{"id":323648,"date":"2024-04-26T11:47:02","date_gmt":"2024-04-26T09:47:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=323648"},"modified":"2024-04-26T11:47:05","modified_gmt":"2024-04-26T09:47:05","slug":"big-ag-not-only-big-oil-on-the-climate-change-menu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=323648","title":{"rendered":"Big Ag, not Only Big Oil, on the \u2018Climate Change\u2019 Menu"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Master Resource<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Robert Bradley Jr.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The U.S. and global meat industries are thriving. Fake meat is in trouble because of bad taste, bad ingredients, high prices, and ultra-processing (\u201clab creatures<\/a>\u201c). Vegetables \u2026 well, they are good along side the protein, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The average American consumes nearly a pound a day of meat (chicken, beef, fish). Nine out of ten<\/a> eat meat, with near-record consumption<\/a> year after year. And flame-kissed with gas or charcoal is a best practice in such enjoyment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Globally, the growth of meat consumption is dramatic. According<\/a> to Our World in Data, \u201cglobal meat production has \u2026 more than quadrupled since 1961.\u201d Continuing:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Regionally, Asia now holds the position of being the largest meat producer, contributing a substantial portion of the total global meat production. This represents a significant shift from previous decades. In the early 1960s, Europe and North America were the primary meat-producing regions. However, by the early 21st century, their combined share had decreased notably, with Asia emerging as the predominant region in terms of meat production.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

All regions are registering increases.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

All good? Not so fast. The busy-body food police (gestapo?) are using \u201cclimate change\u201d as a pretext to regulate your preferences at the dinner table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DeSmog Weighs In<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At DeSmog, Rachel Sherrington<\/a> recently criticized the U.S. beef industry for \u2026 acting in the interest of its investors and consumers. (Imagine that!) Her article \u201cU.S. Meat Lobby Celebrates \u2018Positive Outcome\u2019 of COP28<\/a>\u201c, subtitled: \u201cIndustry leaders praise UN food and climate plan as \u2018music to our ears\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dodging climate politics to cater to consumers deserves a hurray. But Sherrington sees the good as bad. She reports how the climate complex was outmaneuvered by the the beefers:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Lobbyists for the world\u2019s biggest meat companies have lauded a better than expected outcome at COP28, which they say left them \u201cexcited\u201d and \u201centhusiastic\u201d for their industry\u2019s prospects\u2026. Campaigners and climate scientists had hoped the summit \u2013 which was billed as a \u201cFood COP\u201d due to its focus on farming \u2013 would see governments agree to ambitious action to transform food systems in line with the goals of the Paris climate agreement.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

It has been a long failure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Like Kyoto in 1997 and Paris in 2005, the thrill is gone. But while more than 130 governments pledged to tackle agriculture\u2019s carbon footprint, a slew of announcements and initiatives failed to set binding targets, or to broach the question of reducing herds of ruminant livestock such as cattle and sheep, which are agriculture\u2019s largest<\/a> driver of emissions\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Outcomes at the summit were characterised as \u201ca far more positive outcome than we had anticipated\u201d by Constance Cullman, the president of the Animal Feed Industry Association (AFIA) \u2013 a US lobby group whose members include<\/a> some of the world\u2019s biggest meat and animal feed producers.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The good news for consumers and the industry was a disappointment to the vegetarian ilk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Academics described the FAO report\u2019s failure to recommend cuts to meat-eating as \u201cbewildering\u201d in a March submission<\/a> to the journal Nature Food.<\/em> According to a March paper<\/a>, which surveyed more than 200 environmental and agricultural scientists, meat and dairy production must be drastically reduced \u2013 and fast \u2013 to align with the Paris Agreement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The report concludes that global emissions from livestock production need to decline by 50 percent during the next six years, with \u201chigh-producing and consuming nations\u201d taking the lead\u2026.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The meat industry took the moral high ground, illustrative of what the fossil fuel industries need to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Another industry panellist, Eric Mittenthal, had attended COP28 on behalf of lobby group the Meat Institute<\/a> (formerly the North American Meat Institute, or NAMI) \u2026 stressed the importance of sharing the message that animal agriculture is necessary for nutrition and sustainability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Meat Institute, which runs an initiative called the ProteinPACT, represents hundreds of corporations in the meat supply chain, including the meat sector\u2019s three largest companies, JBS<\/a>, Cargill and Tyson<\/a>, which together have emissions equal to oil majors Shell or BP.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

And yes, the meat and dairy industries were keen to protect their industries and seize the moral high ground with common-sense<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

The number of lobbyists for big meat and dairy companies tripled<\/a> at COP28 as revealed by DeSmog<\/a> and the Guardian, amid rising scrutiny of the food sector\u2019s climate impacts\u2026.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

