Animals
Aotearoa Puts Down a Marker
In a significant step that will put pressure on other countries to follow suit, New Zealand (Aotearoa) has announced it will ban live animal exports by sea effective April 2023. Damien O’Connor, the country’s environment minister, said the new law will protect New Zealand’s reputation in a world becoming increasingly conscious of animal welfare. Millions of animals including pigs, cows and sheep, are exported internationally each year. Vessels are overcrowded, and the animals suffer from disease, exhaustion, and dehydration. O’Connor said New Zealand’s remoteness means animals are at sea for extended periods of time, heightening their susceptibility to heat stress and other welfare concerns.
Food
Downsizing “Frankenchickens”
The days of “Frankenchickens” are numbered. These broilers, genetically selected to grow bigger and faster, develop a host of health issues from fractures to heart disease and have higher rates of mortality and lameness than slower-growing breeds. But now, the animal welfare charity the Humane League UK, has been granted a court hearing to argue that the use of breeds that grow unnaturally large, unnaturally fast, breaches welfare regulations. Hundreds of retailers and firms in the UK, EU and Canada including Marks & Spencer, Waitrose and KFC, have already signed up to the Better Chicken Commitment. It requires companies to phase out the use of fast-growing breeds in favour of slower-growing ones by 2026.
the Climate Crisis
Food Is on the Table at COP27
For the first time, food production and food-based climate solutions will be on the agenda in a meaningful way at the upcoming global climate negotiations at COP27 (Nov 6-18, in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt). Including animal agriculture and food system-based solutions in the talks will allow for progress on global climate commitments—given it is clear that nations can’t meet the Paris targets without addressing ag and food system climate impacts. The Food Systems Pavilion will be co-hosted by nine organizations, including US-based nonprofit the Good Food Institute, which will urge governments to explore meat alternatives from plant-based and cell-based sources as solutions to the climate crisis.
words of wisdom
“Since the fossil fuel and animal agriculture industries are permanently degrading Earth’s habitability, and every aspect of human life and civilization obviously depends on that habitability, any elementary school student could tell you we need to end those industries quickly. And yet, we are not doing this.”
— Peter Kalmus, NASA climate scientist and author of “Being the Change: Live Well and Spark a Climate Revolution”.
on the horizon
Photo: NOAA Fisheries
There Are Not Plenty More Fish in the Sea
The recent news that for the first time, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game cancelled the winter snow crab season is a major blow to the US seafood industry and yet another example of declining fish stocks. There were an estimated 11.7 billion snow crabs in 2018 but an 80% decline in population means there are only 1.9 billion today. It looks like another “canary in the coal mine” moment for the climate crisis causing warming waters to shrink cold-water habitat in the Bering Sea.
A report from Carlotte Lucas of the Good Food Institute, presented at a major seafood trade fair in Europe recently, shared worrying data on fishing and the state of our oceans, and highlighted the importance and enormous potential of plant-based and cell-based meat technologies to meet some of the demand.
According to the report, more than 90% of our oceans are now either overfished or fished to their limits and aquaculture is only expected to keep pace in 17 countries, and 800 million people are at risk of malnutrition if the local catch continues to decline.
Europe, for example, imports 3x more seafood than it produces and nearly half of EU marine habitats have been assessed as either endangered or near threatened, mainly due to pollution, fishing and aquaculture. Industrial fishing and aquaculture deplete species, pollute ecosystems and destroy vital habitats from coral reefs to seagrass meadows.
The opportunity is huge but so is the scale and urgency of the challenge. Plant-based seafood sales are still very small—but they are growing and, according to BCG/Blue Horizon, the alternative seafood market is set to expand by 22% between 2020 and 2025, and a further 28% in the following five years.
Plant-based tuna. Photo: Good Catch
Alternative seafood does have some advantages e.g., production isn’t limited to coastal regions, transportation costs and spoilage are lower and, as seafood is often more expensive than meats such as beef and chicken, alternatives can compete with conventional seafood on price more quickly. Also, thanks to advances in technology, it’s possible for this food to be as nutritious as the seafood it is replacing.
From 3-D printed products to the world’s first cultivated seafood product (made from cells), new offerings are expected to arrive within the next couple of years. Although breaded whitefish remains the most common product, companies are developing everything from cod and salmon to lobster and caviar.
While the sector is less mature than plant-based meat or dairy, investment is increasing, and major global brands are getting involved. This is especially true in Asia where more seafood is consumed per capita than anywhere else in the world. According to GFI APAC, alternative seafood companies raised US$175 million last year—nearly twice the amount raised in 2020—and more than 120 companies are currently developing seafood alternatives. Green Queen Media also tracks the growth of plant-based and cultivated seafood alternatives in Asia.
