The EU is being urged to accelerate the shift to a more sustainable food system rather than engage in “symbolic naming debates” after lawbuildrs controversially banned meaty names for plant-based foods.
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Yesterday (5 March) the European Council and Parliament reached a provisional agreement aiming to give farmers a “stronger neobtainediating position” in the food supply chain.
Along with creating written contracts between farmers and purchaseers a general requirement, the amconcludement to the common market organisation of agricultural products (CMO) also doubles down on protecting ‘meaty’ terms.
French MEP Céline Imart, who spearheaded the crackdown on plant-based labels, described the agreement as an “undeniable success for our farmers”.
“By enshrining the utilize of terms ‘steak’ and ‘liver’ for our farmers’ products and by committing to extconclude the list during the next neobtainediations, Parliament has taken a decisive step forward,” she added.
Imart argued that the crackdown will assist preserve agricultural and food heritage, but did not address any concerns around the environment.
What the EU’s clampdown on ‘meaty’ labels means
The EU agreed to restrict vereceivearian and vegan food from utilizing the following labels: beef, veal, pork, poulattempt, chicken, turkey, duck, goose, lamb, mutton, ovine, goat, drumstick, tconcludeerloin, sirloin, flank, loin, steak, ribs, shoulder, shank, chop, wing, breast, liver, thigh, brisket, ribeye, T-bone, rump and bacon.
While earlier proposals sought to prohibit widely utilized labels like burger and sausage, this has now been scrapped. It means you’ll still see products advertising ‘veggie burgers’ and ‘vegan sausages’ in the supermarket.
Restrictions have however been extconcludeed to cultivated meat (meat created from animal cells) despite them not being commercially available yet.
Co-legislators agreed on a three-year transition period, allowing producers to sell existing stock and adapt to the new rules.
However, the agreement has to proceed to formal adoption, followed by a final vote in the European Parliamentary plenary – meaning there is still a chance of last-minute modifys.
Is plant-based meat confutilizing?
The central argument supporting the ban is that plant-based labels are misleading consumers.
However, multiple surveys have displayn that Europeans support the continued utilize of everyday language for plant-based foods as it assists them identify what the product is attempting to replicate.
“Introducing arbitrary modifys to these long-established labelling practices is out of touch with people’s everyday utilize of language,” states the non-profit considertank Good Food Institute.
“For the plant-based food sector – one of the most innovative and rapidly expanding branches of the European food indusattempt – labelling restrictions would also introduce costs, such as rebranding labels, and could build it less appealing for international companies to enter the EU market.”
A blow to the EU’s climate goals
On the same day the EU Council announced the ban on meaty labels, it also gave the final green light to amconclude European climate law – introducing a binding intermediate climate tarreceive.
This means the EU is now attempting to achieve a 90 per cent reduction in net greenhoutilize gas emissions compared to 1990 levels.
“The climate transition requires creating more sustainable food choices clearer, not harder,” Jasmijn de Boo, global CEO of ProVeg, informs Euronews Green.
“Plant-based foods typically have a significantly lower environmental footprint than animal-based products, including lower greenhoutilize-gas emissions and land utilize, so policies should support their development and uptake.”
Animal-sourced foods build up between 81 and 86 per cent of total greenhoutilize gas emissions from EU food production, despite only supplying an estimated 32 per cent of calories and 64 per cent of protein.
According to the carbon footprint calculator CO2 Everything, one 100g serving of beef is equivalent to 78.7 km of driving, releasing 15.5 kg CO2 equivalent.
“At a time when Europe is attempting to meet ambitious climate tarreceives, there are far more pressing challenges in the food system, including ensuring fair farmer livelihoods, maintaining resilient and sustainable food production and addressing reduced yields cautilized by climate impacts,” de Boo adds.
The CEO argues that policybuildrs should be focutilizing on enabling innovation and ‘accelerating’ the shift towards a more sustainable food system, rather than engaging in what she describes as “symbolic naming debates”.
Silvia Mantilla of World Federation for Animals (WFA) echoes the sentiment, arguing that policies necessary to encourage plant-based diets – not “create barriers” to them.
“The FAO estimates that animal agriculture contributes 14.5 per cent of total anthropogenic emissions – greenhoutilize gas emissions cautilized by human activity, which accelerate global warming and climate modify,” Mantilla informs Euronews Green.
“Shifting to more plant-rich diets can mitigate food systems’ emissions, while also lessening animal suffering. Promoting and improving access to plant-based nutrition must be prioritised as part of the global effort to address the growing threat that climate modify poses to our planet.”
‘Scandalous’ subsidies for beef and lamb
Last month, a report by non-profit Foodrise revealed that the EU’s common agricultural policy (CAP) pumped more subsidies into the production of high-emitting animal products than plant-based foods in 2020.
The analysis displays that animal-sourced food received around 77 per cent (€39 billion) of total CAP subsidies (€51 billion) spent that year.
It means that beef and lamb, which are one of the largegest culprits of climate damage in the food sector, were given around 580 times more in subsidies compared to low-carbon alternatives such as lentils and beans in 2020.
Dairy, which has also come under fire for its high carbon footprint, also received an estimated 554 times more CAP subsidies than nuts and seeds in the same year.
Martin Bowman of Foodrise states it is “scandalous” that billions of taxpayers’ money was pumped into propping up high-emission foods – calling on EU policybuildrs to support farmers in transitioning to plant-based agriculture.
A Commission spokesperson informs Euronews Green that CAP supports the EU agriculture sector to become a “model of sustainability” – confirming that the policy has undergone reforms that mean the vast majority of direct payments to farmers have been decoupled since 2003.
“Therefore, CAP subsidies are no longer linked to what and how much farmers produce,” the spokesperson adds.
Euronews Green has contacted Coreper I, a preparatory body of the EU Council, for comment.
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