meat consumption

A vendor sells meat to a customer in a food market in Huaibei, Anhui, China, in February. Jie Zhao/Corbis via Getty Images hide caption

There may be growing chorus of veggie cheerleaders, but don't assume most Americans are choosing salad over hamburgers. iStockphoto hide caption

A farmer applies fertilizer to corn in Kasbeer, Ill. Scientists say one significant source of nitrogen pollution is fertilizer that leaches off of fields growing corn and soybeans to feed meat and dairy animals. Daniel Acker/Bloomberg via Getty Images hide caption

The bistro imagines the day when will be possible to culture "meat thread" made from long strands of muscle tissue. On a "special knitting machine," meat is thread into a steak. Submarine Channel/Next Nature Network/Bistro In Vitro hide caption

Somali refugees lead their herds of goats home for the night outside Dadaab, Kenya. A new study shows that animals in many parts of the developing world require more food — and generate more greenhouse emissions — than animals in wealthy countries. Rebecca Blackwell/AP hide caption

Chickens in a mechanized hatchery in Monroe County, Ala. Buyenlarge/Getty Images hide caption

You'll know you've gotten somewhere on the long and winding road to veganism when the greenery you see along the way starts to look seductively delicious. iStockphoto.com hide caption

PETA members hold placards on the street in Johannesburg. Themba Hadebe/AP hide caption

Luiz Antonio. YouTube hide caption

Sarah Hallacher swirled in white clay with red to mimic the fat marbling, just like you see in prime cuts of meat. Courtesy of Sarah Hallacher hide caption

Michael Sharry visits with Bill, front, and Lou (now deceased) on Nov. 8, 2012, at Green Mountain College in Poultney, Vermont. Toby Talbot/AP hide caption