Feed Vs. Food: Do Livestock Compete with Humans for Food Resources?

The current demand of our growing population is a topic that is a major concern to our survival and the effects it has on the environment. The world population is estimated at seven billion people today. That is a lot of people to feed! According to the question of whether or not livestock is a threat to our food supplies there are many topics that can be controversial. There are also many different factors that we need to take into consideration when discussing livestock competition with humans for food resources. The following is chart showing the estimated growth of our world population by 2050.

To explore the topic of competition between livestock and human consumption of food we need to understand the differences between the nutritional needs of humans and livestock. Humans are omnivores that can adjust to diets that have both plant and meat to survive. Today there are many people that are healthy and are able to thrive on a vegetarian based diet. Is it realistic to believe that the world population will ultimately become vegetarians? The obvious answer is no. It would be impossible to change the way our current populations dietary preferences are. So we need to consider our options and find out if our current demands for food are in direct competition with livestock. The nutritional requirements of humans can be obtained through a diet of meat and plant based material. Humans prefer the diet of nutrient rich food and low fiber materials.

Livestock digestive systems are both ruminants and monogastric. The ruminants do not compete with humans for food. Cheeke writes, "Ruminants are animals that have a complex compartmentalized stomach, characterized by one large compartment, in the rumen, in which microbial fermentation of ingested feed occurs". Ruminants are able to digest and utilize plant materials better than humans. Vast acreages throughout the world, including arid and semiarid lands, are simply unsuitable for grain production. However, these lands can be successfully used to produce forages. (http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=10299&page=53). These lands are well suited for the ruminants and their nutritional requirements.

An industrial farming method has provided the inexpensive and plentiful food for the world population. Industrial farming is what the current population depend on to provide enough food. Agriculture is in high demand with the growing population industrial farming practices have been one of the ways to meet this demand of food and supply. According to Robert R. Farrel, author of "Factory Farms-Are they good for the consumer? Because factory farms are so large, they achieve "economies of scale", producing much more food at cheaper prices than smaller farms". The current world population is close to seven billion people. With this many people there is a high demand in food production that industrial farming methods have been able to meet. Smaller farms are not able to produce the mass amounts of food that an industrial farm is able to supply. Using smaller amounts of