Economics of Vegetarianism

Over the past several years I have gone through different iterations of what could sometimes be called vegetarianism. My avoidance of eating meat began once I had learned only two basic facts: 1) that the industrialized meat industry is a major source of environmental degradation, and 2) that the industrialized meat industry consumes far more calories than it puts out. There are complicating factors, most of which are well-known: the industrialized meat industry does not treat animals well; eating meat is, by its nature, possible only after a certain amount of violence; eating meat in the quantities typical of the average American diet can contribute to colon cancer and heart disease, amongst other health problems; and the list continues. Michael Pollan has written a lot recently to teach us about food, and Mark Bittman wrote a very good article in January that summarizes the case against industrialized meat production; refer to them for more thorough information.

In my own experiments as a vegetarian, I have often thought about the concept in terms of straightforward supply-and-demand economics. Vegetarianism is a no-vote against the industrialized meat industry because it seeks to eliminate the demand for meat.
But vegetarianism also has its problems. I am thinking particularly about the way in which the vegetarian food industry substitutes animal proteins with manufactured high-protein-content faux “meats”. There is also the issue of iron deficiency, particularly in women, and the resulting anemia.

So what would happen if we only ate a little bit of meat once in a while, rather than a large portion of meat two times per day? What if we ate two ounces of meat 100 times per year rather than eight ounces of meat 700 times per year? These are just hypothetical numbers, but they create a good example: the difference is a drop in per capita meat consumption from 5600 ounces per year to 200 ounces per year, a decrease of over 96%.

If your concerns as a vegetarian focus largely on the industrialization of meat production, you should be able to eat a little bit of meat once in a while. Industrial production depends on economies of scale, and no industry can withstand such an evisceration of demand. A small demand throughout the country, however, would encourage localized, small-scale meat production; and the consumer would have more control over food.