If there’s one thing that gets me in a tizzy, it’s when leaders make ill-informed food choices for the rest of us just because they happen to think it’s better for our world.
This is exactly what the Mayor of Minneapolis, Jacob Frey, did in July when he signed a proclamation encouraging plant-based eating in July.
The proclamation, coming on the heels of the U.S. rejecting the Paris Agreement, urged Minneapolis city staff and residents “to make an effort to eat plant-based food and choose plant-based products in furtherance of our environmental goals, and celebrate our ongoing commitment to exceed the standards put forth in the Paris Agreement by doing our part right here in Minneapolis.” (The Paris Agrement, through the United Nations, deals with greenhouse-gas-emissions mitigation, adaptation, and finance, starting in the year 2020.)
It’s frustrating to see the mayor of Minneapolis so quickly and easily dismiss the valuable contributions of Minnesota’s many citizens and businesses that rely on animal agriculture as their livelihood.
What’s worse, Mayor Frey did so while touting false information.
That’s not right – and it’s irresponsible.
Mayor Frey cited statistics recently that claim raising animals for food produces more greenhouse gas than all cars, airplanes and other transportation methods combined.
This is simply not true.
According to the U. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), animal agriculture accounts for only 3.8 percent of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions while transportation accounts for 28 percent and energy accounts for another 28 percent.
Furthermore, research (found here) from Frank Mitloehner, PhD, professor and air quality specialist at the University of California, Davis, shows that even with these relatively low contributions to total greenhouse gas emissions, the U.S. livestock sector has shown considerable progress and commitment to continually reducing its environmental footprint.
Dr. Jude Capper, an independent Livestock Sustainability Consultant based in the United Kingdom, reiterates this in a paper she wrote here and she notes some key statistics for the U.S.:
- Compared to 1944, U.S. dairy producers use 77% less feed, 90% less land, 65% less water and have achieved a 63% reduction in the carbon footprint per gallon of milk
- The beef industry uses 19% less feed, 12% less water, 33% less land and has a 16% lower carbon footprint than production systems characteristic of the 1970’s
- Pork producers in the U.S. use 67% less feed than they did in 1959, with concurrent reductions in water use (41%), land use (22%) and carbon footprint (35%)
- The resources used to produce one dozen eggs have been cut considerably (74% less feed, 68% less water and 69% less energy) since 1960. (You can read more about eggs’ environmental footprint in my blog posts here.)
I heard Dr. MItloehner speak about his work last May at the 2018 Animal Agriculture Alliance Summit in Virginia and he doesn’t take these false claims about environmental impact lightly. He urged us to consider the real impacts of what we eat.
Consider this: If we all went meatless one a day a week (e.g. “Meatless Mondays”), we would reduce the impact on greenhouse gas emissions by 0.6 percent. Certainly not the large impact Mayor Frey and fringe groups – like the Environmental Working Group, PETA, and others – like to tout.
What if, instead, we as a nation worked collectively on reducing the amount of food that goes to waste every single day? Dr. Mitloehner told us at the Animal Ag Alliance Summit that 40 percent of food in the U.S. is wasted, and 1 in 3 calories around the world is wasted. What a gigantic impact we could have if we worked toward fixing this problem!
This month, Mayor Frey and a local vegan/vegetarian restaurant (Fig + Farro) hosted the first in a series of monthly climate change events that claimed to bring together experts, policy stakeholders, and community members to discuss how food choices affect the environment.
I wonder if any livestock farmers were invited?
Probably not with the restaurant’s mission statement reading as such:
See, the thing is … we’re all in this world together. Consumers need farmers, farmers need consumers, and I think it’s pretty safe to say we can all get behind the need for protecting our environment. But cutting out one entire group of Minnesotans, whose profession – and make no mistake about it, farming is a profession – is a pretty crappy way to work together.
To Mayor Frey, I say this: farmers feed their own families and ours; they fuel their rural community’s vitality and often visit your great city of Minneapolis, as well, to spend their money; they also provide foodstuffs to countless restaurant across this state; and all of this contributes jobs and income to the state’s economy. I hope you reconsider promoting veganism as a way to enhance environmental sustainability.
Let’s work together to preserve land and keep farmers in business. Now that’s a win-win I can support.
Learn More:
- Jude Capper’s blog
- Dr. Frank Mitloehner article and Twitter account
- Animal Agriculture Alliance