Food vs. feed

The food vs. feed competition refers to the competition for resources, such as land, between growing crops for human consumption and growing crops for animals.[1][2]

The term food vs. feed competition is often used in the livestock industry to compare crop inputs (including space required) vs. protein outputs. For example, crops for people to eat require less land and other resources than crops for animals to eat so people can eat them.[3]

In a circular agriculture system, wasted food (no longer edible by humans) can be provided to livestock, which in turn feed humans. In this setup, no land suitable for agriculture is specifically used to grow fodder for animals.[4]

See also

• Environmental impact of meat production
• Agricultural productivity
• Environmental vegetarianism
• Precision fermentation
• Economics of veganism
• Feed conversion ratio
• Fish meal
• Food security
• Food vs. fuel
• Meat analogue

References

1. Feeding proteins to livestock: Global land use and food vs.feed competition
2. The availability of feeds for livestock: Competition with humanconsumption in present world
3. More Fuel for the Food/Feed Debate
4. The role of farm animals in a circular food system by Hannah Van Zanten