SUBSIDIES

A. COCHRANE & M-D. COJOCARU: Discussions around veganism often revolve around questions of what we should eat. Should vegans eat avocados, the production of which is notorious for its harmful environmental and social impact? Should they consume almonds and other crops that involve the use of migratory beekeeping which often leads to disease in bees? Should they buy plant-based burgers from fast-food chains that make their profits from selling animal flesh? But seeing veganism as a political movement enables us to move on from any goals of purity and perfection, and away from futile…

LEAH DOUGLAS: Once the stuff of science fiction, lab grown meat could become reality in some restaurants in the United States as early as this year. Executives at cultivated meat companies are optimistic that meat grown in massive steel vats could be on the menu within months after one company won the go-ahead from a key regulator... But to reach its ultimate destination - supermarket shelves - cultivated meat faces big obstacles, five executives told Reuters. Companies must attract more funding to increase production, which would enable them to offer their beef steaks and chicken breasts…

SAILESH RAO: In our system of normalized violence, deceptions are par for the course. But it is hard to fathom the comical extent to which mainstream media editors go to avoid addressing the Cow in the Room. In the documentary, Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret, Kip Andersen remarks about being in “some strange Cowspiracy Twilight Zone where no one could talk about cows.” I had the same experience last week. Thanks to a nomination by Virginia Bell, I was designated a “Climate Hero” by the Guardian Newspaper in its Down to Earth Newsletter. The editor had this to say about me: “The…

MICHAEL GRUNWALD: Cultivated meat is just one example of techno-innovation’s amazing potential to help fix our food and agriculture problems. Eat Just already sells cultivated chicken in limited amounts in Singapore; I got to try a sample, and it tasted like chicken, because it is chicken, only produced with lower emissions, no manure, no risk of avian flu and no suffering. Meat grown from cells still can’t compete on cost with meat grown inside animals, but Upside’s FDA approval is a big step toward showing American consumers that it’s no longer science fiction... Canary Media constantly…

ALEXANDER LAYBOURNE: Animal cruelty statistics make for harrowing reading. If you have a sensitive disposition, then discretion is advised. While there will be no graphic images below, the matter of animal abuse statistics is upsetting. Abuse happens in many ways. Something mild, seemingly innocent, or even well-intended, can still constitute animal abuse. Animals are majestic creatures, and each breed has a detailed set of care requirements. The true extent of animal cruelty is rarely discussed, with less than 0.01% of abuse cases given media attention. Animal cruelty facts and…

HELENA HORTON: The government has been accused of being “pathetically nervous” about encouraging the public to eat less meat after excluding the aim from a key strategy. The Guardian can reveal that the government’s upcoming land use strategy will not include a reduction in area used for animal agriculture in England. Climate groups have long been urging the government to take steps to reduce meat consumption, and are now accusing ministers of “worsening the cost of living crisis and continuing to lead us towards climate and ecological catastrophe”. Eighty-five per cent of the land that…

DAILY KOS: Climate change (e.g., drought and floods) is putting a spotlight on large corporate farming (agribusiness) that now dominates food production, processing, and distribution. Unfortunately, EPA and states lack sufficient legal oversight and political willingness to address agribusiness’s increasingly negative impact on water quality and greenhouse gases. Yet United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) funds overwhelmingly subsidize agribusiness, and EPA funding and oversight has not sufficiently prodded states to exercise their primary responsibility to regulate agribusiness. The…

JON HOCHSCHARTNER: Recently, the Food and Drug Administration approved the first cultivated-meat product in the United States. For those who don’t know cultivated meat is grown from livestock cells, without slaughter. It’s better for animal welfare, public health and the environment. Cultivated meat will allow us to relegate battery cages, gestation crates and livestock trucks to a less compassionate past. Since animals are removed from the process, our pandemic risk will be greatly reduced. Meanwhile, the greenhouse-gas emissions are a fraction of those needed to raise livestock. Despite…

JILL ETTINGER: A new white paper released by Dutch cultivated meat producer Mosa Meat is urging global leaders to redirect funds from conventional beef production toward cell-based meat cultivation as a viable tool in the fight against climate change. “Beef needs a solution. Industrial meat production continues to accelerate the climate crisis, while the world’s demand for beef is steadily growing,” Maarten Bosch, CEO of Mosa Meat, said in a statement. Animal agriculture accounts for nearly 60 percent of agriculture’s total global emissions. The sector is the second-largest producer of…

EVAGGELOS VALLIANATOS: In 2020, a UN report (Global Biodiversity Outlook 5) warned: “Humanity stands at a crossroads with regard to the legacy it leaves to future generations. Biodiversity is declining at an unprecedented rate, and the pressures driving this decline are intensifying. None of the… Biodiversity Targets will be fully met…The COVID-19 pandemic has further highlighted the importance of the relationship between people and nature, and it reminds us all of the profound consequences to our own well-being and survival that can result from continued biodiversity loss and the…