Animals
Be Happy with How I Came
Quebec has banned non-essential cosmetic surgeries on companion animals. This will spare cats and dogs from painful mutilations such as declawing, tail docking, ear cropping and debarking, effective Feb 2024. The law offers other protections for companion animals, including cats, dogs, rabbits, ferrets, guinea pigs and companion pigs, with new requirements for housing and mandating frequent disinfecting and cleaning. Explicit enrichments will also be required and there are rules for custody and care. Going forward, the law restricts the number of cats and dogs that an owner or breeder can keep on the same premises to 50 animals.
Food
Another Sign of the Times
An international dairy company is converting its Ontario dairy milk processing facility to plant-based milk production. Lactalis Canada says this is the result of “long-term volume decline and increased costs in the fluid milk market in Ontario that have led to decreased profitability.” An employee representative welcomed the news and said the switch to plant-based alternatives could mean long term growth for the community. For various reasons, including health and animal welfare, Canadians are switching to plant-based dairy. The Canada Food Guide no longer has dairy as a separate category and suggests people eat more plant-based protein foods.
the Climate Crisis
Solar Panels vs Farms
Climate, green energy, food security, and farming are complex interconnected issues. “We want our farmers producing food, not solar panels,” said Liz Truss—prior to becoming British Prime Minister. A reality check from Carbon Brief shows this framing is flawed. Current and future solar panel projects cover less than 0.3% of UK land. Farming uses 56%—half for grazing cows and sheep—and half for growing cereals and legumes. Food and energy issues are not an either/or. Solar power in the UK is 9x cheaper than natural gas and solar panels cover a tiny portion of farmland. Also, the use of “agrivoltaics” means they can be combined with farming.
words of wisdom
“I know that my way of eating is low-carbon. I’ve spent years poring over the data. Microwaves are the most efficient way to cook. Local food is often no better than food shipped from continents away. Organic food often has a higher carbon footprint. And packaging is a tiny fraction of a food’s environmental footprint, and often lengthens its shelf-life.
“Yet it still feels wrong. I know I’m doing the right thing for the environment, but there’s still a part of me that feels like a traitor.
“This problem stems from the fact that what is ‘good’ for the environment often doesn’t line up with our intuitions.”
— Dr. Hanna Ritchie, Head of Research, Our World In Data, Oxford University
on the horizon
Photo: fauxels on Pexels
I’ll Have a Helping for the Climate Please
There’s new evidence that the choices Canadians make in the grocery aisle, in our kitchens and at the dinner table can make a significant difference in helping Canada meet its climate targets to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
A new study says that reducing the amount of meat and dairy we consume and shifting towards a low-meat/plant-rich diet is a powerful tool in the fight against climate change with multiple long-term benefits.
The federal government has pledged to reduce Canada's emissions 40-45 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030 and reach net-zero by 2050. Like many other nations, Canada’s Emissions Reduction Plan (ERP) includes a wide range of changes focusing mostly on our energy and transportation systems, but these measures alone will not get the job done, leaving a nine mega-tonne gap.
One important reason for this, confirmed by numerous scientific studies, is that nations around the world cannot meet the Paris climate targets (1.5-2 degrees C) or national climate targets without addressing GHG emissions from agriculture.
Since 12% of Canada’s GHG emissions come from agriculture and the food system (66% of which comes from animal agriculture), it offers a huge opportunity for climate action that can play a significant part in helping meet climate goals.
The new report, Animal-sourced food consumption and Canada’s emissions targets by World Animal Protection Canada (WAPC) and Navius Research, shows that if Canadians reduced their consumption of animal foods by 50 percent from current levels, this would lead to 13.5 Mt fewer emissions in 2030 under Canada’s current policies.
“Reducing animal food consumption and implementing ERP policies could be enough to fill the nine-Mt gap and help Canada surpass its target,” according to Lynn Kavanagh, farming campaign manager at WAPC, writing in the National Observer.
Source: Navius Research
The research modelled three scenarios for animal food consumption by 2050: high (reduction of 20%); medium (50%) and low (80%). By moving to the low consumption scenario, agriculture emissions will be 16% lower in 2030 and 29% lower in 2050 relative to the high animal consumption scenario.
Source: Navius Research
The major components of GHG emissions from agriculture include methane from cattle and nitrous oxide from fertilizers and animal manure. Since most fertilizers are used to grow feed crops for animals, the chart above shows that this is also an important part of the climate challenge and opportunity. Feed and fertilizer for animal agriculture added an additional 16% of emissions attributed to animal agriculture in 2020.
WAPC says there is a tremendous opportunity to help people transition to climate friendly diets and that plant-based foods are a major business opportunity for farmers and food companies.
