The 4 biggest factory farming markets of the world are China, Brazil, US and Europe, according to latest report, Climate change and cruelty: revealing the true impact of factory farming.
The report which analysed the environmental impact of factory farmed chicken and pork in four of the world’s biggest factory farming hot spots, found that emissions from chicken meat in Brazil, China, Netherlands and US alone are equivalent to keeping 29 million cars on the road for a year.
It added that meat consumption rates in 2020 for the four factory farming hot spots are already high. Europeans consume around 33kg of pork per person per year and 23kg of chicken. Brazilians eat 41kg of chicken and 12kg of pork each year, US people eat 23kg of pork and 50kg of chicken and in China, pork is the most consumed meat, with 26kg per person and 14kg of chicken.
The climate impacts of factory farmed chicken alone in these factory farming hot spots is the equivalent of driving almost 29 million cars for a year. While animal feed production is the dominant contributor to factory farming’s climate impact.
A million kilograms of factory farmed chicken need almost 4.3 million square metres of land dedicated to animal feed, while a million kilograms of factory farmed pork needs around 5.8 million square metres of land dedicated to animal feed. That’s around the size of 672-906 football fields which is an area that can accommodate up to 1.45 million trees.
For every 100 calories of crops fed to farmed animals, only 17-30 calories end up feeding people[2]. Meat and dairy provide only 18% of overall calories and 37% of protein for humans, but they use 83% of farmland[3]. It is far better to grow crops that feed humans directly through mostly plant-based diets.
Methane from the manure of factory farmed pigs accounts for 21% of overall pork emissions for Netherlands, 22% for US, and 24% for Brazil.
By 2040, China’s per person annual consumption of chicken is expected to have increased from current levels to 15kg and pork to 31kg. Increases in chicken consumption are also expected in Brazil, US and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)[4] countries at 43kg, 53kg and 25kg respectively. For pork, consumption may reach 13kg for Brazil, 24kg for the US and 32kg for OECD countries.
Increases in pork and chicken consumption will result in notable increases in climate and environmental impacts. Conversely, reducing pork per person by 50% by 2040 would result in a 41% decrease in climate change impacts from pork consumption in China, 54% for the EU, 44% for Brazil and 43% for the US13.
