Food for thought

AnimalVisuals.org Number of Animals Killed to Produce One Million Calories in Eight Food Categories  12 October 2009

Davis estimates 15 animal deaths per hectare per year (d/ha/y) due for vegan agriculture, compared to 7.5 d/ha/y for meat production. Matheny points out Davis' error in failing to consider that meat requires 2-7 times the land to produce a given amount of usable protein.

While these numbers so far superficially appear to favour veganism, they fail to take into account that agricultural lands are not equal and that animals do not necessarily need to be fed with crops. A significant portion of meat production occurs on rangelands, which comprises the majority of land on Earth, unsuitable for crop production. Replacing rangeland meat production with vegan agriculture would require mass destruction of native habitats.

After the initial destruction, the estimated ongoing animal deaths of 7.5 d/ha/y was derived by assuming that “forage production requires fewer passages through the field with tractors and other farm equipment.” In practice, other forage options exist. A stockpiling and limit-feeding strategy on rangelands, for example, may require no tractors at all. To the extent that these methods reduce wild animal deaths to less than 2.1-7.5 d/ha/y, the argument in terms of ongoing animal deaths also shifts back in favour of omnivorism.