90 million European households have at least one pet. About 25% have a cat and 24% a dog. Worldwide 33% of people own a dog. In 2023, 66% of US households had a pet.
In 2023 the pet owners spent roughly 220 billion, about half was for food. The other half went for medical-veterinary care, medication, hygiene, beauty, products and services for clothing, entertainment, insurance, etc.
Updated data on this topic can be found at this link: https://worldanimalfoundation.org/advocate/pet-ownership-statistics/
These initial data serve to briefly introduce a piece of information that few people think about: the protected poultry farms (also called intensive farms) provide food for both mankind and domestic animals… As you can imagine, not all the food produced by the food chain is intended for our tables. The parts more suitable for animal feed are sent to companies that use them to package food for our pets. The ‘delicious’ meat and fish packaged in tins and crisps for our pets come from those transformation processes where nothing is wasted thanks to the commitment, attention, organisation and experience of those who manage these supply chains.
However, we cannot help but also stimulate due reflection by noting other data:
- On average, 1 million children under the age of 5 die each year worldwide due to malnutrition. Today, more than 13.5 million children under the age of 5 are in mortal danger due to acute and severe malnutrition. In 2020, 45.4 million children under 5 were severely malnourished, a number that is estimated to rise to 59 million by the end of 2022. (https://www.savethechildren.it/blog-notizie/fame-nel-mondo-la-situazione-oggi-e-i-cambiamenti-previsti-il-futuro )
- Approximately 6 per cent of the world’s population, or 2.4 billion people, did not have consistent access to food, indicating the prevalence of moderate to severe food insecurity. Among these, about 900 million people were exposed to severe food insecurity. https://www.unicef.it/media/rapporto-onu-la-fame-colpisce-122-milioni-di-persone-in-piu-rispetto-al-2019-a-causa-di-crisi-multiple/#:~:text=Stando%20to%20report%2C%20approximately%20moderate%20or%20severe%20food%20insecurity .
More on the same subject can also be found at these links:
https://moreaboutchicken.com/the-animals-we-eat-what-do-they-eat/
https://moreaboutchicken.com/what-we-decide-to-eat-is-a-personal-choice/
https://moreaboutchicken.com/plant-life-and-animal-life-everything-we-eat-used-to-be-alive/
The editorial staff of M.A.C.
