E. Data and calculations

Chapter Six focuses on quantifying meat consumption in New York City and the United States and the circulation of imported and domestic meat in the US. Additionally, the chapter maps meat distribution in New York City and analyzes the socioeconomic factors correlated with meat consumption. Specifically, four questions are assessed: (1) How do we calculate how much beef, pigmeat, and chicken is consumed in total in NYC and in the US?, (2) How do we calculate how many cows, pigs, and chickens are equal to the pounds of meat consumed per capita and in total in NYC and the US?, (3) How much of the meat in circulation in the US is imported and where is it imported from?, and (4) How do we map and analyze areas of high and low meat concentration in New York City? Calculations were adapted and developed to analyze and understand raw data obtained primarily from the United States Department of Agriculture, the United States Census Bureau, and the United States Department of Commerce (2004-2009).

It was found that approximately 533 million pounds of chicken, 550 million pounds of beef, and 10 million pounds of pork are consumed annually in NYC. Pounds of meat consumed can be converted to number of live animals by using carcass weight, carcass cutting yield, and other variables specific to each animal. Approximately 1/5th of a cow, 2/5th of a pig, and 16 chickens are consumed per capita in NYC and the US. The majority of the meat that is consumed in the United States is produced domestically and only 3.8% is imported. The percentage of imported meat comes from a multiplicity of sources. The largest source of imported meat is from Canada. Other sources include Australia and New Zealand, which account for 46.9 percent of foreign beef circulating in the United States, and Denmark, which accounts for 84.5 million pounds of imported pork in 2008. In general, imported meat has been in constant decline as a share of the total meat circulating in the United States for the past five years. In 2004, imported meat accounted 5.79 percent of the total while in 2008, it accounted for only 3.79 percent. On the citywide scale, levels of meat consumption in New York City correspond directly to income levels. Low levels of meat consumption are concentrated in low-income areas, especially in the Bronx and Brooklyn, while high levels of meat consumption are concentrated in medium and high-income areas such as midtown Manhattan, Staten Island, and most of Queens.

The basic data and calculations obtained in this chapter serve as a crucial foundation to this book and will be used to correlate variables of animal production and meat consumption, importation and distribution in cities with various topics to be discussed including air and atmosphere quality, energy costs, land use, international trade, socioeconomic factors, and numerous health issues.