People Eat Six Times More Chicken Than In 1961, According To The UN

The average person eats six times more chicken than they did in 1961, according to a new UN report.

The report also found that people eat roughly twice as much pork as their grandparents’ generation did.

Read more: Plant-Based Biorefineries Could Supply The World’s Protein In Less Than Two Years

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) published the report, “Drivers of supply and demand of terrestrial animal source food,” earlier this year. According to the FAO, the average global meat supply has risen by 300 percent over the last 60 years, from 25kg per person to 47kg per person. Per capita consumption of animal products is also expected to keep rising in the coming years, and those in wealthy nations continue to consume the most.

As reported by the Guardian, previous FAO reports have been criticized for the “bewildering” absence of meat reduction from discussions of emissions.

In 2024, scientists called for a report to be retracted after they accused the FAO of distorting their work and making “multiple, egregious” errors. The FAO then received further criticism for its lack of engagement with the scientific community over those errors, leading one expert to compare the attempted dialogue to “hitting a brick wall.”

While the new FAO report mentions the negative impact of animal foods, it does not go as far as to encourage meat reduction for those whom consume the most. Cleo Verkuijl, a senior scientist at the Stockholm Environment Institute, told the Guardian, “This report documents the problem clearly but stops well short of that conclusion.”

Reducing meat and increasing plant foods

In its seventh carbon budget, the Climate Change Committee recommended at least a 20 percent reduction in meat and dairy consumption over the next 10 years, and at least a 40 percent reduction in red meat consumption by 2050. The committee also recommended replacing animal foods with sustainable plant-based options.

The updated Planetary Health Diet, which is primarily plant-based, could prevent more than 40,000 early deaths per day and save USD $5 trillion per year through improved climate resilience, environmental restoration, and human health, more than 10 times the amount needed to drive far-reaching food system change.

Read more: Animal Agriculture Is Responsible For The UK’s 40C Heatwave

Food system collapse and extreme heat

The current food system, which is primarily built around meat and other animal products, is extremely unsustainable, and, according to many, on the brink of collapse. In April, a separate FAO report warned of the negative impact of extreme heat on animal agriculture. Animal agriculture, in particular, is now considered the single biggest contributor to rising global temperatures and the climate crisis.

The UK has notably just experienced its third heat wave of 2026, following a record-breaking June and the second-ever 40C day since records began. Extreme heat has also hit Europe, also for the third time this year, leading to raging wildfires in Portugal, Spain, France, and Greece. Meanwhile, more than 20 US states have reported temperatures above 100F (roughly 38C) in the last week, causing several deaths.

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