Why can't ordinary Chinese people afford to eat beef and mutton, only pork?

为什么普通中国人吃不起牛羊肉，只能吃猪肉呢？

以下是Quora网友的评论：

ChatGPT

There are several reasons why pork is more commonly consumed in China than beef and mutton. One reason is that pork is typically less expensive than beef and mutton, as pigs are easier to raise and have a shorter life cycle than cows and sheep. Additionally, pork has a long history of being a staple in Chinese cuisine, and there are many traditional dishes that feature pork as the main ingredient. Additionally, there is a cultural preference for pork as it is seen as a symbol of wealth and prosperity. Another reason is that China has a large population and relatively limited land resources. Pork is more efficient to produce than beef and mutton, as pigs can be raised in smaller spaces and fed with food waste. Beef and mutton production, on the other hand, requires more land and resources. As a result, pork is more accessible and affordable for the average Chinese person.

在中国，猪肉比牛肉和羊肉更受欢迎，有以下几个原因：一是猪肉比牛肉和羊肉便宜，因为猪更易饲养，生长周期更短。

此外，猪肉作为中餐的主要肉食品种，有着悠久的历史，许多传统菜肴都以猪肉为主要原料。

此外，有的文化偏爱猪肉，因为猪被视为财富和成功的象征。

另一个原因是中国人口众多，土地资源相对有限。

猪的饲养空间要求低，可以用厨余剩菜来喂养，所以猪肉比牛肉和羊肉的饲养效率更高。

另一方面，牛羊肉的生产需要的土地和资源更多。

所以对于普通中国人来说，猪肉更容易买到，也更实惠。

Allan Kay

Chinese are generally lactose intolerant. That will reduce the utility of raising cattle and raising cost for its consumption.

Many Chinese are vegetarian and some for religious reasons. China imports lot of beef too, ask the Australians, they know.

中国人大多都有乳糖不耐受的问题，因此养牛的用处偏少，提高了消费成本。

很多中国人是素食主义者，有些是出于宗教原因吃素。但中国也进口了很多牛肉，可以问问澳大利亚人，他们很清楚这一点。

Don Scult

I have become friends here on the west coast with some recent Chinese immigrants they often invite me over for dinner, and, they almost always prepare mutton with hot spicy peppers!

I was confused by this being their from China" Hot spicy mutton?? But, they said this is the main dish in their hometown!

我住在西海岸，认识了一些中国来的新移民朋友，他们经常邀请我去家里吃饭，而且他们几乎每次都会准备麻辣羊肉！

我不理解，他们中国人也吃“麻辣羊肉”？但是，他们说这是他们家乡的一道硬菜！

So, obviously some regions of China they eat more than just pork!

I never really even liked lamb until I eat theirs!

所以，很显然，中国有些地区也不是只吃猪肉的！

我以前可不喜欢吃羊肉，直到我品尝了中国朋友的手艺这才愿意吃羊肉！

Clifford Nelson

What are ordinary Chinese? The cuisine that the people eat has been based on the region of China. Most of the Chinese cuisine I am familiar with is Cantonese, Hunan, and Sichuan which are in the South East. In the regions like Outer Mongolia meat is more prevalent than in the south east. In fact China produces more beef than the entire European Union, and is number three behind the United States and Brazil. It is the number 2 country in beef consumption after the United States and ahead of the entire European Union. In 2019 Chinese ate about 5.8 kg per person, which is about half of the Untied States.

什么样的才算普通中国人呢？中国不同地区的人有着不同的菜系。我最熟悉的中国菜是粤菜、湘菜和川菜。在外蒙古这种地方，肉食比例要高于东南地区。

事实上，中国的牛肉产量超过了整个欧盟的总和，仅排在美国和巴西之后，位居世界第三。

中国也是牛肉消费量仅次于美国的第二大国家，领先于整个欧盟。中国人人均食用牛肉约5.8公斤，约为美国的一半。

And remember, China is a very big country.

记住，中国是一个非常大的国家。

How many different cuisines are there in Europe.

欧洲一共能有多少不同的菜系呢？

Gu Chen

Why do Chinese people eat a lot of pork? It's just because the production cost of pork is low and the price is relatively cheap.

Wrong stereotype: Chinese eat (like) pork more than most other countries.

Fact: The love of pork in many European countries is unparalleled.

On the leaderboard, you can’t see Asian countries at all, all in Europe.

为什么中国人猪肉吃得多？这只是因为猪肉的生产成本低，价格相对便宜。

错误成见：中国人比大多数国家更喜欢吃猪肉。

真相：在很多欧洲国家，人们也巨爱吃猪肉。

在这份排行榜上，全是欧洲国家，压根找不到亚洲国家。

Do Chinese people particularly like pork?

