has played a central role. About 80 percent of agricultural land is currently used directly or indirectly for meat production. However, this would only cover 11 percent of global calorie consumption.

Changing eating habits is therefore a crucial step to ensure that the world’s population continues to be fed in the future. Even replacing beef with chicken can cut CO2 emissions from meat production in half and reduce water consumption by about 30 percent. The effect is even greater when switching to a vegetarian or vegan diet.

At the same time, however, harvesting and supply chains should be made more efficient so that fewer goods go bad on the way to the consumer. About a third of all food still has to be thrown away due to delays and inefficiencies in harvesting, logistics or retail.

Digital technology can bring improvements here, for example by optimizing irrigation and fertilization and tracking the goods accurately on delivery. Taken together, according to the research, all this could make an important contribution to meeting the growing demand for food in a sustainable way without significant price increases. (sda/apa/dpa)