The FAO roadmap was published at the Cop28 climate summit in December and accepts that diets “absolutely must [change] for human and planetary health”. But its 120 actions do not include reducing meat and dairy consumption in nations where most people already eat unhealthy amounts. Instead, many of the FAO’s recommendations are to intensify the efficiency of animal farming techniques.
“It’s very striking: the FAO doesn’t include one of the clearest interventions that would help meet both environmental and health targets,” said Cleo Verkuijl, of the Stockholm Environment Institute US and one of the eight authors of the commentary from academic institutions in the US, the Netherlands and Brazil.
“Also really surprising is the fact that the FAO completely dismisses alternative proteins,” she said. These had been shown to have far smaller environmental impacts than conventional meat but the FAO claimed, without providing evidence, that plant-based meats had “nutritional deficiencies”, the experts said.
A report from the UN Environment Programme (Unep), published in December, said “alternatives to animal products such as meat and dairy may contribute to significantly reducing the environmental footprint of the current global food system”.
[video description: a video by thegentlebarn. it starts with a clip of people grooming a cow's snout with the caption, "5 signs a cow is truly ✨ happy ✨." each of the captions describing the signs is accompanied by clips of cows exhibiting them. they are:
"1. they expose their belly for tummy rubs as a sign that they trust you 2. they initiate gentle physical contact like licking or hugging you 3. they're chewing cud - this means they feel safe & their digestive system is doing its thing 👍 4. zoomies! just like with dogs, this is most often a playful, happy behavior 5. they make a 'purring' sound - cows do this when they're extremely relaxed and content. it's like a big exhale"
in the background is peaceful instrumental music.]
people just love to appropriate poverty struggles and classicism when they are challenged on their own consumption habits.
veganism is bad because some people live in food deserts (even though they don't)
no one can critizise fast fashion and ultra consumption of clothing because it's just so classist to say we shouldn't support slave labor (ignoring the fact that "poor" people are not buying 70 new items of clothing a year)
framing the demand for fundamental change, and the actions supporting it as intolerant as those horrible existing systems, because accountability is scary, and changing your lifestyle is hard.
if you cannot make a certain change right now, that's ok. activism groups largely know and account for that. but you should ask yourself: "can i actually not do this? or am i just unwilling to give up a priviledge i have?" because there is a difference