scholarly journals Impacts of feeding less food-competing feedstuffs to livestock on global food system sustainability

2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (113) ◽  
pp. 20150891 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Schader ◽  
Adrian Muller ◽  
Nadia El-Hage Scialabba ◽  
Judith Hecht ◽  
Anne Isensee ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Food System ◽  
Arable Land ◽  
Livestock Production ◽  
Human Consumption ◽  
Reference Scenario ◽  
Animal Products ◽  
Human Food ◽  
By Products

Increasing efficiency in livestock production and reducing the share of animal products in human consumption are two strategies to curb the adverse environmental impacts of the livestock sector. Here, we explore the room for sustainable livestock production by modelling the impacts and constraints of a third strategy in which livestock feed components that compete with direct human food crop production are reduced. Thus, in the outmost scenario, animals are fed only from grassland and by-products from food production. We show that this strategy could provide sufficient food (equal amounts of human-digestible energy and a similar protein/calorie ratio as in the reference scenario for 2050) and reduce environmental impacts compared with the reference scenario (in the most extreme case of zero human-edible concentrate feed: greenhouse gas emissions −18%; arable land occupation −26%, N-surplus −46%; P-surplus −40%; non-renewable energy use −36%, pesticide use intensity −22%, freshwater use −21%, soil erosion potential −12%). These results occur despite the fact that environmental efficiency of livestock production is reduced compared with the reference scenario, which is the consequence of the grassland-based feed for ruminants and the less optimal feeding rations based on by-products for non-ruminants. This apparent contradiction results from considerable reductions of animal products in human diets (protein intake per capita from livestock products reduced by 71%). We show that such a strategy focusing on feed components which do not compete with direct human food consumption offers a viable complement to strategies focusing on increased efficiency in production or reduced shares of animal products in consumption.

A computer model of cadmium metabolism in the sheep with regard to the human food chain

1999 ◽  
Vol 1999 ◽  
pp. 15-15
Author(s):  
S.H. Prankel
Keyword(s):  
Sewage Sludge ◽  
Food Chain ◽  
Animal Feed ◽  
Animal Origin ◽  
Kidney Cortex ◽  
Human Consumption ◽  
Toxic Heavy Metal ◽  
Animal Products ◽  
Human Food ◽  
Human Food Chain

Cadmium (Cd) is a non-essential toxic heavy metal which is added to soil in phosphorous fertilizers and sewage sludge. Cd enters the human food chain via animals fed on crops from these soils, food of vegetable origin and smoking. In chronic exposure situations Cd accumulates in the liver and kidney of animals and man. Intake resulting in a Cd concentration of over 200μg/g wet weight in the kidney cortex results in kidney damage in humans (Friberg et al., 1974). With the prohibition of disposal of sewage sludge at sea in 1998, it is likely that more Cd will be deposited on soils. Current limits for Cd in animal feed are intended to prevent food from animal origin from exceeding legal Cd limits. This work examines the behaviour of Cd in the ovine body and models organ Cd from given intakes to investigate whether current limits in feed are safe and result in animal products fit for human consumption.

Production of mealworms for human consumption in Finland: a preliminary life cycle assessment

2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 211-216 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Joensuu ◽  
F. Silvenius
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Food Industry ◽  
Animal Feed ◽  
Energy Sources ◽  
Human Consumption ◽  
Emission Energy ◽  
Low Emission ◽  
By Products

Interest in insect production for human consumption is growing in many European countries, including Finland. One of the main justifications for insect-based food products is their lower environmental burden compared to traditional livestock products; another is the need for new protein sources for animal feed and human consumption. In this study, we investigated the global warming potential (GWP) of the potential future industrial scale mealworm production in Finland, using existing data on input needs of mealworm production in the Netherlands and previous life cycle assessment studies of Finnish feedstocks and energy sources. We compared three scenarios, of which one was based on feeding with a commercial feeding mixture, the second on feeding with food industry by-products and the third on the use of low-emission energy sources in combination with feeding with food industry by-products. In all three scenarios, feed crop production and direct heating energy were responsible for at least 95% of the total GWP. Especially the use of low-emission energy sources appears to have potential in reducing the greenhouse gas emissions of insect production.

scholarly journals Farmed animal production in tropical circular food systems

Food Security ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Oosting ◽  
Jan van der Lee ◽  
Marc Verdegem ◽  
Marion de Vries ◽  
Adriaan Vernooij ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Crop Residues ◽  
Food System ◽  
Livestock Production ◽  
Animal Production ◽  
Poor People ◽  
Nitrogen And Phosphorus ◽  
The Tropics

