The Energy Cost of Meat: How Much Does a Steak Really Cost ?

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Our global food system is swimming in a paradox: we have never eaten as much meat as we do today, and yet, from an energy perspective, it is cruelly inefficient at producing it. A finding that also applies to eggs and dairy products.

It is a team of Norwegian, Austrian and Swiss researchers who have just put their finger on this problem and quantified this imbalance precisely. Their study was published a month ago; on December 17 to be exact; in PNAS Nexus. A relatively new online scientific journal that entered the research landscape in 2022. It is the result of a collaboration between several prestigious institutions, including the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), Oxford University Press, the National Academy of Engineering, and the National Academy of Medicine.

The hidden side of our plate: excessive energy consumption

First point raised by the work carried out by Professor Edgar Hertwich's team at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU): the asymmetry in the production of our food system. Analysis of data collected between 2015 and 2019 reveals that animal products swallow up nearly 60% of the global agricultural energy footprint. This colossal proportion contrasts sharply with their nutritional contribution: these same foods only provide 18% of the calories consumed by humanity.

The cause is the transformation process, as explained by Professor Hertwich, which is at the heart of this paradox. We first grow edible plants to feed animals that will only give back a tiny fraction of them in the form of food calories. This conversion, mainly fueled by fossil fuels, necessarily poses the question of the long-term viability of this production model.

Alternatives are being explored today, but they are still in their embryonic stage: 3D printed meat (the Cocuus or Steakholder Foods companies) or the consumption of insects. However, the transition to these new protein sources will require a profound adaptation of our eating habits and production systems.

Global inequalities in dietary energy yield

To quantify this reality, the researchers relied on a methodology combining two complementary analysis models. The EXIOBASE model was used to assess the energy consumption of different economic sectors, while FABIO provided detailed data on production, trade and food consumption.

This approach, applied to 123 products grouped into 10 categories and 20 global regions, made it possible to calculate a ratio between energy invested/energy produced. The results are, at first glance, quite positive since they noted a clear improvement on a global scale. Between 1995 and 2019, this ratio increased from 0.68 to 0.91.

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This means that in 1995, to produce one unit of food energy in the form of meat, it was necessary to invest 1/0.68 = 1.47 units of energy. In other words, we were spending nearly 50% more energy than we were recovering. In 2019, it was necessary to invest 1/0.91 or 1.10 units of energy, so there is progress.

However, even if the figures are encouraging, they mask considerable geographical disparities. The least industrialized regions, notably West Africa with a remarkable coefficient of 2.70, demonstrate superior energy efficiency. These areas, which are home to 68% of the world's population, maintain more energy-efficient food systems than their counterparts in industrialized countries.

The perilous interconnection between food and energy geopolitics

This production system, as we have built it, eminently dependent on gas and oil, suffers from a worrying systemic vulnerability. Recent history provides clear illustrations of this: from the oil crisis of the 1970s to the repercussions of the Ukrainian conflict, geopolitical upheavals have caused simultaneous shock waves in the energy and food markets.

A close correlation, highlighted by Rasul and his colleagues, which fundamentally transforms the problem of food security into an issue of energy security. In developed countries, the apparent improvement in energy efficiency may hide a more complex phenomenon: a simple shift of production to more efficient regions, via food imports.

This phenomenon is often called ” pollution offshoring ” or ” carbon leakage ». Developed countries are importing an increasing share of their food products, particularly agricultural products that require large amounts of water and energy to produce (such as soy, beef or palm oil). These products are often grown in developing countries where production costs are lower, partly because of lower energy prices.

Producing these foods in countries with sometimes less stringent environmental standards ultimately allows for the externalization of the environmental costs associated with production (deforestation, water pollution, greenhouse gas emissions).

An issue that was once perceived as a purely agricultural issue is now closely linked to the energy issue. We cannot characterize our food production method as being resilient, it is even completely the opposite, it is extremely vulnerable and exposes us to multiple risks. Exogenous shocks (economic crises, conflicts, new pandemics, extreme climatic events), environmental changes (climate change, soil degradation, loss of biodiversity and pollution) and social vulnerabilities. Ua profound overhaul of it has never been so urgent.

• Global food production is energy intensive, especially for meat, which provides few calories in return.
• Less industrialized areas are more energy efficient, while developed countries outsource their environmental impacts.
• Our food system, dependent on fossil fuels, is vulnerable to geopolitical and climate crises, requiring urgent reform

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