About 34 minutes into the 2014 Documentary Cowspiracy, there is a statement by David Simon, the author of Meatonomics, about hidden costs of animal food production.
I've added up the costs of animal food production, that the producers, don't actually bear themselves. These are the hidden costs, or the externalized costs that they impose on society. And those are in categories like healthcare, environmental damage, subsidies, damage to fisheries, and even cruelty...
If you take those externalized costs, which are about 414 billion dollars, if the meat and dairy industries were required to internalize those costs, if they had to bear those costs themselves, the costs of, the retail prices of meat and dairy would skyrocket. So a $5 carton of eggs would go to $13. A $4 Big Mac would go to $11. Whether you eat meat or not, whether you are an omnivore or an herbivore, you are paying part of the costs of somebody else's consumption. So that when somebody goes into a McDonald's and buys a Bic Mac for $4, there is another $7 of costs that's imposed on society. I'm paying that; you're paying that. Whether you eat meat or not.
I couldn't find any other research backing up the above figures; only reports of and references to the above person's claims.
Is the above estimate of the externalized costs a realistic figure?
