The sustained growth in real meat demand is likely to continue, both in the United States and around the world, when the world begins to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Sam Funk, senior economist with the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation (IFBF).

The efficiency and productivity of the U.S. meat delivery system — from livestock production to meat processing to worldwide distribution —have helped change the paradigms of protein  demand around the world, Funk said last week during a Chicago Federal Reserve Bank virtual panel discussion on food trends. The pandemic sent shock...