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Image: Adobe<\/p>\n\n\n\nA new report suggests reinventing the industrial food system to tackle climate change.Image: Adobe<\/p>\n\n\n\n
GRACE HUSSAIN \/\u00a0SENTIENT MEDIA<\/a> (truthdig.com)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ahead of COP28, global leaders are increasingly turning<\/strong> to food systems to tackle climate pollution. Now, experts from Stockholm Environment Institute have released a new policy report with recommendations for reinventing the food system<\/a>. The common thread \u2014 a shift away from factory farms. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The experts specifically call out the harms of industrial meat, as producing beef and dairy products along with other meats is one of the largest contributors to climate change<\/a>, using vast amounts of water and land while belching a significant amount of greenhouse gasses. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c\u2026Even if fossil fuel emissions were eliminated immediately,\u201d the authors write, \u201cemissions from food systems alone, particularly from animal product production, would make it impossible to limit global warming to 1.5\u00b0C and difficult even to limit warming to 2\u00b0C.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Because food production doesn\u2019t exist in a vacuum, eliminating meat \u2014 or even just reducing it \u2014 is no small task. In much of the world, animal products continue to play a key role in health and nutrition, the authors write, especially for \u201cpregnant and lactating women, young children and people on low incomes with little access to alternatives.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Yet it\u2019s precisely because animal products continue to play a pivotal cultural, social, economic and nutritional role that a just transition away from them is necessary<\/a> in order to ensure the best outcomes for people, animals and the environment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The report argues for a \u201cOne Health\u201d strategy for solving these problems \u2014 what the CDC defines as an approach that recognizes the ties between humans, animals and the planet<\/a>. Instead of focusing on one of these issues \u2014 for example just animal welfare \u2014 One Health solutions also take into account the impacts to human health and the environment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Industrial agriculture\u2019s high disease risk demonstrates how human, animal and environmental well-being are all interconnected, and, the researchers argue, how all three of these are intrinsically linked to food production. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c\u2026Even if fossil fuel emissions were eliminated immediately,\u201d the authors write, \u201cemissions from food systems alone, particularly from animal product production, would make it impossible to limit global warming to 1.5\u00b0C and difficult even to limit warming to 2\u00b0C.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Part of the problem is that raising animals on factory farms by the billions is driving the destruction of forests and an overreliance on antibiotics. In a worrying turn of events, the number of new pathogens discovered yearly<\/a> has jumped from three to five in just one decade, a trend scientists believe is due in large part to deforestation. About 40 percent of deforestation is attributable solely to beef production<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The authors also argue that social justice plays an equally important role in food systems transformation. Enter just transition<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Originated by unions in the United States, just transition principles were created to protect the interests of workers and communities as emerging environmental regulations began to shift economies away from dependence on polluting industries. The framework has been employed heavily in the fields of energy and fuel, but has only recently made its way into discussions surrounding food systems transformation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n What makes food systems change especially unique are the stakeholders\u2014 workers, communities, but also livestock, according to the research. Farm animals \u201care sentient beings<\/a>,\u201d the authors acknowledge, which means they too \u201cwill be directly affected by the policies that governments adopt to transform the meat sector.\u201d Any and all solutions, they argue, should \u201creduce, rather than increase, suffering<\/a>.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n The researchers recommend a number of shifts, including phasing out subsidies and other government support for factory farms, while at the same time boosting support for alternatives such as plant-based and alternative proteins<\/a>, as well as policies that support equitable access to food. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Some of the measures they suggest phasing out are so-called \u201cag-gag laws,\u201d which protect producers<\/a> from undercover investigators and government-funded campaigns to increase meat consumption. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Meanwhile, the researchers caution against blanket support for meat alternative products, to avoid perpetuating the same inequalities represented within industrial meat production. Instead, they also suggest support for policies and programs that encourage a deeper shift to eating whole-food, plant based products as a means for boosting public health. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The experts also call on policymakers to ensure that the transition planning process is inclusive of all stakeholders, highlighting \u201ctruly inclusive, transparent processes that enable stakeholders to participate meaningfully.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Any and all solutions, they argue, should \u201creduce, rather than increase, suffering<\/a>.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n To do this, policymakers must take active steps to combat the underlying prejudices and socioeconomic inequalities fueling injustices within the food system. Racism and other forms of marginalization run deep. For example, within the U.S., only a small percentage of farmers are Black<\/a>, a trend that originated with the country\u2019s legacy of slavery and became entrenched after the decades of tenancy, rather than ownership, that followed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Instead of fixing the problem, the U.S. Department of Agriculture made things worse by systematically denying Black farmers the support<\/a> they offered white farmers. Addressing these injustices requires an understanding of this history, as well as exploring paths for more fair land ownership, according to the authors. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The researchers also recommend that direct support be provided to the stakeholders most heavily impacted by the transition away from meat. Part of that includes \u201csocial safety nets and compensation for the disruptions caused,\u201d but also \u201caddressing \u201cthe physical and mental impacts\u201d of a changing food system. The authors note that ranching and pastoralism are core to identity in many communities, and a shift away from something so culturally entrenched requires addressing losses that are personal as well as financial. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Ultimately, it\u2019s not just meatpacking workers, the authors remind us. They recommend involving \u201cstakeholders beyond the meat sector itself,\u201d including seasonal farmworkers and small scale farmers, as well as workers and communities of color. While a just transition in the food sector presents challenges that are different from coal or energy communities, the authors urge \u201ctime is short and there is a great deal at stake,\u201d as biodiversity and the health of the planet \u2014 along with its inhabitants \u2014 depend on it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A new report suggests reinventing the industrial food system to tackle climate change.Image: Adobe GRACE HUSSAIN \/\u00a0SENTIENT MEDIA (truthdig.com) Ahead of COP28, global leaders are increasingly turning to food systems to tackle climate pollution. Now, experts from Stockholm Environment Institute have released a new policy report with recommendations for reinventing the food… Continue reading Health and Justice Require Food System Change<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Just Transition Is More Than Financial<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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