The impacts of meat consumption and animal agriculture on our climate are why WAPC launched its Plan Meatless Better campaign this summer which asks users a few questions about their eating habits and offers a personalized, customized plan and a set of recipes tailored to their preferences.
Meeting national climate targets is a multi-variable equation involving both systemic changes (reducing reliance on oil and gas, increasing use of alternative energy sources for power generation, more EVs, solar and wind power and more) and individual action. Lowering our consumption of meat and dairy products and moving to a plant-rich diet brings climate, health, biodiversity and environmental benefits. And it’s something we can help ourselves to right in our own homes.
deeper dive
Cultivated chicken grown from animal cells. Photo: Upside Foods
The War on “Meat” and “Milk”
There is a global trend to ban plant-based and cultivated meat and milk products from using labels describing them as milk and meat. Steps that according to Lewis Bollard of the Open Philanthropy Project, represent a “brazen meat and milk industry attempt at regulatory capture”.
In his latest newsletter Farm Animal Welfare, Bollard cites a long list of countries that have or are actively considering such bans including the US Food and Drug Administration looking at removing the word “milk” from plant-based milk cartons and the expectation that the USDA will soon regulate cultivated meat labels.
Meanwhile, France and South Africa recently banned their plant-based meat makers from using terms like “burger” or “sausage” (the bans have been temporarily suspended). Brazil and Chile are considering similar restrictions, as is Norway. Argentina, China, Ecuador, India, and Japan all recently issued new rules, although aimed more at clarification, and India has forced its alt-dairy products to ditch the term “dairy.”
Photo: Oatly
Last year, the EU proposed barring plant-based milk marketing from even “evoking” or “imitating” dairy until advocates defeated the measure. Canada’s alt-meat products must now be described as “simulated”. An Australian senate committee recently asked a regulator to review whether faux meat should even be allowed on the same supermarket shelves as the “real” kind, and Turkey recently banned the production and sale of plant-based cheese altogether.
In 2019, the US beef lobby launched a “fake meat facts” campaign calling for “truth in labelling” and an end to “consumer confusion”—ironic for an industry that has long resisted even basic regulation of its aspirational labels, like “all natural” and “humanely raised”. But it worked: states from Georgia to Wyoming passed new restrictions on faux meat labels. Meanwhile, several studies have shown that consumers are not confused, and one study even showed that confusion only occurred when the “meat” and “milk” labels were removed.
The recent spread of labelling laws mirrors the global spread of plant-based meats and milks which would suggest these products are being viewed as a threat by the meat and dairy industries (even though sales figures are still tiny by comparison). Nevertheless, sales for these new healthier-for-the-environment (not to mention animals) products are growing, so blunting competition by removing meat and dairy labels and attaching unappetizing-sounding descriptions to the new products is evidently seen as an effective strategy.
But is it?
Photo: Beyond Meat
Four of the more active label regulators, Canada, China, the EU, and US, are also the world’s most generous public funders of meat alternatives R&D. Canada recently granted a $100M loan to a plant protein facility and the USDA has granted $10M for cultivated meat research.
And although it’s difficult to measure sales that don’t occur due to label bans, they may not affect consumer behaviour much at all. For example, European plant-based milk sales have grown rapidly in spite of the newly enforced “milk” label ban.
And consumers respond to other cues: plant-based milk is typically sold in cartons alongside dairy milk, while many plant-based patties are sold in burger-style packaging. However, the EU’s proposed ban on “evoking” or “imitating” dairy might have stopped the sale of plant-based milks in milk-shaped cartons, while Australia’s regulatory review could stop the sale of plant-based products in supermarket fridges alongside their animal-based counterparts.
It doesn’t even look as if cultivated meat products will be sold as meat even though it actually is (cultivated from cells taken from animals)! The US appears to be leaning towards requiring an unappetizing “cell-based” or “cell-cultured” description.
Advocacy groups such as The Good Food Institute and ProVeg have had some success in combating new labelling laws but it looks as if labelling will continue to be one of the battlegrounds of the plant-based/cultivated meat/animal-based meat and milk products wars and our choices in the supermarket will help decide the outcome.
Animal Welfare
not the greatest
Goats are highly sociable, curious animals and images of them living in spacious farms supports the myth that drinking their milk is healthier and more ethical than drinking milk from cows. Yet, goats face many of the same conditions endured by cows in the dairy industry. A recent investigation into an international award-winning goat milk producer in the UK, revealed that despite the luscious green fields in the producer’s marketing materials, the goats spend their entire lives inside bare and filthy sheds with no access to outdoor grazing. And a 2019 video depicting a standard goat milking parlour in the US, shows rows of goats being milked with their heads locked in metal crates. As for claims that goat milk is healthier than cow’s milk, Penn State University’s website states that “scientific evidence does not support most health claims”. Also, goats’ digestive systems generate methane, one of the most powerful GHGs contributing to global warming. If you’re looking for help to go dairy-free, check out Sentient Media’s Take Action hub or Switch4Good.
