It is a fact not often considered in discussions of the sustainability of meat production: a significant percentage of some animals is not used for meat. In the newest Meat MythCrusher video, produced by the North American Meat Institute (NAMI) and American Meat Science Association (AMSA), Dale Woerner, Ph.D., associate professor at Colorado State University, addresses the variety of products sourced from livestock in addition to meat, and how those products should be considered when discussing the sustainability of livestock production.
For cattle, on average 44 percent of the animal is not used for food and in pigs 30 percent of the animal goes to other sources. Other animal products include the hides, skins, hair, hoofs, horns, feet, heads, bones, blood, organs, glands, and intestines which can be used to make products including leather, medicines, cosmetics, pet food and soaps among many others.