Where's the beef? International effort targets animal food industry

SALT LAKE CITY — More than 30 cities across the world, including Los Angeles and West Hollywood, have endorsed the global Plant Based Treaty to align the food system to the Paris Agreement as well as implement best practices in plant-based food policy at the local level.

The global Plant Based Treaty is a push to align the food system to carbon reduction efforts and implement best practices in plant-based food policy at the local level.

Basically, it calls for the elimination of animal products as part of a dietary change designed to lower methane emissions from the agricultural industry.

This is not a novel approach. Many environmental advocates have been targeting beef in particular and public grazing with its environmental impacts to what they say are denuded landscapes and a benefit for ranchers who are being subsidized at the taxpayers' expense.

Officials with the Utah Farm Bureau said such proposals overlooks the vulnerability of global populations in need of sustained sources of protein.

"Modern agriculture in general — and American agriculture specifically — is a modern marvel that produces more food and uses fewer resources than ever before," the organization's statement said. "Sadly, a recent study led by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health found that more than half of the world's population is not getting enough of essential micronutrients. Of the seven nutrients with the lowest global intake, five of them are found predominantly in meat or dairy products."

The initiative does not promote a healthier population, it said.

The Plant Based Treaty grassroots organization is advocating for world leaders to start incorporating its objectives at COP29, the United Nations summit on climate change. European nation cities and several cities in India have jumped on board with endorsements.

The COP29 demand is simple, organizers say, because food policy is 30 years behind the United Nations' focus on energy development.

"We must start negotiations for a global Plant Based Treaty to add to the U.N. Paris Climate Agreement to address one third of greenhouse gas emissions from the food systems. It will further protect our planetary boundaries by guiding the human community back to plant-based food systems," said Anita Krajnc, global campaign director of Plant Based Treaty.

Politics and what a Plant Based Treaty means

Former President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the Paris agreement in 2017, two years after its establishment in 2015.

President Joe Biden reentered the agreement in 2021 and said that the U.S. would slash its emissions in half by 2030 from 2005 levels. The Global Methane Pledge announced at COP26 is when Biden announced the U.S. commitment to reduce methane emissions from the oil and gas industry by nearly 80% over the next 15 years, according to the Council on Foreign Relations.

Now, food is on the menu for potential action, with the Plant Based Treaty advocating significant changes or reductions in animal products consumed as part of daily diets. Among other things, it calls for:

• An update on government food and dietary guidelines to promote whole food and plant-based food.
• Transition to plant-based meal plans in schools, hospitals, nursing homes, prisons, government institutions, universities and businesses.
• Redirect government subsidies for animal agriculture, slaughterhouses and industrial fishing to environmentally friendly production of plant-based food and end government subsidized advertising for the meat, dairy and egg industry.
• Provide financial support and training for farmers, ranchers and the fish industry to move away from animal production to diversified agro-ecological, plant-based systems.

Notably, the organization demands no new construction of animal slaughterhouses, farms, any expansion of existing farms, no conversion of any land for animal feed production and no clearing of forests or other ecosystems for animal grazing, animal rearing, or animal farming of any kind, plus no new fish farms or expansion of existing aquaculture farms.

Los Angeles, for example, endorsed the Plant Based Treaty in 2022 and two years later introduced a motion that called for agencies to track by volume the total amount of meat, poultry, fish, dairy and egg products and the total amount of plant-based food products that are contracted to vendors in one calendar year under the Department of Health Services.

Utah dining

Salt Lake City's sustainability department has on its website "Dining With Discretion," which asserts that in Utah, food choices contribute to 25% of household carbon emissions.

It points to sources such as large farming equipment and the need to ship food by truck, rail or ship, leading to further emissions.

The website contends that all foods have a carbon footprint, but some are higher than others. Animal products have the largest carbon footprint.

Water is a necessary fact in the animal food industry, with the Salt Lake City site pointing to:

• 92% of the water we use is hidden in the food we eat, meaning that the water it takes to produce the food is inadvertently consumed when we eat and drink.
• Farm animals — particularly cattle — need several gallons of water a day to survive.
• Eating one cheeseburger is the same as using 698.5 gallons of water.

In terms of land, Salt Lake City stressed that every year, 58,000 square miles of forest are lost to create grazing lands. Worldwide, rain forests are being destroyed at the rate of 36 football fields every minute to make more room for grazing animals.

It says there are choices for making a difference. Residents can buy local and organic food and additionally be aware which crops use more water and reduce consumption of those crops. People can eliminate red meat and dairy products from their diet and instead consume plant-based products, the city says. Residents should also consider joining the Meatless Monday movement.

But the Utah Farm Bureau urged caution in getting caught up in such scenarios.

"U.S. agriculture contributes less than 10% of all greenhouse gas emissions in America, and 2022 marked the lowest U.S. agricultural greenhouse gas emissions in 10 years, and lower than many other sectors in the American economy. The emissions reductions were the largest decrease of any economic sector, even while production is growing to meet the needs of the nation and the world," it read.

The organization added this: "Is there still room for progress? Absolutely. But not all proposed 'improvements' are actually good ideas. This includes many of the radical proposals put forward from groups that seem more concerned on limiting choices."

Related topics