Good news
Spreading the Good News on Climate
A young sustainability scientist and innovative climate communicator in Tennessee is showcasing good news stories to fight climate ‘doomerism’. Alaina Wood, who has more than 325,000 followers on TikTok, has recently launched “Pathfinder: Uplifting Climate Stories” that spotlights good news about the climate and the paths we can take to a more sustainable future.
Packaged as short, fun, informative stories, one can learn about how entrepreneurs are making cling wrap from potato waste or how urban farms are 4x more productive than conventional agriculture. Wood is also part of a group of climate advocates called #ecotok on TikTok that has more than 200 million views and is reaching younger audiences with messages of hope and progress in the fight against the climate crisis.
Burger King Expands Offerings of Plant-Based Options
Apart from opening its first all-vegan restaurant in Vienna, Austria, Burger King is expanding its collaboration with Impossible Foods by testing a plant-based chicken patty in select restaurants in Ohio. If the test is as successful as the Impossible Whopper, the Original Chick’n Sandwich could be offered more widely. In addition, the company’s frozen chicken patties are set to hit US grocery shelves nationwide soon.
Some Light at the End of the Tunnel
Spain is the first European country to mandate video surveillance in slaughterhouses—affecting more than 700 across the country—to ensure compliance with animal welfare regulations. While this is seen as a step forward, animal advocates are concerned that it’s the meat packing companies that will be viewing and reporting the results. Advocates are calling for more independent auditing to ensure compliance and improve animal welfare practices.
data points
Photo: NASA/GSFC/SDO
The Heat is On
Highlights of a recent United in Science report (coordinated by the World Meteorological Organization and involving the UN Environment Programme, the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, the World Climate Research Programme, the Global Carbon Project, the UK’s Met Office and the Urban Climate Change Research Network) included:
The past seven years were the hottest on record and there is a 48% chance that at least one year in the next five will have an annual mean temperature 1.5C higher than the 1850-1900 average.
Global mean temperatures are forecast to be between 1.1C and 1.7C higher than pre-industrial levels from 2022-2026, and there is a 93% probability that at least one year out of the next five will be warmer than the hottest year on record, 2016.
Dips in carbon dioxide emissions during Covid-19 lockdowns were temporary. Carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels returned to pre-pandemic levels last year.
National pledges on GHG emissions are insufficient to limit global heating to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels.
Nearly half of humanity–3.3 to 3.6 billion people–are living in areas highly vulnerable to the impacts of the climate crisis, but fewer than half of countries have early warning systems for extreme weather.
charting our path
The Massive Footprint of Animal Agriculture
Sometimes, you need a map to find your way. One kind of map we don’t often see covers “land use.” It’s a vague term that describes important indicators that are key to how we manage climate, energy, food security, biodiversity and environmental issues going forward.
Using data from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the National Land Cover Data Base, Bloomberg has created a revealing series of maps showing how land is used in the US.
Source: USDA, Bloomberg
The USDA tracks six broad land use categories shown above. But the next map shows how this breaks down in more detail and reveals the huge footprint of animal agriculture.
Source: USDA, Bloomberg
Animal farming, a combination of pasture and cropland takes up 41% of the contiguous US states. Pastureland amounts to 654 million acres or 25% of the lower 48 states while cropland—growing feed for farm animals—occupies 127 million acres or 16%.
By contrast, food that people, not animals, eat takes up 77 million acres, while grain and feed exports make up 85 million acres. For comparison, urban areas occupy 70 million, airports three million and golf courses two million acres.
We know that animal agriculture has a massive climate and environmental footprint. These maps capture its relative shoe size.
riveting reads
1. Lab-grown protein is getting closer to reality. This interview with film director Liz Marshall shows how a documentary on the birth of an industry may have played a part (Forbes). How ‘Meat the Future’ Helped Inspire the Cultivated Meat Trend
2. The Head of Research for Our World In Data at Oxford University, says we need to fight our natural instincts if we are to lessen our carbon footprints (substack.com). Notes on Progress: An Environmentalist Gets Lunch
3. Scientists are looking at more reliable alternatives to animal models for testing to ensure drugs are safe and effective. Is the writing finally on the wall for animal testing? (Financial Times). How Science Is Getting Closer to a World Without Animal Testing