The animal welfare organisation FOUR PAWS says the World has officially reached “Meat Exhaustion Day” today, 24 June 2026, a phrase they coined to describe the day when global meat consumption exceeds the recommended annual intake under the Planetary Health Diet.

This means that halfway through the year, consumption of meat is now more than double the recommended levels. And FOUR PAWS says this happens yearly, with high-income countries using up their yearly recommendation within a few months.

The Planetary Health Diet, developed by the EAT-Lancet Commission, recommends a threshold of meat intake of 16.4 kilograms per person per year, yet global consumption averages at 34.5 kilograms – more than double.

In Global North regions such as North America, Europe, and Australia, intake exceeds this by 70–80%, with countries like the United States and Australia reaching their Meat Exhaustion Day as early as mid-March.

South Africa reached its threshold sometime in May 2026.

An expert on Animals Farmed in Inappropriate Conditions at FOUR PAWS, Asma Al Hajal, says humanity is consuming far beyond what animals and the planet can sustain.

“Meat Exhaustion Day makes that imbalance impossible to ignore. Behind every bite is a system that impacts billions of animals, drives the climate crisis, and pushes ecosystems to the brink. The current global food system is broken, and as consumers, it is important to make informed decisions when choosing what to eat, knowing where our food is sourced and what its impacts are.”

To this end, FOUR PAWS has developed a meat consumption calculator, which encourages people to make small dietary changes that can collectively lead to a big difference.

Users can enter the amounts of different types of meat they eat. The calculator then visually shows how their diet impacts farmed animals and how it compares to the EAT-Lancet recommendation.

It then suggests tailored adjustments to help users stay within the recommended limit of 16.4 kilograms of meat per year.

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