Some aquaculture operations also create new problems through water contamination and habitat destruction. Meat production, such as beef, pork, mutton, and poultry has grown dramatically, expanding more than four fold since 1950. This is due to higher demand, as more people around the world have adopted a more protein-rich diet, and to more intensive production techniques. But world grain production is declining relative to population, and overgrazing has already damaged large tracts of land. This explains why production increases have slowed this decade, and why some observers predict that increased meat production will not be sustainable.
Meat is also likely to become more expensive and therefore less available to poor people.
According to studies by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, the world will need to increase food production by more than 75 percent by 2025 to feed our additional population. In 50 years, the population in the United States could increase 50 percent to more than 390 million with farmers and ranchers having to make do with 13 percent fewer acres of high quality farmland. In the worst case scenario, within the next 60 years, the United States could become a net food importer instead of a net food exporter. Regardless of whether this is true, the loss of open space, wildlife habitat, groundwater recharge areas and other benefits attributable to farmland are reason enough for our country to develop its land in a more efficient manner, directing development onto land less suitable for growing food and fiber. The United States is squandering its best quality and often irreplaceable farmland.