AbstractIn the discourse about the development of farmed animal production (terrestrial livestock production and aquaculture) in the tropics, two important food system outcomes emerge: (1) to supply animal-sourced food (ASF) at a level that suffices healthy future diets, including for poor people, and (2) to contribute to climate change mitigation and minimize pollution with nitrogen and phosphorus. Livestock production and aquaculture contribute to food security directly by increasing producers’ food diversity and availability, but also that of urban consumers, and indirectly through income generation and increased farm resilience. Recently, circularity has come to the fore as an integrated approach to food system development. Circularity has four cornerstones: (1) food crops have highest priority (which implies no food-feed competition), (2) avoid losses, (3) recycle waste and (4) use animals to unlock biomass that humans cannot eat. In this review, the role of farmed animals in circular food systems in the tropics is presented in four case studies and the impacts of circularity on food security and environmental impact mitigation are discussed. The cases are ruminants in grazing systems in West Africa and in Colombia, fish in pond aquaculture in general, and land-limited dairy production in Indonesia. Additionally, options for novel protein sources for use in livestock and fish feeding are presented. It is concluded that farmed animals are important in circular food systems because of their use of land unsuited for crop production, their upgrading of crop residues, and their supply of manure to crop production. Nevertheless, the increasing demand for ASF puts pressure on important characteristics of circularity, such as minimizing food-feed competition, maximization of use of waste streams in feed, and the value of manure for fertilization. Hence, in line with conclusions for Western countries, maximum circularity and sustainability of food systems can only be achieved by optimizing the population size of animals. Thus, a sustainable contribution of ASF production to global food security is complex and in not only a technical matter or outcome of an economic process balancing supply and demand. It requires governance for which public, private, and social actors need to partner.

Rumen physiology: the key to understanding the conversion of plants into animal products

1996 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 163 ◽  
Author(s):  
GJ Faichney
Keyword(s):  
Arable Land ◽  
Animal Products ◽  
New Methods ◽  
Nutrition Research ◽  
Market Requirements ◽  
Increase Product Quality ◽  
Human Use ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Modern Era ◽  
By Products

Ruminants have always provided meat, hides and fibre for human use, and since the development of agriculture with its associated domestication of herding ruminants, they have also provided milk and draught power. Sound interpretation of the observations of animal behaviour and performance made by the early hunters and stockmen was not possible until knowledge of physiology began to accumulate in the 18th and 19th centuries. The development of new methods about 50 years ago led to the modern era of ruminant physiology, a flowering of research which has continued to the present day. Rumen physiology is intrinsically interesting but it also has utility because it is fundamental to the understanding of ruminant nutrition. Research must continue, particularly in the areas of microbial ecology and particle kinetics, if the ruminant industries are to respond adequately to the need to produce more food for humans from non-arable land and by-products, to increase product quality, to tailor products to market requirements and, in doing so, reduce their environmental impact

scholarly journals Comparing international approaches to food safety regulation of GM and Novel Foods

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keyword(s):  
Crop Production ◽  
Genetically Modified Organisms ◽  
Genetically Modified ◽  
Arable Land ◽  
Significant Degree ◽  
Human Consumption ◽  
Gm Crop ◽  
Novel Foods ◽  
Regulatory Frameworks ◽  
The Eu

The global area of genetically modified (GM) crop production has considerably increased over the past two decades, with GM crops now cultivated in about 28 countries, accounting for over 10% of the world’s arable land. A 'novel food' is any food or substance that has not been used for human consumption to a significant degree within the EU before 15 May 1997. Since then, there has been over 90 novel foods authorisations approved for use by the EU. Novel foods and genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are subject to a large variation in regulatory approaches around the world, for which many countries have specifically developed their own regulatory frameworks to control the placement of such products on their markets.

scholarly journals Untapped power of food system by-products to increase global food supply

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vilma Sandström ◽  
Anna Chrysafi ◽  
Marjukka Lamminen ◽  
Max Troell ◽  
Mika Jalava ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Food Supply ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Crop Residues ◽  
Food System ◽  
Free Food ◽  
Human Consumption ◽  
By Products ◽  
Global Food ◽  
Aquaculture Production ◽  
Global Food Supply

Abstract Many animal feeds compete for resources with human food production. The current use of food system by-products and residues as feed could potentially be increased to reduce the competition. We gathered a harmonised global food system material flow database for crop, livestock and aquaculture production including the availability of food system by-products. This allowed us to analyse the potential to replace the food-competing feedstuff, here cereals, whole fish, vegetable oils and pulses, that currently account for 11% of total feed used globally, with available food system by-products. While considering the nutritional requirements in animal production, we found that the replacement could free food-grade feeds for human consumption and increase the current food supply in kcal by 11-17% (6-11% if the use of crop residues is not accounted for) and in terms of protein 11-15% (9-14%). Our results thus indicate that the increased feed use of by-products has considerable potential, particularly when used in combination with other measures, in the much needed transition towards more sustainable and circular food systems.

scholarly journals Obscuring the Veil

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 126-153
Author(s):  
Ellyse Winter
Keyword(s):  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Food System ◽  
The United States ◽  
Public Pedagogy ◽  
Industrial Complex ◽  
Commodity Fetishism ◽  
Animal Products ◽  
The Veil ◽  
Environmental Relations ◽  
By Products

