Given that current food production and consumption patterns play a large role in changing the climate, what food policies ought we adopt to keep our planet habitable?
The Germans are considering taxing meat to decrease consumption, as we do to deal with the externalities of other things we buy:
…raising livestock is one of the most environmentally harmful activities out there, because it uses up so much food, water, land, and energy, and because cattle produce so much methane. As a major United Nations report highlighted this week, fighting climate change requires us to make sweeping changes to how we use land and grow food (shifting to a more plant-based diet will help). It’s worth noting that a meat-heavy diet also comes with health risks, from heart disease to obesity to antibiotic resistance.
In other words, meat consumption has hidden costs: When we indulge in it on a large scale, we do damage to the climate and to our health that our societies have to pay for down the line. When we tax harmful products like this, it’s called a “sin tax” [Sigal Samuel, “We Put a ‘Sin Tax’ on Cigarettes and Alcohol. Why Not Meat?” Vox, 2019.08.11].
Given the United States is one of the meat-eatin’est countries in the world, we may have some trouble selling that idea.
So how about a less provocative solution: waste less food by labeling expiration dates more consistently?
Date labels on food packages are many and varied, and all too often misunderstood—leading to unnecessary food (and money) waste. In fact, up to 40 percent of all food goes uneaten in the United States. Now, twin bills making their way through the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives aim to standardize the language on food date labels, helping take a bite out of the problem.
“Tons of perfectly good food and money are trashed every day, in supermarkets and in our own homes, because of confusing date labels,” says Elizabeth Balkan, director of food waste at NRDC.
The bipartisan Food Date Labeling Act has recently been introduced by Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal, Maine Representative Chellie Pingree, and Washington Representative Dan Newhouse. “By streamlining food date labels nationwide and educating people about what they mean,” Balkan says, “this legislation will help reduce this unnecessary waste” [Natural Resource Defense Council, “Confused by Food Date Labels? Congress Aims to Set Them Straight,” 2019.08.01].
An American household throws away an average of $1,500 of food a year. Better labels could save us money. Less food waste would lower greenhouse gas emissions by lowering demand and production and by diverting food from landfills, where it produces more greenhouse gases than it would if properly composted…
…speaking of which, Rep. Pingree has proposed a broader Food Recovery Act that includes some composting provisions:
- Direct USDA to establish composting as a conservation practice eligible for support under USDA’s conservation programs.
- Support food waste-to-energy projects at the farm, municipal, and county levels, while ensuring that edible food that could feed hungry people is not being diverted to energy production.
- Create an infrastructure fund to support states in constructing large-scale composting and food waste-to-energy facilities [Congresswoman Chellie Pingree, “Summary: H.R. 3444, the Food Recovery Act,” retrieved 2019.08.12].
There’s nothing wrong with taxing harmful products to help us pay for the damage they do to the planet. But there’s also nothing wrong with trying out alternative methods of avoiding that damage in the first place, like reducing and more effectively recycling the food we throw out.
Food consumption? When will you say we have too many people and need to start eliminating?
Great post with some excellent ideas. Let’s call it, “The Green New Diet”. Partially because it dovetails with our liberal agenda and partially because it irritates the “slow to adapt”.
(Issue after issue has shown that irritation and ridicule are two of our most effective weapons.)
Marty Two Bulls has a very good cartoon on Environmental Error’s Bristol Bay, Alaska disaster.
https://www.gocomics.com/m2bulls/2019/08/11
Pearson, Rancid Racist has already said that.
😆😆😆😆😆
“Sell By, Best if used by, Freshest on,” etc. Definitely confusing. I use food until one of my senses tells me it may make me sick. When possible, if it’s nearing spoilage, I freeze it.
How about one label that says “Unsafe to Eat on”?
A few thoughts:
If you change sell by dates how will Dollar General exist?
The public throwing out $1500 worth of food every year tell’s me that maybe food is too cheap!
Instead of putting a tax on meat maybe the producer ought to be payed a decent price for it in the first place and maybe when the price goes up because of scarcity we shouldn’t immediately throw open our borders to what ever country happens to be willing to undercut us.