Cultivated seafood: Photo: Wildtype Foods
And it’s not just plant-based seafood that’s offering potential. The cultivated meat space is booming too. Shiok Meats recently partnered with Vietnam’s largest shrimp producer to develop cultivated seafood. Singapore’s Umami Meats announced plans to partner with MeaTech on 3D-printed cultivated seafood. In July, South Korea’s Cellmeat said its cell-based Dokdo Shrimp is market-ready pending regulatory approval.
It is still early stages in the market for cultivated seafood, but consumer research conducted by Shiok Meat showed that 78% of Singaporeans are open to trying these products. In Hong Kong, the number is 95%.
However, as promising as it looks, a lot more private—not to mention government—investment will be needed to scale up and accelerate open access research and regulatory paths to market for the alternative seafood sector. Only then can we stop worrying about how few fish there are in the sea!
deeper dive
This “86% Solution” is 100% Misleading
Headlines about rising food costs, the global food system shock caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the climate crisis, are focusing more attention on how our food is produced.
But an informed public debate about complex food system issues is being undermined by simplistic soundbites or tweets—often employed by vested economic interests seeking to deflect criticism or forestall changes.
One example is the claim that 86% of all animal feed is unfit for human consumption, implying that animal farming uses the waste from farming for human food. The research behind this figure shows the opposite: animal feed competes with food security. One food system and greenwashing expert Spencer Roberts follows the science to expose the fallacy of this deflection tactic. The “86% solution” is an example of a soundbite that is true in and of itself but, without context, is 100% misleading. More on that in a moment.
It’s part of a comprehensive strategy of deception used by incumbent industries and their sympathetic policy makers to protect narrow economic interests and obstruct climate policies designed to benefit humanity and the planet. These strategies employed by the tobacco and fossil fuel industries are well documented in The Merchants of Doubt and continue today, and also in a new book The Playbook: How to Deny Science, Sell Lies, and Make a Killing in the Corporate World.
Similar strategies are being employed by livestock industry giants to question the science of climate change, embrace minimalist changes as a solution and forestall climate policies that could reduce their profits. Only recently, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said, “we cannot afford slow movers, fake movers or any form of greenwashing.”
Source: Redefining Agricultural Yields, E.S. Cassidy et al., Environmental Research Letters
The “86% solution” fits that description. Roberts’s rebuttal includes:
Byproducts and crop residues comprise less than 25% of animal feed used globally. The vast majority is either taken from pasture or grown explicitly for animal feed. This consumes 33% of global crop production, yet only 12% of that becomes human food.
Grain used for animal feed by the US alone could feed close to a billion people. Animal agriculture drives hunger by reducing the food supply. If we want to fight food shortages and hunger, we need to redirect yields and use land to grow food for humans to consume directly.
Grass-feeding is framed as the ecological alternative to feedlots, yet it drives more than half of tropical deforestation. To meet global meat demand by feeding everyone pasture-fed animals, we would need more land than exists on the planet. And grass-fed beef is not a climate solution because pastures and soil do not sequester as much carbon as the industry claims. It remains one of the highest GHG emitting foods one can consume.
“Inedible to humans” is not a synonym for food waste. The reality is that the process of converting feed to food through animal agriculture involves more food loss than all the food waste in our whole agricultural system.
If we grew food directly for human consumption, we would need less than a quarter of the agricultural land we use today and cut food emissions and water pollution in half.
“The myth that feed production for animal agriculture does not compete with human food security is part of a coordinated misinformation campaign by the meat industry,” Spencer says. “The truth is that the inequitable distribution of food required for farming animal products is a primary driver of global food insecurity.”
Another misdirection from livestock producers has become an industry talking point.
“We can’t cut back meat consumption because this is a key protein source for farmers/consumers in the developing world.”
The facts are consumers in some developing world countries may need to increase meat consumption for sufficient protein. But consumers in the meat-centric developed world will need to significantly scale back meat and dairy consumption to meet climate, environmental and biodiversity goals. And with agriculture producing 35% of human-caused global GHG emissions, nations in the developed world cannot meet the Paris climate targets without addressing food system emissions.
Our challenge is to look deeper than the sound bite or single fact. We need to beware of simplistic solutions and look for those that take into account the interconnected nature of climate, environmental, health, biodiversity and animal welfare issues. One tweet won’t advance the debate towards holistic solutions.
One comprehensive solution that meets this test is for consumers in the developed world to shift to a plant-rich/low-meat diet to lower the amount of land and resources deployed for livestock and feed crops, cut emissions, reduce biodiversity loss and send fewer animals to slaughter—a win for people, animals and the climate.
