Meat eating is often a contentious subject, whether considering the technical, ethical, environmental, political, or health-related aspects of production and consumption. This book is a wide-ranging and interdisciplinary examination and critique of meat consumption by humans, throughout their evolution and around the world. Setting the scene with a chapter on meat s role in human evolution and its growing influence during the development of agricultural practices, the book goes on to examine modern production systems, their efficiencies, outputs, and impacts. The major global trends of meat consumption are described in order to find out what part its consumption plays in changing modern diets in countries around the world. The heart of the book addresses the consequences of the "e;massive carnivory"e; of western diets, looking at the inefficiencies of production and at the huge impacts on land, water, and the atmosphere. Health impacts are also covered, both positive and negative. In conclusion, the author looks forward at his vision of rational meat eating , where environmental and health impacts are reduced, animals are treated more humanely, and alternative sources of protein make a higher contribution. Should We Eat Meat? is not an ideological tract for or against carnivorousness but rather a careful evaluation of meat's roles in human diets and the environmental and health consequences of its production and consumption. It will be of interest to a wide readership including professionals and academics in food and agricultural production, human health and nutrition, environmental science, and regulatory and policy making bodies around the world.

Meat eating is often a contentious subject, whether considering the technical, ethical, environmental, political, or health-related aspects of production and consumption.This book is a wide-ranging and interdisciplinary examination and critique of meat consumption by humans, throughout their evolution and around the world. Setting the scene with a chapter on meat's role in human evolution and its growing influence during the development of agricultural practices, the book goes on to examine modern production systems, their efficiencies, outputs, and impacts. The major global trends of meat consumption are described in order to find out what part its consumption plays in changing modern diets in countries around the world. The heart of the book addresses the consequences of the "massive carnivory" of western diets, looking at the inefficiencies of production and at the huge impacts on land, water, and the atmosphere. Health impacts are also covered, both positive and negative. In conclusion, the author looks forward at his vision of "rational meat eating", where environmental and health impacts are reduced, animals are treated more humanely, and alternative sources of protein make a higher contribution.Should We Eat Meat? is not an ideological tract for or against carnivorousness but rather a careful evaluation of meat's roles in human diets and the environmental and health consequences of its production and consumption. It will be of interest to a wide readership including professionals and academics in food and agricultural production, human health and nutrition, environmental science, and regulatory and policy making bodies around the world.

Preface ix1 Meat in Nutrition 3Meat Eating and Health: Benefits and Concerns 4Meat and its nutrients 6Meat as a source of food energy 11High-quality protein and human growth 17Carnivory and civilizational diseases 20Diseased meat 242 Meat in Human Evolution 31Hunting Wild Animals: Meat in Human Evolution 33Primates and hominins 35Meat consumption during the Paleolithic period 39Extinction of the late Pleistocene megafauna 42Hunting in different ecosystems 45Wild meat in sedentary societies 49Traditional Societies: Animals, Diets and Limits 51Domestication of animals 53Population densities and environmental imperatives 56Long stagnation of typical meat intakes 59Avoidances, taboos and proscriptions 63Meat as a prestige food 663 Meat in Modern Societies 71Dietary Transitions: Modernization of Tastes 72Urbanization and industrialization 74Long-distance meat trade 77Meat in the Western dietary transition 81Transitions in modernizing economies 84Globalization of tastes 86Output and Consumption: Modern Meat Chain 89Changing life cycles 91Slaughtering of animals 94Processing meat 98Consuming and wasting meat 102Making sense of meat statistics 1074 What It Takes to Produce Meat 113Modern Meat Production: Practices and Trends 117Meat from pastures and mixed farming 118Confined animal feeding 122Animal feedstuffs 127Productivity efficiencies and changes 135Treatment of animals 141Meat: An Environmentally Expensive Food 145Animal densities and aggregate zoomass 147Changing animal landscapes 150Intensive production of feedstuffs 155Water use and water pollution 160Meat and the atmosphere 1685 Possible Futures 177Toward Rational Meat Eating: Alternatives and Adjustments 181Meatless diets 183Meat substitutes and cultured meat 188Protein from other animal foodstuffs 192Less meaty diets 200A large potential for rational meat production 203Prospects for Change 210References 217Index 251