70 per cent of grain in US goes to meat

70 per cent of grain in US goes to meat industry written by George Jacobs President, Vegetarian Society (Singapore)
United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki Moon has called for urgent action to feed the world. Yet, we continued to inefficiently use plant food to feed animals we later eat. For example, the article 'Japan's farmers switch to planting rice for animals'(May 31), describes how Japan now uses rice, Asia's main staple, to feed chickens and other animals. Yet, for every kilo of food that cows, chickens, pigs and so on are fed, only a fraction of calories are returned in the form of edible flesh. The rest of those calories burn away in the daily life processes of our fellow animals or contribute to the feathers, blood and other parts of these ill-treated beings that are not eaten by humans.
As an example of the huge amounts of food consumed by the meat industry, the AudubonSociety estimates that about 70 per cent of grain grows in the United States goes to the meat industry, not to feed people. In poor countries, food that could go to feed starving people goes to meat production. Global meat consumption has increased fivefold in the part 50 years, and this trend shows little sign of abating. Thus, the inefficiency of meat threatens to further distort world food markets.