Working with Karl Marx’s concept of commodity fetishism, the purpose of this paper is to argue that food advertisements and packaging work to further obfuscate the social, economic, and environmental relations behind the animal products and by-products consumed in Canada and the United States. The paper discusses the socio-ecological implications of the animal-industrial complex and employs a critical discourse analysis to examine how advertisements for animal products and by-products function as sites of public pedagogy to obscure these adverse effects. Finally, this paper outlines a vision of critical food pedagogies that both ‘removes the veil’ (Hudson & Hudson, 2003) and addresses the underlying generative framework that drives our relationship with an industrial food system

scholarly journals Circularity in animal production requires a change in the EAT-Lancet diet in Europe

Nature Food ◽  
2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin van Selm ◽  
Anita Frehner ◽  
Imke J. M. de Boer ◽  
Ollie van Hal ◽  
Renske Hijbeek ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Food Systems ◽  
Food System ◽  
Arable Land ◽  
Careful Consideration ◽  
Dietary Guidelines ◽  
Poultry Meat ◽  
Allocation Model ◽  
Animal Products ◽  
Animal Source Foods ◽  
Animal Source

AbstractIt is not known whether dietary guidelines proposing a limited intake of animal protein are compatible with the adoption of circular food systems. Using a resource-allocation model, we compared the effects of circularity on the supply of animal-source nutrients in Europe with the nutritional requirements of the EAT-Lancet reference diet. We found the two to be compatible in terms of total animal-source proteins but not specific animal-source foods; in particular, the EAT-Lancet guidelines recommend larger quantities of poultry meat over beef and pork, while a circular food system produces mainly milk, dairy-beef and pork. Compared with the EAT-Lancet reference diet, greenhouse gas emissions were reduced by up to 31% and arable land use reduced by up to 42%. Careful consideration of the feasible substitutability between animal-source foods is needed to define potential roles of animal products in circular human diets.

scholarly journals 142 Human edible feed conversions of U.S. beef production

2019 ◽  
Vol 97 (Supplement_3) ◽  
pp. 146-146
Author(s):  
Emily M Andreini ◽  
Sara E Place ◽  
James W Oltjen
Keyword(s):  
Human Consumption ◽  
Beef Production ◽  
Feed Conversion ◽  
Animal Products ◽  
High Quality Protein ◽  
Edible Crops ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Valuable Role ◽  
By Products ◽  
Net Protein

Abstract Multiple factors need to be considered in assessing the sustainability of ruminant livestock production, such as the valuable role ruminants serve in the conversion of feeds grown on non-arable lands and by-products into products suitable for human consumption. The use of intensive systems, where ruminants are fed large quantities of potentially human edible crops, such as cereal grains, poses a debate about the competition between livestock and humans for grains that could be consumed directly by humans. The inclusion of animal products in human diets provides an important source of energy and protein, which often have higher digestibility and superior amino acid compositions. This analysis was conducted for seven U.S. regions in order to determine the human edible feed conversion efficiency (heFCE) of energy and protein and the net protein contribution (NPC) of U.S. beef production using data collected by the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. Efficiency and NPC values above 1 indicate that beef production is contributing more to meeting human protein or energy requirements than the cattle are consuming, and values below 1 indicate beef is competing for those nutrients. The Southwest and Southeast regions returned heFCE values for energy above 1, while the average of all regions was 0.88 ± 0.27 SD. All regions had heFCE values for protein above 1 with an average of 1.73 ± 0.54 SD. The NPC of all US regions were greater than 3; averaging 4.55 ± 1.41 SD, which illustrates beef’s contribution of high quality protein to human diets. Incorporating a detailed evaluation of different production system efficiencies in converting potentially human edible feeds into human edible animal products of higher quality broadens the discussion for beef’s place in the diet.

The compatibility of animal-sourced food and circularity in healthy European diets

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin van Selm ◽  
Anita Frehner ◽  
Imke de Boer ◽  
Ollie van Hal ◽  
Renske Hijbeek ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Human Health ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Food System ◽  
Arable Land ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Careful Consideration ◽  
Dietary Guidelines ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Animal Products ◽  
Circular System

Abstract Several dietary guidelines are developed that propose limiting the intake of animal protein to stay within planetary boundaries and improve human health. Simultaneously, circular food systems are receiving significant attention in the European Union as an option to improve the current food system. In a circular system, animals are solely fed with low-opportunity-cost-biomass (LCB), resulting in substantially fewer animals and reduced supply of animal-sourced nutrients to humans. We assessed whether this circularity principle within the EU-28 is compatible with the recommended animal-source food consumption in healthy and environmentally friendly dietary guidelines such as the EAT-LANCET dietary guidelines. Our results show that the overall quantity of animal-sourced protein in EAT-LANCET dietary guidelines can be met, but that the precise levels of inclusion of different animal-sourced foods in such a diet cannot be achieved. The EAT-LANCET guidelines recommend larger quantities of chicken meat over beef and pork while a circular food system produces mainly milk, dairy-beef, and pork. All three circularity diets outperform the EAT-LANCET diet in nutritional value while reducing GHG emissions (up-to 31%) and arable land use (up-to 42%). Careful consideration of the permissible substitutability between animal-sourced foods is urgently needed to define the role of animal products in circular human diets. In this way the consumption of animal products - based on the circularity principle of only feeding animals with LCB - benefits both human health and the environment.

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