COLUMBIA, Mo. – There is a common misconception that meat demand is declining. In fact, meat demand has risen, according to a new fact sheet prepared by Univ. of Missouri-Columbia (UMC) Agricultural Economist Ron Plain, PhD, which examines 2011 data related to US meat and poultry consumption and demand.

Data from recent years show that US per capita meat and poultry consumption has declined, but that doesn’t mean that consumer interest or demand has declined, according to Dr. Plain.

The backgrounder, which is available online, looks at the variety of factors affecting meat and poultry consumption and demand and concludes that meat demand is on the rise.

Plain explains, “Recent reporting about data on US meat and poultry consumption has created a false and overly simplistic impression that demand for meat is declining. This is simply not the case. This backgrounder aims to explain the difference between consumption and demand and will show that meat and poultry demand has actually risen.”