The new study by the Universities of Hohenheim and Göttingen examined the effects of reduced meat consumption on global agricultural prices and global food production,
The result is amazing:
A 19% reduction in meat consumption in industrialized countries would not only lead to a global reduction in meat production of 2.5% and a reduction in the world market price for meat. The lower demand for animal feed and the general decline in consumption could also lead to a fall in prices for other products such as grain. Poor countries in particular benefited from these price reductions.
Minimizing meat consumption by just a fifth of the current level would therefore appear to be a more than effective means of transforming the global agricultural sector and improving the global food situation.
“70 to 80 percent of the world’s agricultural land is used for fattening, but only contributes 17 percent of the world’s food in terms of calories:If the citizens of the USA alone were to reduce their meat consumption by just 10 percent each year, the food saved could feed around 60 million people worldwide. Currently 900 million people are starving, every 7 seconds a child under the age of ten starves to death…”
Source: Handbook, RAtschlage und Einblicke für ein grüneres Leben by Greenpeace, ISBN:978-3-03774-048-4
You can find a summary of the study here.
Click here for the full study.