Increasing growth of industrialized meat production has contributed to the increase of farm land for both the use of animals, and feed for the animals used to meat. In order to have the amount of meat to be produced for the human population to consume meat industries require larger areas of farming land. According to the U.N. Convention to Combat Desertification, "It takes up to 10 pounds of grain to produce just 1 pound of meat, and in the United States alone, 56 million acres of land are used to grow feed for animals" …show more content…
People might ask why grow that much grain just for the animals to eat, when it could be grown for the human population to consume? Majority of the crops grown for the animals such as cattle, poultry, pigs and sheep are fed soybeans. This crop is widely used to feed the animals of meat production industries because soybeans are a cheap and easy source of protein. However, the growing rate of land needed for animals to be kept the industries also need land to grow the feed for the animals. According to the U.N. Convention, "Only 4 million acres of land are producing plants for humans to eat" (Meat). Why is it that the number of acres for crops grown for animals to consume is significantly higher than the number of acres grown for humans to consume? The reason for that question is that in order for the industries to keep up with the high demand for meat, there must be an increase in crops grown specifically for the animals to consume. However, once the animal is butchered the output of meat per pound is much less than the output of crops such as wheat and