USAFacts. (2023, October 3). The meat industry is a $103B-a-year industry — how will COVID-19 affect these numbers? USAFacts. https://usafacts.org/articles/meat-industry-2020-covid-19-outbreak/
Covid-19 has significantly impacted the meat processing industry in the US. As of a couple months ago, 16,233 meat plant workers across 239 facilities in 23 states have contracted Covid-19. This has resulted in 86 deaths caused by Covid-19 in the US for workers in the meat processing industry. However, the US still leads globally in cattle, poultry, and pork production. Last year, the US produced 105 billion pounds of meat worth approximately $102 billion. Overall, the industry employs roughly 527,000 people with an average hourly wage of $15.20, about $4.50 lower than average for all manufacturing sectors.
This article gives us an understanding of exactly how much meat the US is producing each year. This is important because we can use this information to understand where our carbon emissions are coming from as well as to create a better understanding of meat production globally. As the world leader in most meat production, despite being ¼ of some of the largest countries in the world, we can get a better understanding of how much meat we are eating and exporting in the US. Creating meat not only requires energy during processing, but while the cattle are still alive, they release lots of methane, a greenhouse gas, which further contributes to global warming.
These numbers are crazy large and hard to fathom. It is very important that we recognize that this data is one of the largest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. What do you think is the best way to reduce these numbers, considering there is such a high demand for meat in the US?
One of my articles was also about meat production and how we should shift towards a vegan diet due to the consequences of the meat industry. Seeing those numbers really puts into perspective the changes that need to be done. How can the world get on the same page about not supporting meat industries? Is that even possible?
Considering how many emissions are inherent to meat production, it seems like the only solution is some sort of cultural shift away from meat. We can’t exactly engineer cattle to produce less methane. Are there any serious efforts in place to promote a reduction in meat production?