Cow calf producers are aware that historically you only got 2 or maybe 3 periods in your life to make your fortune in cattle. A thing called the cattle cycle that I won’t get into. Our last chance came in 2015 when we hit that shortage in the cycle. Historically that should last 3 or 4 years. The powers that be killed it in one by bringing in beef from everywhere. Suddenly South American hoof and mouth disease wasn’t considered a danger anymore.
“Edible food that could feed hungry people isn’t diverted to energy production.”
Wow, how is it that people that think like this get any credibility!
People are now just too far away from their food production to have any sense. If we consume too much meat I have the solution. MAKE IT ALL SAFER! Lets go to non confinement of livestock with no antibiotics and lets grow them on organically raised feed! That would be the only meat that could be sold. The public would be much healthier.
And then there was the Secretary of Agriculture joking? that farmers are whiners.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/sonny-perdue-whining-farmers-angry-reaction_n_5d51e64ce4b0c63bcbec0c10
I, mike from iowa, volunteer Steve Pearson as the very first eliminatee. Drumpf crime family syndicate as second eliminatee. Buh-bye.
Because of climate change, SD leads the nation in acres prevented from planting. The Progressive Farmer uses numbers from the Farm Services Agency that show nearly 4 million acres were not planted. Minnesota is in the next group with almost one million acres not planted. IOW, SD is far and away ahead in this dubious race.
Details are here: dtnpf. Com
What do you call two farmers in a basement?
“At a Farmfest listening session with farmers in Minnesota, Perdue hit back at the complaints with his joke: “What do you call two farmers in a basement? A whine cellar.”
As he pounded the table in mirth, some of the thousands of farmers at the event laughed nervously — which was followed by boos.
“It was definitely not an appropriate thing to say,” Minnesota Farmers Union President Gary Wertish told HuffPost. “It was very insensitive. It took everyone by surprise. He doesn’t understand what farmers are dealing with, and he’s the head of the Department of Agriculture. He’s supposed to be working for farmers.”
Steve: “When will you say we have too many people and need to start eliminating?”
Isn’t that the center of GOP/Conservative/Right policy? Too many people want health care, so make it a commodity some cannot afford (therefore let some die to preserve coverage for those who can afford); cut food assistance so those who cannot afford it just starve off; eliminate immigration so the US can horde its wealth (and let others die on the other side of the wall). Steve, you have endorsed “death panels,” “rationed health care,” homelessness, and starvation; but you think because you wash it in capitalism or “market forces” it comes out clean. It does not. Worse, you perpetuate a rigged system to keep the poor poor – to purposefully eliminate.
Democratic states are trying to combat climate change by dragging Environmental Enemy into court.
“A coalition of 21 Democratic-led states sued the Trump administration Tuesday over its decision to ease restrictions on coal-fired power plants, with California’s governor saying the president is trying to rescue an outdated industry.”
“The lawsuit was filed by attorneys general in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia.
“‘The science is indisputable; our climate is changing. Ice caps are melting. Sea levels are rising. Weather is becoming more and more extreme,’ New York Attorney General Letitia James, who is leading the coalition, said in a statement. ‘Rather than staying the course with policies aimed at fixing the problem and protecting people’s health, safety, and the environment, the Trump Administration repealed the Clean Power Plan and replaced it with this ‘Dirty Power’ rule.’
“The states were joined by six local governments: Boulder, Colorado; Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City, Philadelphia and South Miami, Florida.
“The EPA’s analysis of the new rules predicts an extra 300 to 1,500 people will die each year by 2030 because of additional air pollution from the power grid.”
“‘It’s more of a fossil fuel protection plan,’ California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said.
“It would replace the Clean Power Plan, which would require cutting emissions fossil fuel-burning power plants. Becerra said that was expected to eliminate as much climate change pollution as is emitted by more than 160 million cars a year, the equivalent of 70 percent of the nation’s passenger cars, and was projected to prevent up to 3,600 additional deaths annually.”
http://strib.mn/2Mh3K0x