Food production & animal calories - crux
Question
Which one of the following statements best reflects the crux of the passage?
Options
There is an urgent need for a public policy to promote the consumption of cereal-based foods in wealthier societies.
Animal-based food is far less efficient than grain/plant-based food in terms of production and utilization.
Plant-based protein should replace the animal-based protein in our daily diets.
Inequality in food production and consumption is inevitable in any fast changing society.
Explanation
The passage highlights how wealthier societies shift toward animal products, which requires feeding grains to animals. The author explicitly points out that this process is "far from efficient," noting that only 16% of calories fed to chickens (and 5-7% for large animals) are recovered by humans. The central argument is a critique of the massive calorie loss inherent in animal-based food production compared to direct plant consumption. Option (b) captures this exact metric of inefficiency.
Answer: (b).
Question details
Year
2025
Paper
CSAT
Question
Q13
Section
Reading Comprehension
Sub-topic
Food / Agriculture passage
Type
RC - Central idea
Difficulty
Medium
Source hint
Passage-based comprehension
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