Pork is not special in China:

Chinese not only consume the most pork but also consume the most sheep meat, fish, poultry, eggs, vegetables, fruits, rice, wheat, beans, potatoes, apples, watermelons, tea leaves, peppers, etc.

中国人特别喜欢吃猪肉吗？

猪肉在中国就是普普通通的东西。

中国人不仅消费了最多的猪肉，而且也消费了最多的羊肉、鱼、家禽、鸡蛋、蔬菜、水果、大米、小麦、豆类、土豆、苹果、西瓜、茶叶、辣椒等。

These can be attributed to China's population size

Population size: China has 1.383 billion people.

Population of China (13.8)> Total Population of Developed Countries (12.1)

这要归因于中国的人口规模。

人口规模：中国有13.83亿人口。

中国人口(13.8) > 发达国家总人口(12.1)

Similar chart structure, why no one said that Chinese people also like sheep&Goat meat, fish, eggs, vegetables, and fruits?

相似的图表结构，为什么没有人说中国人喜欢羊肉、鱼、蛋、蔬菜和水果呢？

It is easy for China to get first place in some population-related data (the total number is good but the per capita data is not good).

中国总能在一些与人口相关的数据上排名第一(总数高，但人均数少)。

Jack Ye

Let’s compare four types of protein:

beef, pork, fish, and birds (chicken, duck, and goose)

让我们来对比一下四种蛋白质：

牛肉、猪肉、鱼和禽类(鸡、鸭和鹅)

Beef:

Cows were massively used in agriculture. They were used to drag different gears and machines. Killing cows is really not a smart decision overall. It is like lighting your car on fire to make a bonfire. As a result, beef eating isn’t really thing in both China and Japan until mordern era.

牛肉：

农业生产中会用到很多牛。人们用牛来拉各种装备和机械。总的来说，杀牛吃肉真的不是明智的决定。就好比烧自家的汽车来生火一样。所以直到现代，中国和日本才真正开始食用牛肉。

Pork:

Pigs are easy to raise. They basically eat anything. You can feed them vegetables, meat, wild plants, and a human foot. They will eat it. And nowadays, you can raise a pig to 200 pounds in half a year easily. Easy job.

猪肉：

猪很容易饲养，基本上什么都吃。不管你喂它们吃的是蔬菜、肉还是野生植物，它们都不挑。现在，只需半年，就可以把一头猪养到200磅。这是一件轻轻松松的事。

Fish:

Only if you have large rivers, ponds around or you live next to sea, you can then develop your fishing industry. That means it is heavily dependent on climate and geography.

鱼类：

如果临近大河、池塘或海边，就能发展渔业。所以这意味着渔业严重依赖于气候条件和地理位置。

Birds:

Before mordern industry is involved in agriculture, birds grow slowly. Why?

Chicken only eat plants；

ducks need water;

and goose, the hardest to raise, needs grass.

禽类：

在农业开始现代化之前，禽类的生长十分缓慢。为什么？

鸡只吃植物；

鸭子需要水；

而最难养的鹅，需要草。

Non of them are easy to raise when they are little. They are vulnerable to wild animals. A dog, fox, or literally most wild mammals can hurt chicken and ducks (geese are strong).

What’s more is that they all grow slower than pigs. Geese can be around 15 pounds, ducks are smaller, and chicken are smallest.

禽类幼崽很难养活。它们很容易受到野生动物的伤害。狗、狐狸或大多数野生哺乳动物都能伤害鸡和鸭，鹅比较强壮。

更重要的是，它们长得比猪慢。鹅最大也只能长到大约15磅重，鸭子小一点，鸡最小。

Their meat provide less energy, too, because it is white meat, containing less fat than red meat.

But I am not saying they are worthless. Birds cam have eggs regularly. That is their strongest advantage. Eggs are nutritious, easy to store, and most importantly, they come fast. That makes chicken one of the most important animals in human history.

禽类提供的能量也更少，因为它们都是白肉，脂肪含量比红肉少。

但我并不认为它们毫无价值。禽类可以定期下蛋，这就是它们最大的优势。鸡蛋营养丰富，易于储存，最重要的是，它们来得很快。所以鸡就成了人类历史上最重要的动物之一。

BUT OVERALL

So pigs are easier raise. They eat a lot. They grow fast. They eat everything. Their meat has lots of fat, which provides lots of energy. They are of course loved by agricultural countries like China and Japan.

