A meat tax1 is a tax levied on meat and other animal products to help cover the health and environmental costs of using animals for food.
But why are we even talking about Meat Tax? Because
Global food systems account for over one-third of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
Livestock drinks over 50% of the freshwater supply.
Animals provide only 1% to 10% of the calories they eat as feed and 4-20% of the protein content.
To me, it is a bit tough topic to discuss because of my biases as a hard-core libertarian on one side and vegan on the other side. I truly believe in personal choices, but if those personal choices affect the people, planet, and animals. This is my planet as much as it is for you, animals are my friends, so it is my responsibility to reduce harm to my planet and animals (friends).
In the facade of climate action, the concept of meat eating is either ignored or just put on the shelf because of people's biases regarding meat. But to me, if we don't pay for the climate & biodiversity damages that our foods cause, then who will? It is not just that eating meat is even harmful to humans from a health perspective, so Meat Tax logically makes sense - if you want to damage the environment, pay for it so that it can be used to buy carbon credits (as an example) if you want to hurt yourself, then similar to a cigarette, pay more to do that because human life is valuable. But to me, if we don't pay for the climate & biodiversity damages that our foods cause, then who will?
This meat tax shouldn’t be just levied on customers. The meat companies should be paid the meat tax, too, because they are the ones who are causing environmental damage, slaughtering innocent animals, and playing with human health.
I recently heard Jeroom Remmers from Ture Animal Protein Price Coalition (TAPP Coalition) about Meat Tax at New Food Invest 2022, hosted by Beyond Animal, organized by ProVeg International, and supported by Beyond Impact VC, a 100% animal-free focused fund, investing in the future of food and material innovation, accelerating the transition towards a kinder, cleaner, and healthier world.
For instance, the total healthcare costs in Europe will decrease by 9 billion euros annually after the actual meat price is introduced. At the same time, this tax will raise 32 billion euros a year. Hear more from Jeroom and his thoughts on this topic - interviewed by China Global Television Network- summarizing the TAPP Coalition EU meat pricing proposal.
Additionally, the meat tax can be used to create a healthcare epidemic fund that can be used when a zoonotic disease like SARS-COVID-19 happens.
According to a paper published in the National Library of Medicine2 on Infectious Diseases and Meat Production, more than 75% of infectious diseases are Zoonotic3.
"Many of these diseases have emerged only recently, such as avian influenza H1N1, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), West Nile virus, Nipah virus, and bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). Moreover, animal farming likely contributes indirectly to the spreading of pathogens from wild animals due to deforestation and biodiversity loss associated with expanding agricultural land use (Civitello et al. 2015). Industrial animal farming is also an incubator for antimicrobial resistance, given that most antibiotics used worldwide are for farmed animals (O’Neill 2015), often for prophylactic use.”
The calculations suggest that the average retail price for meat in high-income countries would need to increase by 35%-56% for beef, 25% for poultry, and 19% for lamb and pork to reflect the environmental costs of their production4.
In a published research article on BMC Public Health5,
“Over 30 years, a 15% or 30% meat tax or 10% F&V subsidy could result in reduced healthcare costs, increased quality of life, and higher productivity levels.”
So, there is a strong case for Meat Tax in my mind that will not only benefit the animals by reducing animal suffering but also will be good for people and the planet. The meat taxes will become a commonly accepted policy measure, just like C02, alcohol, tobacco, sugar, and soft drinks are being taxed.
What do you think? Should we tax the meat?
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Infectious Diseases and Meat Production, National Library of Medicine
Zoonotic diseases are caused by harmful germs like viruses, bacteria, parasites, and fungi.
A meat tax is probably inevitable – here’s how it could work, Franziska Funke, Professor Cameron Hepburn