China has surpassed the U.S. on a metric once thought “impossible to achieve:” the daily consumption of protein.
Chinese media outlet, South China Morning Post, gleefully broke the news. Although China overtook the U.S. on protein consumption in 2021, the United Nations data just came out this summer. Clearly, we have a lot of catching up to do.
According to the data, the Chinese get 124.61 grams of protein per capita, while the U.S. falls just shy — less than 1 gram difference. However, for a country with a much larger population that’s far poorer per capita — and that eats far less meat — this is no small feat.
US President Joe Biden greets Chinese President Xi Jinping before a meeting during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders’ week in Woodside, California on November 15, 2023. Biden and Xi will try to prevent the superpowers’ rivalry spilling into conflict when they meet for the first time in a year at a high-stakes summit in San Francisco on Wednesday. With tensions soaring over issues including Taiwan, sanctions and trade, the leaders of the world’s largest economies are expected to hold at least three hours of talks at the Filoli country estate on the city’s outskirts. (Photo by Brendan Smialowski / AFP) (Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)
Sure, protein intake is an important metric for judging “modern quality of life;” China’s food supply is advanced enough to provide the energy for over a billion to grow big and strong. That’s a problem if our latent tensions ever turn hot.
And of course, there’s the whole climate angle: “the Chinese people are also showing that it is possible to increase protein consumption without eating as much meat as the Americans, which also benefits the planet.” China’s COVID lockdowns were embraced by liberals across the Western world. Now, those same people will use their protein consumption as a justification for why you must eat the bugs.
TOPSHOT – This photo taken on January 4, 2021 shows Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers assembling during military training at Pamir Mountains in Kashgar, northwestern China’s Xinjiang region. (Photo by STR/AFP via Getty Images)
But really, this is a problem that goes beyond anything material. It’s a spiritual question — a matter of national honor.
Are we really going to let a country that survived for thousands of years on estrogenic soy surpass us, America, the plains of the buffalo, home of big Texas BBQ, the land of plenty? No, our pride cannot permit it.
Looks like meat’s back on the menu, boys.
