- FAO, UNDP and UNEP. (2021) A multi-billion-dollar opportunity – Repurposing agricultural support to transform food systems. Rome, FAO.
- European Commission. (2020) Farm to Fork Strategy: For a fair, healthy and environmentally-friendly food system.
- Clark et al. (2020) Global food system emissions could preclude achieving the 1.5° and 2°C climate change targets. Science 370 (6517): 705-708.
What we do
Transforming food policies
The transition to a more plant-based food system has to accelerate, and for that, new food policies are crucial.
Current food policies, both within the EU and beyond, encourage intensive animal production. The negative impact of industrialised farming methods that prioritise quantity goes beyond their detrimental impact on the health and welfare of farmed animals, also impacting the environment, public health and is a main contributor to climate change. Intensive animal farming is the breeding ground for future pandemics and perpetuates antimicrobial resistance.
There is an urgent need to change the food system to more plant-based production and consumption, at the same time increasing the welfare for farmed animals. A reduction in meat, dairy, fish and egg consumption, combined with the development and introduction of alternatives and the uptake of higher welfare animal products, can contribute greatly to this.
The EU Farm to Fork strategy, published in 2020, connects sustainability with improved animal welfare and the need for a dietary shift to more sustainable and healthy plant-based diets. The strategy stresses the “urgent need to improve animal welfare” and recognises the importance of a more plant-based diet in a healthy, sustainable food system. While the strategy is not as ambitious as the animal advocacy movement had desired, particularly in stopping the promotion of meat and shifting the dietary habits of EU citizens, it provides a framework for transforming the food system.
The European Commission has launched a new legislative initiative for a Sustainable Food Systems Framework to ensure all agricultural and food policy is in line with the EU’s sustainability and climate change objectives. We are calling for this new framework law to include animal welfare in its definition of sustainability. To be effective, the new law should also foster food environments that make it easier for people to choose plant-based food in supermarkets and public canteens.
Project 1882 advocates for new and greener food policies through the following goals:
- A substantial reduction in meat, dairy, fish and egg consumption.
In addition to the evident benefits in terms of animal ethics, decreased consumption of animal products contribute to fulfilling several of the UN’s global sustainability goals. Decreased meat consumption is a powerful tool for addressing climate change and decreases the risk of future pandemics.
- A level playing field for plant-based food products, support for development and introduction of alternatives to animal products.
Project 1882 requests a new system of financial incentives to promote increased plant-based food production. The food system has to move away from the traditional subsidies and instead stimulate innovation in the development of plant-based products, including alternative proteins. Investments within the latter sector needs to be further encouraged in order to promote the development and innovation of new products. Simultaneously, revisions of the regulatory framework are necessary in order to abolish promotion/marketing of animal products.
- Higher animal welfare standards.
A pioneering resolution on the animal welfare – environment – sustainable development nexus was adopted at the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA)’s 5th session in 2022. It recognises that animal welfare is supported by a strong body of science, and that it contributes to addressing environmental challenges, promoting the ‘One Health’ approach and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The conditions for higher standards of animal welfare, where each individual animal can be provided proper care, are improved with decreased meat consumption.
The use of antibiotics within the global animal industry entails a major risk for antibiotic resistance, one of the biggest threats to global public health. Furthermore, decreased animal consumption frees up large amounts of land from the production of animal feed, which could instead be used to grow food for humans. Numerous scientific studies conclude that high meat consumption contributes to ill health and diseases like obesity, cardiovascular diseases and cancer.
Facts and research on sustainability aspects of the food system
A recent report released by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) highlights the fact that 90% of global agricultural subsidies are given to food production methods that damage the environment and climate, and contribute to unhealthy food habits, in contrast to the objectives set out in the Paris agreement.1 Subsidies for promoting the production of animal products in countries which have a high consumption of meat are harshly criticized in the report.
Reducing the number of animals while increasing the level of animal welfare will also improve the health of humans and animals by decreasing the risk of diseases and antibiotic resistance, as well as decreasing the risk of future pandemics like Covid-19. The Farm to Fork strategy emphasizes that: “Moving to a more plant-based diet with less red meat and processed meat, and with more fruits and vegetables will reduce not only the risk for life- threatening diseases, but also the environmental impact of the food system.”2 Even if fossil fuel emissions are eliminated, emissions from the global food system, with current levels of consumption of animal proteins, would make it very difficult to keep global warming below 1.5°C and would even make it difficult to keep the level below the two-degree target.3