It was not supposed to happen this way to the anti-beefers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

COP28 had promised to accelerate action on food systems transformation, but campaigners and experts said its declarations and reports fell far short of what climate science says is needed. On the second day of the summit, the leaders\u2019 declaration on sustainable food systems, which was signed<\/a> by more than 130 countries, committed to food systems transformation. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Sounds good to me\u2026. The meat industry deserves kudos for their frontal, honest messaging against political threats to human betterment. Sherrington describes just this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

The meat lobbyists, whose industry enjoyed<\/a> many routes to influence at the summit, also celebrated the cut-through of their message that industrial animal agriculture has an important role to play in addressing global hunger\u2026.

Key messages<\/a> around hunger were a pillar of the meat industry\u2019s COP28 PR plans, which primed its attendees to target decision-makers with the idea that \u201cmeat plays a key role in reducing food insecurity\u201d. While an estimated 828 million people go hungry, experts say<\/a> that nourishing the planet will involve addressing issues of power, access and distribution, rather than a blanket increase in food production\u2026.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Sherrington\u2019s article ends by sharing the meat industry\u2019s perspective, a good one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Mittenthal stressed that industry\u2019s voice at COPs was \u201ccritical\u201d given that some summit attendees were \u201cnot representing the science or the reality on the ground\u201d. Asked about the year ahead, [Cullman] said: \u201cWe need to jump into that and make sure that we don\u2019t take the pressure off of communicating the incredible work that\u2019s been done for decades and continues to be done. \u201cThe short answer is: not take the foot off the gas pedal \u2013 we\u2019ve got to keep pushing.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Keep pushing indeed. Keep government out of the dining room, public and private.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The U.S. and global meat industries are thriving. Fake meat is in trouble because of bad taste, bad ingredients, high prices, and ultra-processing (\u201clab creatures\u201c). Vegetables \u2026 well, they are good along side the protein, right?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":323652,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691818056,691819523,691828355,691828356],"class_list":{"0":"post-323648","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-climate-change","9":"tag-fake-meat","10":"tag-food-police-gestapo","11":"tag-un-food-and-climate-plan","13":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/0LabGrownMeat_Lead.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1mc8","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":440526,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=440526","url_meta":{"origin":323648,"position":0},"title":"Inverted Food Pyramid: Real Food Wins, Climate Activists Lose","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"20\/04\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"The new U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2025\u20132030, released January 7, 2026, by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins, flip the script\u2014literally\u2014with an inverted food pyramid that puts protein (red meat, poultry, eggs, seafood), full-fat dairy, healthy fats, vegetables, and fruits front and center at\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"\"Eco-Busybodies\"\"","block_context":{"text":"\"Eco-Busybodies\"","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=eco-busybodies"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0-Inverted-Food-Pyramid-Real-Food-Wins-Climate-Activists-Lose.jpg?fit=784%2C1168&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0-Inverted-Food-Pyramid-Real-Food-Wins-Climate-Activists-Lose.jpg?fit=784%2C1168&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0-Inverted-Food-Pyramid-Real-Food-Wins-Climate-Activists-Lose.jpg?fit=784%2C1168&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0-Inverted-Food-Pyramid-Real-Food-Wins-Climate-Activists-Lose.jpg?fit=784%2C1168&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":440634,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=440634","url_meta":{"origin":323648,"position":1},"title":"New Food Pyramid: Another Blow to Climate Activism","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"20\/04\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Once again, the self-interest of consumers in a free economy is at odds with the agenda of the Climate Industrial Complex. And with the decline in interest and sales of fake meat (Beyond Meat is a penny stock, down 99 percent) the political problem of the eco-busybodies is profound.","rel":"","context":"In \"Beyond Meat stock ($BYND)\"","block_context":{"text":"Beyond Meat stock ($BYND)","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=beyond-meat-stock-bynd"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0-Eat-Real-Food-pyramid.jpg?fit=784%2C1168&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0-Eat-Real-Food-pyramid.jpg?fit=784%2C1168&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0-Eat-Real-Food-pyramid.jpg?fit=784%2C1168&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0-Eat-Real-Food-pyramid.jpg?fit=784%2C1168&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":257211,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=257211","url_meta":{"origin":323648,"position":2},"title":"Bill Gates funded Lab-grown meat \u2018could be 25 times worse for the climate than beef\u2019 \u2013 \u2018Highly energy intensive\u2019 \u2013 \u2018Meat\u2019 grown in steel vats from stem cells from animal","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"13\/05\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Cultivated meat is made by growing muscle tissue from stem cells. 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