DOVER — It was thought provoking to learn from a recent Associated Press report that a “state task force with representatives from the meat processing industry is looking for ways to expand capacity for meat processing in Vermont.”
As more and more evidence confirms the environmental effects of meat production as well as the health effects of meat consumption, it seems that Vermont - which seeks to lead the nation by improving public health and by being proactive on climate change - has an opportunity to consider how its future agricultural innovations will align with those goals.
An article in American Agriculturist in November 2012 summarizes a new report put out by the United Nations Environment Programme: “The correlation between increasing meat production and rising greenhouse gas emissions is strong, estimating that animal agriculture's share of total global [greenhouse gas] emissions could be as much as 25 percent.”
And the Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit, non-partisan organization whose mission is to “use the power of public information to protect public health and the environment,” states in a new report (“Meat Eater's Guide to Climate Change plus Health”) that “on the health front, the scientific evidence is increasingly clear that eating too much of these greenhouse gas-intensive meats [...] increases the risk of a wide variety of serious health problems, including heart disease, certain cancers, obesity and, in some studies, diabetes.”
Several publications that analyze food trends have predicted that in 2013 consumers will be altering their protein choices away from meat-based proteins and toward plant-based proteins, including beans, nut butters, and legumes.
Supermarket News foresees a “major shift” in this direction, and topping its list of “2013 Restaurant Food trends,” Restaurant magazine forecasts that “Vegetables [will] take their star turn.”
Interestingly, the Obvious Corporation, an incubator founded by Twitter co-founders Biz Stone and Evan Williams, is backing Beyond Meat, a company that makes plant-based meat substitutes.
An article in Fast Company quotes its founder, Ethan Brown: “There's a misallocation of focus. People haven't focused on this area. So many greenhouse gas emissions are because of livestock.”
Clearly, animal agriculture is an institution in Vermont. However, if scientific data has any influence on both consumer choice and citizen behavior, wouldn't it be worthwhile for agriculturalists to also keep plant-based business ideas in mind?
The Union of Concerned Scientists thinks so. They see economic opportunity in the following discrepancy: although the U.S. Department of Agriculture now recommends in their new dietary guidelines (called “My Plate”) that fruit and vegetables should make up 50 percent of our daily intake, these foods are currently grown on only 2 percent of U.S. farm acres. The Union of Concerned Scientists suggests that “increasing fruit and vegetable production could bring important benefits to local economies.”
Climate change and public health are issues that will increasingly drive public policy, business practice, and personal choice. And they should.
How seriously we factor them into our plans for the future will determine the legacy of our leadership.