Inflation is at 40% and a kilogram of beef now costs around 9 US dollars, beyond the means of most.
To produce a kilogram of beef farmers need 8kg of feed; for pork about 6kg; for chicken 2kg.
It takes an estimated 100,000 litres of precious water to produce a kilogram of beef, compared with 500 litres for a kilogram of potatoes.
Comparing meat to meat, one kilogram of beef (2.2 pounds) is responsible for the release of nearly four times the emissions associated with one kilogram of chicken.
It takes 15,415 liters of water to produce a kilogram of beef, according to the Water Footprint Network, a Netherlands nonprofit that consults on water management and policy.
As much as 32% of greenhouse gas emissions come from rearing animals for food, particularly cattle, while it takes 15,500 litres of water (equivalent to a small swimming pool) to produce a single kilogram of beef.
The study also noted that preventing the waste of meat was vital, as the disposal of a single kilogram of beef was equal to the waste of 24 kilograms of wheat, in terms of the effort – water, fertiliser, greenhouse gases, cropland needed – that had gone into its production.
It has been calculated that while India uses 286 kilocalories of energy to produce one kilogram of rice protein, affluent nations use 2,800 kilocalories to produce a kilogram of wheat protein and 65,000 kilocalories to produce one kilogram of beef protein.
While eight kilograms of feed are required to produce a kilogram of beef, it takes only two kilograms to get the same amount of edible insect.
Although estimates vary, every kilogram of beef requires 6kg of grain to produce, whereas pork needs 4kg and poultry about 2kg.
