Hidden Costs: What Meat Really Costs
Animal exploitation causes disease for the planet and people.
A new Italian study sheds light on the 36.6-billion-euro bill in terms of environmental and health damage to consumers.
A new report on the hidden costs of meat consumption in Italy reveals the environmental and health impacts borne by society. When hidden costs are factored in, one kilogram of beef would cost an average of 19 euros more.
First independent study on the true costs
The environmental and health costs of producing and consuming meat are not included in the purchase price. Citizens pay the price for these hidden costs, which have now been scientifically quantified for the first time.
LAV commissioned the first independent scientific study on the environmental and health costs of meat consumption in Italy, focusing on the country's most consumed meats: poultry, beef, and pork. The emissions generated at all stages – rearing, slaughter, processing, packaging, distribution, consumption, and waste treatment – were converted into economic costs for society using a life cycle assessment (LCA) approach.
Over 18 million tonnes of CO2 from beef
The environmental costs are determined by assigning a monetary value to the impacts assessed through the life cycle analysis across 11 environmental categories. Within a single year, emissions associated with the beef lifecycle alone amount to over 18 million CO2 equivalents, with hidden annual costs exceeding 1 billion euros. This corresponds to the volume of greenhouse gases emitted by the largest and most environmentally harmful coal-fired power plants in Europe.
In addition to greenhouse gas emissions, there are also emissions from particles and acidifying gases in stables, as well as emissions of nitrates and pesticides into the soil. Together, they cause the indirect costs of damage to ecosystems, for example agricultural losses due to acidic soils and a lack of pollinators due to pesticides.
350,000 life years lost per year
The health costs are estimated in DALYs (Disability-Adjusted Life Years) and are based on average daily consumption in Italy. In Italy, approximately 350,000 life years are lost each year due to meat consumption. The risks cover colorectal cancer, type 2 diabetes, and stroke, and this is likely a conservative estimate, as damage from other diseases associated with meat consumption — such as antibiotic resistance or cardiovascular disease — was excluded.
In Italy, the hidden environmental and health costs amount to 36.6 billion euros per year, with the average costs split almost equally between environmental costs (48%) and health costs (52%).
At a historic moment when, following the COVID-19 pandemic, attention has increased regarding the devastating potential of animal feed production, and numerous international bodies are warning that an urgent reduction in meat consumption is needed, the findings of this study must serve as an inescapable reality for policymakers — including with regard to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda and the Paris Climate Agreement.
Roberto Bennati, General Manager, LAV
Legumes: 23 times cheaper than beef
The report highlights the unsustainability of meat consumption in Italy, and the same situation could easily be reflected in other member states. However, there are alternatives: 1 kg of chicken or pork generates eight times more costs for society than the same amount of legumes; 1 kg of beef generates 23 times more.
Eurogroup for Animals and LAV believe it is time to expose the hidden costs of meat and to take measures to support the intake of plant-based proteins as an alternative to animal proteins. To move in this direction, it is important that the numerous subsidies benefiting livestock farming supporting animals at various stages of the production cycle, be eliminated as quickly as possible.
The results of this study are alarming, and we must also take into account the suffering of animals caused by the meat industry. In line with the Farm-to-Fork Strategy, the EU has the ultimate opportunity to move away from harmful and environmentally damaging intensive animal farming systems and transition to a food policy that encompasses truly humane and sustainable protein production.
Reineke Hameleers, CEO of Eurogroup for Animals
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