Average and Total Numbers of Animals
Who Died to Feed Americans in 2009

Summary:

Material compiled and summarized by Noam Mohr.

In 2009, the average American meat eater was responsible for about 198 deaths: 1/7 of a cow, 2/5 of a pig, 1 turkey, 1½ chickens for eggs, 25

chickens for meat, 40 fish, and 130 shellfish. In all, 8.25 billion land animals and 51 billion sea animals died to feed Americans. Over a

lifetime, this amounts to 15,000 animals per meat eater, including 2,153 land animals, 3,100 fish, and 10,000 shellfish.

Compared to the previous year, the average American killed 1.3 fewer land animals and 2 fewer fish, but ate 5 more shellfish.

Looking over the past four years, the drop is more dramatic: 3 fewer land animals, 10 fewer fish, and 12 fewer shellfish than in 2006.

That's a drop of 10%, 19%, and 8% respectively, and translates to 600 million fewer land animals, 2.4 billion fewer fish, and 5 billion

fewer shellfish. Among land animals, this change was dominated by a decrease in chickens raised for meat, which make up 89% of the land

animal deaths.

While the study did not look into reasons for the decrease, another study released last month by Kansas State University found a

significant effect on demand for meat of media attention to farm animal welfare issues.

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Chickens

·      Total number died for food: 7.82 billion
(7.37 billion for meat, 452 million for eggs)  

·      Average number died per American meat-eater: 26.2
(24.7 for meat, 1.5 for eggs)

·      Average number died per American lifetime: 2,039
(1,993 for meat, 117 for eggs)

Turkeys

·      Total number died for food: 275 million

·      Average number died per American meat-eater: 0.92

·      Average number died per American lifetime: 72

Pigs

·      Total number died for food: 118.6 million

·      Average number died per American meat-eater: 0.40

·      Average number died per American lifetime: 31

Steers and Calves

·      Total number died for food: 39.7 million

·      Average number died per American meat-eater: 0.13

·      Average number died per American lifetime: 10.4

Rabbits

·      Total number died for food: 2.4 million

·      Average number died per American meat-eater: 0.009

·      Average number died per American lifetime: 0.69

Fish

·      Total number died for food: 12 billion

·      Average number died per American meat-eater: 40

·      Average number died per American lifetime: 3,100

Shellfish

·      Total number died for food: 39 billion

·      Average number died per American meat-eater: 130

·      Average number died per American lifetime: 10,000

ALL LAND ANIMALS

·      Total number died for food: 8.25 billion

·      Average number died per American meat-eater: 28

·      Average number died per American lifetime: 2,153

ALL SEA ANIMALS

·      Total number died for food: 51 billion

·      Average number died per American meat-eater: 170

·      Average number died per American lifetime: 13,000

ALL ANIMALS

·      Total number died for food: 59 billion

·      Average number died per American meat-eater: 198

·      Average number died per American lifetime: 15,000

* Note: Totals may not add up because of independent rounding.

Comparisons by Year

After a three year decline, the number of animals eaten by Americans rose slightly from 2008 to 2009, as a decrease in chickens and fish killed was accompanied by an increase in shellfish killed.

Land animals: The number of land animals eaten in the U.S. continued to decrease. The average meat-eater in 2009 killed 1.3 fewer land animals than in 2008 (a 4% drop), and almost 3 fewer than in 2006 (a 10% drop). That amounts to more than 300 million fewer land animals killed to feed Americans than in 2008, and more than 600 million fewer than in 2006. This was due almost entirely to a drop in chickens raised for meat, which make up 89% of land animal deaths. There was little change for other land animals.

Sea animals: The number of fish eaten in the U.S. also continued to decrease. The average meat-eater in 2009 killed 2 fewer fish than in 2008 (a 4% drop), and 10 fewer fish than in 2006 (a 14% drop). That’s 500 million fewer fish killed than in 2008, and 2.4 billion fewer than in 2006. However, shellfish consumption increased, with the average meat-eater consuming 5 more shellfish in 2009 than in 2008. This increase was dominated by Gulf shrimp, swimming crabs, oysters, mussels, and Pacific squid.

Total Number Died to Feed Americans (millions of animals)

	Chickens for Meat	Chickens for Eggs	Turkeys	Pigs	Steers & Calves	All Land Animals	Fish	Shellfish	All Sea Animals	All Animals
2009	7,365	451.9	275.0	118.6	39.7	8,253	12,000	39,000	51,000	59,000
2008	7,683	452.2	269.2	117.6	40.8	8,561	12,600	37,000	50,000	58,000
2007	8,024	437.3	274.2	118.4	43.5	8,898	13,000	38,000	51,000	60,000
2006	8,031	413.5	273.0	114.9	41.8	8,879	14,400	41,000	56,000	65,000

Average Number Died Per American Meat Eater

	Chickens for Meat	Chickens for Eggs	Turkeys	Pigs	Steers & Calves	All Land Animals	Fish	Shellfish	All Sea Animals	All Animals
2009	25	1.50	0.92	0.40	0.13	27.64	40	130	171	198
2008	26	1.51	0.91	0.40	0.14	28.94	42	125	168	197
2007	27	1.48	0.94	0.40	0.15	30.34	44	129	174	204
2006	28	1.41	0.94	0.40	0.14	30.57	50	142	192	222

Note Regarding Previous Estimates

Calculations for sea animals include a great deal of uncertainty. Unlike for land animals, marine catch is reported only by weight. The number of deaths must be calculated based on the average weight of individuals of each aquatic species, for which estimates vary considerably. The numbers calculated here for 2006 - 2009 use estimates that have been updated, and thus differ considerably from earlier estimates.

Finfish: There were two major changes. One was the inclusion of weight estimates listed in “Worse things happen at sea: the welfare of wild caught fish” by fishcount.org.uk, which attempts to calculate the number of fish killed worldwide. These and other updated weights resulted in an increase in the estimated number of fish killed of 33 to 40% compared with previous estimates. The other change was the inclusion of fishmeal imports and exports, as well as fishmeal and fish oil fed to those fish that were imported, resulting in an increase in the estimated number of fish killed of an additional 35 to 45%.

Shellfish: The biggest change was improved values for scallop weights, distinguishing sea scallops from smaller bay scallops.

Because of scallops are eaten in large numbers, this resulted in shellfish death estimates 43% lower than before.

Further info: number of animals killed for food