The Swiss government has launched a new climate strategy for its agriculture sector, which aims to make its food system more sustainable and secure over the next few decades.
Called the 2050 Climate Strategy for Agriculture and Food, it wants its national food system to become ‘more sustainable by reducing greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture while helping agriculture adapt to climate change‘.
And one of the ways it believes this is achievable is by reducing meat consumption, with some experts saying that the Swiss eat too much.
Among them is Michael Beer of the Federal Office for Food Safety and Veterinary Affairs (FOSV), who said: “Two to three portions of meat a week is a maximum from a health point of view. We are eating three times too much.”
This is the perspective adopted by the strategy, which notes that a plant-heavy diet which is lower in meat can be beneficial for both human health and the planet.
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Climate strategy response from meat sector
Organisations promoting the consumption of meat have commented on the strategy, with the Swiss Farmers’ Union saying it welcomes making adaptations to agriculture to help the climate.
However, it says that it believes that limiting meat consumption and animal farming is not the answer, and adds it wants to ensure that farmers maintain an income that is ‘comparable with that of other sectors of the economy’.
The British Meat Processors Association (BMPA) has also commented on the proposals, with sustainability manager Lucas Daglish saying: “Policy decisions should be made using scientifically robust metrics that accurately distinguish between different farming systems.”
He added: “If political or social engineering drives people to make what they think are more environmentally friendly choices by steering them away from natural, nutritious whole foods towards unhealthy, highly processed substitutes, then a decline in public health will be one of the unintended consequences.”
Meat and the environment
However, a number of studies have suggested that animal farming is harmful to the planet, supporting the Swiss government’s suggestion to slash meat consumption.
Speaking about the consumption of meat when it comes to the climate, charity Greenpeace has said: “Meat is an important part of heritage and identity. It’s a cultural staple in many communities across the globe. But with a rising global middle class, societies are becoming meat obsessed.
“Nowhere else is this more prevalent than rich nations whose appetite for beef, pork and processed chicken have reached a tipping point. The research is clear — a diet heavy in meat increases the risk of obesity, cancer and heart disease.
“But it also makes the planet sick. The livestock sector – raising cows, pigs and chickens – generates as much greenhouse gas emissions as all cars, trucks and automobiles combined…We’re not advocating that everyone adopt a ‘meatless’ diet tomorrow. But we all must develop ‘meat consciousness”’ and reduce the level of meat in our diets.”
It added that shifting towards more plant-based foods is ‘essential’ when it comes to ‘combatting climate change, soil, air and water pollution, ocean dead zones, and myriad other problems caused by industrial livestock production’.
Did you know that agriculture harms the planet? Find out more about how farming is destroying our environment
Featured photo © CharlieAJA via Getty Images
