Looking at who is eating the majority of beef in the USA is alarming for the future of the industry. This is because older generations are eating the vast majority. Beef was at its strongest in the 1970s, with the average amount of beef eaten per person in 1975 being around 90 pounds or 40kg, but having dropped to just 57 pounds or 25kg.
Chicken is now the USA most consumed meat.
While this might be bad for the beef industry, it is good for the climate. Beef produces around 10 times the greenhouse gases that poultry does, and 20-60 times the amount that is released getting the same nutrition from plants.
According to this study, just 12% of people were responsible for eating half of the beef consumed in the country.
There may also be a correlation between knowledge on environment and willingness to eat beef, as it is one of the most carbon intensive foods we consume.
Might this reverse if the cost of lab-grown beef can get low enough? Well, it fell from $330,000 to just $9 in a handful of years, however, it really needs to fall another. In the midwest, the price of beef has risen from aroun $2 to around $6 per pound since 2000. Given a US burger weighs on average 3 oz and there are 16 per pound, that gives a cost of around $1 per burger. As such, even as a premium product, it is likely that we need another 3 times reduction, or another 9 times reduction for standard.
While the rate of the fall of price is slowing, it is quite reasonable to suggest that it can get well below the current price of beef within the next few decades.
When this happens, it is likely to kill the majority of the beef industry. Will this happen soon enough in terms of climate change? We will see, but I would suggest getting out of livestock rearing in the near future if you can, as the future does not look bright at all.
