"Worldwatch Institute says: 74 percent of the world's poultry, 43 percent of the world's beef, and 68 percent of the world's eggs are produced in factory farms. In the U.S., four companies produce 81 percent of cows, 73 percent of sheep, 60 percent of pigs, and 50 percent of chickens; according to its National Pork Producers Council, 80 million of its 95 million pigs slaughtered each year are reared in factory farms"

Since most of the meat in the world is consumed in the Western world, its not a surprise that most meat production comes from factory farms. Most of the world cannot afford meat and live in a permanent state of malnutrition. Of course, the situation in the US is not much different, except here people suffer from malnutrition because they eat junk food.

Can you explain deforestation in India, where most people are vegatarians? An Indian friend of mine complained that Indians have never won an Olympic Gold medal because they don't eat meat, and can't build the requisite muscle mass.

Also, for people who posted that Hindusim forbids meat, that is completely untrue. It is Buddhism that forbids killing, and Hindus adopted vegetarianism after Buddhism became popular and started attracting a lot of lower-caste Hindus. The ancient Hindu epics are full of references to meat-eating, hunting and animal sacrifices. BTW, most Buddhists eat meat.