Amid a global food crisis, livestock ate a trillion kilograms of grain last year
Feed for farm animals accounted for 37% of global grain consumption in 2022.
Amid a global food crisis, a trillion kilograms of grain were fed to farm animals around the world last year.
According to the International Grains Council1, 1,042 million tonnes of grain were consumed as feed for livestock animals in 2022. That amounted to 37% of global grain consumption, including wheat, coarse grains, and rice.
An additional 18% of grain was purposed for industrial and other uses (e.g., ethanol fuel). Shockingly, less than half of the world’s grain, around 45%, wound up being eaten as food.
Indeed, in many rich countries/regions with meat-heavy diets, such as the United States, Britain, Europe and Australia, the volume of grain that is being fed to livestock dwarfs the amount consumed by people. For example, in the U.S., farm animals were fed 4kg of grain for every 1kg eaten by Americans.
Even some developing nations are using more of their grain to fatten livestock as rising incomes translate into growing demand for meat. In China, for example, the amount of grain fed to farm animals (247 million tonnes, or 40% of domestic consumption) now rivals the volume consumed by people (262 million tonnes, or 42%).
The consumption of so much grain for animal agriculture takes place in a world suffering major shortages and price spikes for staple foods. As 350 million men, women and children grapple with extreme hunger, livestock are demanding nearly as much grain (at 1,042 million tonnes) as people (at 1,271 million tonnes).
There is potential to free up an enormous volume of food if grain stocks were redirected from fattening animals to feeding humans. The trade-off from more meat for the few is less grain for the many.
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Notes:
International Grains Council. (2023, July). Supply & Demand. https://www.igc.int/en/markets/marketinfo-sd.aspx