How to Feed the World: Is Meat Necessary?
A Plan for 8 Billion People and Beyond — Part 4
In the previous two parts of this series, we explored many harmful ways in which we keep destroying our planet for food. No food production comes without environmental problems, but some cause more harm than others. Industrial production of land meat and industrial fishing stand out in almost every respect. For the sake of this article, we’ll address both of these categories as just “meat” and introduce separation when needed.
Is meat necessary?
Since we exploit so much of our precious planet for meat production, one might think meat is essential for our survival. But is it?
It might then come as a novelty to you that meat wasn’t a daily staple for the more significant part of recent history and the majority of the people. For the most part, people were predominantly vegetarian. In the absence of fossil fuels and modern machinery, most of the work relied on muscles, either human or animal. I wrote a more detailed account here.
Most animals were thus much more valuable alive; oxen and horses were indispensable for work on fields, cows could provide milk over the long winters, and chickens laid eggs. Pigs were indeed raised solely for meat, but its price was such that it was a much…