但总体而言

猪更容易饲养，它们吃得很多，长得很快，而且什么都吃。猪肉含有大量的脂肪，可以提供充足的能量。所以猪肉当然受到了中国和日本等农业国家的喜爱。

Alex Wong

In addition to the excellent answer by JC Hou, I would like to add a few more points.

1.     Pig is a traditional animal which has been raised for meat for thousands of generations by the Chinese. Even the Chinese character ‘family’ 家 has a pig symbol.

2.     Chinese traditionally don’t eat beef as they are seen as animals to work the fields or eat horse meat as they are seen as animals for transportation just like Europeans don’t eat dogs and cats because they are seen as pets.

3.     With the influence of European cultural standard, eating dogs is now seen as ‘abnormal’ and eating beef is now seen as ‘normal’ but in ancient China, the reverse is true. Eating beef is still not accepted in some population (eg. Buddhists) in China even if they are rich and can afford to eat expensive beef steaks everyday rather than cheaper pork.

除了JC Hou的精彩回答之外，我还想再补充几点：

1.     猪是一种传统的家畜，已经被中国人饲养了几千代。汉字的“家”就包含了象征“猪”的部首。

2.     中国人在传统上不吃牛肉，因为他们认为牛是在田地里辛劳工作的动物；中国人也不吃马肉，因为他们把马当做运输工具，就像欧洲人把猫和狗视为宠物，所以不吃它们一样。

3.     受欧洲文化的影响，现在吃狗肉被视为“不正常”的行为，但吃牛肉已被人们接受了。但在古代中国，情况正好和现在相反。对于中国某些群体，就算他们很有钱，可以每天吃得起昂贵的牛排，现在也还是不允许吃牛肉的（比如佛教徒)。

John Tanner

Not true. Italians eat a lot of pork, especially cured pork. English eat a lot of sausages. Americans, of course bacon and ham. South Americans and Spanish, a lot of pulled pork and Asado Puerco. Everywhere in the world, pork is eaten a lot. Why? Easy to raise and nutritious.

这并非事实。意大利人也爱吃猪肉，尤其是腌猪肉。英国人爱吃香肠。美国人爱吃培根和火腿。南美人和西班牙人喜欢手撕猪肉和烤肉。世界各地的人们都吃猪肉。为什么呢？因为猪易于饲养，猪肉营养丰富。

Liang iao

The most popular reason for pork is that it's best to cook.

Mutton and beef have a strong smell.

Chicken lacks aroma.

It needs better technology to make it delicious.

Pork tastes best after heating and is the easiest to handle.

最普遍的理由是猪肉最适合烹饪。

羊肉和牛肉的气味很重。

鸡肉不够香。

需要更好的技术来增添风味。

猪肉加热后味道最好，也最容易烹饪。

Tiffany Cheng

Related

Why is pork so popular in China compared to other countries?

和其他国家相比，为什么猪肉在中国如此受欢迎？

Because pork is the favorable meat for the Chinese, the Chinese really like pork. There are reasons why the Chinese love pork:

1.     Less saturated: Compared to some other meats like beef and mutton, pork has lesser amount of saturated fat. Contrary to the popular belief, pork is actually less fattening than beef and mutton.

2.     Versatile: Pork could be cooked in many ways, there are about more than 100 Chinese pork recipes as what I recalled.

3.     Easy to cultivate: Pigs are easier to cultivate in the agricultural country like China. Southern part of China is the most ideal place for pig cultivation.

But then again, pork isn’t the only meat which is popular in China. Other meats like beef and mutton are also popular in China, although beef and mutton are more popular at the northern part of China and the western part of China.

因为猪肉是中国人喜爱的肉类品种，中国人真的很喜欢吃猪肉。中国人爱吃猪肉是有原因的：

1.     饱和脂肪含量较低：与牛肉和羊肉等其他肉类相比，猪肉的饱和脂肪含量较低。和普遍的看法相反，猪肉其实比牛肉和羊肉更不容易让人发胖。

2.     用途广：猪肉的烹饪方法有很多种，据我回忆，中餐中使用到猪肉的食谱大约有100多种。

3.     容易饲养：在中国这样的农业国家，猪更易于饲养。中国南方是最理想的养猪地区。

不过话说回来，猪肉并不是在中国唯一受欢迎的肉类。其他肉类如牛肉和羊肉在中国也很受欢迎，不过牛肉和羊肉在中国北部和西部地区更受欢迎。

Shen Yunge

If the proportion of French plains in the total land area educed to almost the same as China, French people may like eating pork as well as beef and mutton, just like the Germans.

如果法国平原占国土总面积的比例降到和中国差不多，法国人可能会像德国人一样，除了牛羊肉，也会喜欢吃猪肉。