By Jessica Scott-Reid
Jessica is a Canadian writer, animal advocate and plant-based food expert. Her work appears regularly in media across Canada and the US.
With the election of Joe Biden as the next President of the United States, there is renewed hope that major issues regarding climate change and environmental protections will now receive the attention they desperately need. Biden’s climate plan is already in the works and could reportedly put the Paris Agreement's goal of limiting global warming to 1.5˚C, within reach. And for environmental advocates concerned specifically about food production, there is increased hope that much-needed funding may start shifting away from harmful animal agriculture, towards more sustainable plant-based and cultivated (cell-based) meat alternatives.
“We are looking forward to an administration that recognizes the importance of science-based policy, acknowledges the threat of climate change, and values the health of Americans,” says Jennifer Molidor Ph.D, senior food campaigner for the Center for Biological Diversity. A leading threat to biodiversity and the climate, says Molidor, is the livestock industry, and “plant-based meat alternatives can be an important part of shifting us toward a more sustainable food system.”
The Biden plan recognizes the link between the climate crisis and the agriculture sector. There is an opportunity for a Biden trifecta here: by fighting the climate crisis with lower-emission agricultural production, engineering a transition by shifting incentives and subsidies, and creating new income streams by paying farmers to sequester carbon and further reduce their GHG footprints.
Molidor and her team hope the new Biden administration will “remove barriers and invest in the research and development needed for more sustainable food, while ending taxpayer bailouts of the meat and dairy industry that’s killing the planet,” she says, adding: “As we move away from funding animal agriculture, we can grow better plant-based sources for human consumption, rather than for livestock production.”
This focus on food production in the fight against climate change stems from overwhelming evidence that agriculture, and animal agriculture specifically – meat, dairy and egg production — is a key factor in planet-warming and environmental degradation.
A major new study in the journal Science says that global emissions from agriculture alone, unless substantially reduced, will endanger the Paris climate goals, even if all other GHG emissions were stopped immediately. British and US scientists cite high emissions from livestock (methane), production and use of fertilizers, manure, and deforestation for animal feed and grazing, as major sources of GHG emissions. They recommend a transition to low carbon farming methods, a substantial reduction in the consumption of meat and dairy, and a major shift to plant-based eating. This would make a significant difference in that farming and food account for approximately one-third of global GHG emissions.
Photo: Cultured meat. CC-BY Higher Steaks.
The Good Food Institute (GFI) is a US non-profit organization that promotes plant-based and cultivated meat production out of concern for the environment, animal welfare and human health. From a Biden administration, GFI hopes to see more investment in research of alternative proteins, which Jessica Almy, GFI’s director of policy, describes as “so critically important.” Three specific areas of this research that GFI deems most vital are: characterizing and optimizing non-animal proteins to assess their suitability for use as ingredients; developing techniques for making plant-based ingredients more functional and useful; and improving methods of plant-based food manufacturing.
Additionally, GFI points to the economic benefits of public investment in meat-alternatives research. In a fact sheet entitled Open-Access Research Is Needed For Plant-Based And Cultivated Meat, GFI highlights the major success of Beyond Meat, as an example:
USDA-funded research at the University of Missouri was the basis of the technology that’s used in Beyond Meat’s plant-based Beyond Burger to help it biomimic the texture of meat. Thanks to this foundational public research, Beyond Meat had the best-performing public offering by a major U.S. company in almost two decades when they went public in May 2019, and consumers on six continents can now buy Beyond Burgers in restaurants and supermarkets. As demand increases for Beyond Meat’s products, farmers will also reap the benefits of this USDA funded research. Global demand for peas is expected to quadruple by 2025. Instead of selling crops for animal feed at commodity prices, farmers will have the option of selling inputs, like peas, for plant-based products at greater profit.
One part of the Biden plan is to fund agricultural research at public universities in the US so that the benefit of resulting patents stays in the public rather than private sector. This program could be harnessed for research in meat alternatives.
The GFI document also discusses other countries that are actively supporting the development of plant-based and cultivated meat industries. “For example, the European Union announced in July 2019 that it is directing approximately $15.7 million for plant protein research. The Netherlands spent $2.3 million on cultivated meat research from 2005 to 2009 and is currently spending $6.6 million on a five-year research project to improve plant-based meat manufacturing technology.” And Canada has already invested more than $250 million in both research and the development of production facilities for plant-based foods.
Photo: US Department of Agriculture CC BY 2.0 via Climate Visuals
The Biden administration will have an uphill battle transforming the US farming sector. US farmers, many of whom are in red states, especially in the Midwest, and who rely heavily on government subsidies, have been battered by floods, drought, trade wars with China and the fall-out from the Covid-19 pandemic. But maybe these conditions will create an opportunity for change. A strong majority of Americans support action on the climate crisis which provides political momentum for policy changes, more consumers are willing to change what they eat and the rise of plant-based alternatives offer new opportunities for farmers.
At a 2019 townhall, now Vice President-elect Kamala Harris was asked what she thought of other countries recommending reduced meat consumption out of concern for the climate, and if the US should do the same. She replied that the US government should offer incentives and dietary guidelines to reduce the consumption of meat, perhaps offering a glimpse of what’s to come under the US’s new administration.