Meat and Nutrition

Essential amino acids, the majority of which come from consuming meat, are necessary for the growth and development of the human body. Usually, humans consume the meat from poultry, mid-sized animals like goats and pigs, and large-sized animals like cows, donkeys, camels, and so on. These are the main sources of meat for daily consumption and are commercially produced on farms. Wild, as opposed to commercially produced meat, may have value and benefits for human health; however, more research is needed in this area.

Preservation of meat is important and typically accomplished with refrigeration. However, refrigeration requires large amounts of energy. New advances in food storage along with traditional techniques may lead to the development of low-energy solutions that preserve the nutritional value and taste of meat. In other words, it is necessary to produce and preserve meat at low cost at both individual and commercial levels so that all people have access to affordable meat with high nutritional value (i.e., contains essential amino acids). There is a great disparity in meat access and consumption. Wealthy people have been accused of overconsuming meat, whereas less wealthy people may not even have access to meat.