Poultry meat, which includes chickens, ducks, turkey, and geese, is the second most widely eaten meat in the world. It accounts for about 28% of meat production worldwide, and it is projected that by 2050, 2.3 times as much poultry meat will be consumed than in 2010. In order to keep up with increasing demand, farms must become more efficient and increase yield. As this push to meet demand spikes, it is crucial that farms follow practices that reduce waste and mitigate environmental harm.
Table 1. A diagram depicting the relationships between GHG emissions and key environmental indicators for poultry meat. Data from Poore and Nemecek (2018).
Acidification potential and GHG emissions seem to have a distinct, direct relationship regardless of system intensity. This is likely related to feed production for poultry, since the highest acidifying emissions and GHG emissions occurred during that stage. GHG emissions are also related to country of origin, with Vietnam and Finland having the highest at ~20 kg CO2 eq. There seem to be no other notable correlations between GHG emissions and the other environmental indicators, suggesting that there may not be any other covariances. However, trends among these indicators, without GHG emissions, were found. Land use and eutrophication potential show a slight positive relationship with each other, which is also likely related to the feed stage in production.