Animal Welfare
justice for some, not for others
Two recent trials produced contrasting verdicts. In the Smithfield Foods piglet case, two activists facing years behind bars were acquitted after rescuing two sick piglets from a hog farm in Utah. The rescue shone a light on the treatment of animals on factory farms—including the use of tiny gestation crates for pregnant sows which the company had promised to phase out. The piglets? [See left] now fully grown, Lily and Lizzie (with their rescuers) at an animal sanctuary.
Meanwhile in Canada, animal advocates are facing jail time (they were sentenced to 30 days) after entering a hog farm which had previously been exposed for horrific cruelty to pigs. Yet no charges have ever been laid against the farm. Animal Justice’ Executive director Camille Labchuk, said: the activists “have been treated far more severely than nearly every Canadian farm that has been convicted of animal cruelty.”
Good news
EU Tightens Deforestation Rules
The EU has voted to extend its new law against agricultural imports linked to overseas deforestation to include corn, poultry and pork, according to Carbon Brief. The law aims to ensure these products are “deforestation-free”–meaning they do not contribute to forest loss anywhere along their supply chain.
The new law originally included six commodities: palm oil, cocoa, coffee, beef, soya and timber. While heralded by environmentalists and climate advocates, the expanded list is controversial and is getting pushback from the farm animal feed industry and some EU member nations.
data points
Plant-Based Protein Drives Down Emissions
If just 11% of protein consumption was alternative or plant-based by 2035, it would have the same impact on emissions as decarbonizing 95% of the aviation industry says the Boston Consulting Group.
Food Program Is Helping Cool the Climate
Early adopters of the Cool Food Pledge reduced food-related GHG emissions per plate by 21% through 2021 after serving 840 million low-carbon plant-based dishes and encouraging diners to make climate-friendly choices.
The Cool Food program helps major food providers serve up healthy, climate-friendly meals. Participants include food service companies, hotels, restaurants, hospitals, cities, and universities, mostly in Europe and North America, and the program is well ahead of its goal to reduce absolute emissions by 25% and emissions per plate by 38% by 2030.
Canada’s Largest City Shows Significant Interest in Plant-Based Food
A recent poll showed two-thirds of Greater Toronto Area (GTA) residents want to reduce their meat consumption. The survey conducted by Angus Reid on behalf of VegTo, Plant-Based Canada and Animal Justice also showed:
85% are aware of the impact of animal products on the environment
94% want more plant-based food options in public spaces
70% had tried vegan products in the last year including meat, milk and cheese, and at restaurants
70% would eat cell-based meat
87% support legislation to protect farmed animals
charting our path
Beating Back Superbugs
Source: Keep Antibiotics Working
Changes to how we use antibiotic drugs to treat people and farm animals can turn the tide of antibiotic-resistant superbugs that currently kill 750,000 people per year globally.
If we don’t change course, British medical experts and scientists have warned that it will mean the “end of modern medicine,” a peril more serious than the climate crisis and one that could kill 10 million people per year by 2050.
Antibiotic resistance is caused by the overuse and misuse of these crucial drugs in human healthcare and animal farming.
Source: WHO
One answer is advocates in Europe as well as the US Keep Antibiotics Working (KAW) coalition which is calling for a 50% reduction in the use of antibiotics in food animals by 2025.
KAW focuses on medically important antibiotics—those that are used in both animal agriculture and human medicine. Its main goal is to get farms to raise animals in ways that prevent illness in the first place to help ensure antibiotics are preserved for disease treatment only.
riveting reads
1. The care of millions of companion animals offers a big opportunity to reduce their carbon footprints (CNN) Our pets are part of the climate problem. These tips can help you minimize their carbon pawprints
2. The slow-down in sales of plant-based meat has cast doubt on its longer-term success but, not so fast, says this report (The Washington Post) The Plant-Based Meat Movement Is Down but Not Out
3. Take a tour of the evidence that animals are sentient and capable of emotion (National Geographic) What are animals thinking? They feel empathy, grieve, seek joy just like us.
4. The stakes are high in the US Supreme Court’s ruling on California’s Proposition 12 (The New York Times) The Supreme Court Could Decide the Fate of America’s Pregnant Pigs
5. An animal rescue advocate explains the precedent-setting significance of his acquittal (The New York Times) A Utah Jury Acquitted Two Animal Rights Activists
6. Fishes, so often not considered worthy of care for their welfare, gain an important win (The Guardian) Farmed fish feel pain, stress and anxiety and must be killed humanely, global regulator accepts