1 week Ago By [email protected] (Amrita Ray)
What's your jam when it comes to meat? Would it be a crunchy, crumbly batch of chicken wings , some juicy, tender pork chops, or a big, cheesy hamburger? Or would your niche palate instead opt for a sumptuous roast lamb? While we'd all love a bite of these delectable dishes, guess which meat is the ultimate crowd-pleaser. Given the global shift toward lean meats and the massive scale of chicken production, poultry might seem like the front-runner. That remains true in the United States, where broiler chicken remains the top dog.
But globally? Not quite. If you guessed beef, which ranks second in the U.S.
, thanks in part to its role in the iconic hamburger, it actually comes third in the global lineup. Pork, it turns out, is the most consumed in the meat world. According to the U.
S. Department of Agriculture , pork accounts for the largest share of global meat consumption, enjoyed by more than 36% of the population, while poultry follows at 33%. Beef takes a slow walk in the meat race at 24%, and lamb comes last at 5%.
As for pork , the primary taker is China. The country's love for pork is reflected in its consumption of nearly half of the world's pork. While its large population plays a part, the popularity of pork in traditional Cantonese cuisine — from sweet and sour pork to steamed spare ribs with pickled plum and soybean paste — helps explain why it's so beloved.
Why pork is a favorite across cultures Pork isn't a regular feature exclusively in Cantonese cuisine; countries with starkly different food cultures, like Poland and Spain, have also come to love the meat, perhaps due to its variety of textures. Be it the Spanish carnitas made from well-marbled pork butt or shoulder or the unique Polish hot dog (kielbasa or sausage ), which is made primarily with pork (and, at times, a blend of pork and beef), the meat holds its place. In America, many people enjoy it in the form of smoky and crisp bacon.
The meat isn't as common in Muslim-majority nations due to cultural and religious taboos, but it is clearly a babe in the cities of other regions — and the reasons are many. The relative cheapness of pork compared to beef is one factor. Pigs are also easy to rear and can be fed almost anything, including kitchen scraps, which isn't the case with other livestock.
Not only does it take less time to raise pigs compared to cattle, but they also produce large litters. Pork can also be a good source of lean meat, depending on the cut, like pork tenderloin, and it's high in protein. There could be a plethora of factors behind pork's vast fan base, but what's even more fun to observe is how one meat seamlessly fits into so many cuisines across the globe — and does so deliciously.
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