While activism directly at the farm and plant level can seem the most threatening and give us the most immediate heartburn, sometimes the longer-term, higher-level issues can ultimately have the biggest impact on the way we do business in animal agriculture. That’s why the Alliance does a lot of monitoring of trending topics such as sustainable nutrition, and why I’ve spent time in this blog offering updates on events such as the UN Food Systems Summit.

On the UNFSS front, there isn’t much news to report beyond that we anticipate a “stocktaking” event to be held in November 2023 (two years after the initial Summit). Most of the efforts between now and then seem to be taking place within the various Coalitions of Action that formed as part of the summit. One flag for all of the meat community to be aware of: international activist group Compassion in World Farming is involved in several of those coalitions and working to promote its view of “sustainable livestock” (which basically amounts to a belief that livestock are not sustainable). CIWF is joined in these efforts by 50x40, an international group dedicated to “cutting the global production and consumption of animal products by 50% by 2040.” While the UNFSS itself seems to have passed with little tangible impact on animal agriculture, we all need to continue to engage in the ongoing discussions to make sure our perspective on sustainable livestock is represented.

COP27 in November presents another forum where we can be sure that adversarial voices will be looking for opportunities to share calls for a global shift to plant-based diets in the name of sustainability. While there were rumors of a dedicated day of programming focused on food or agriculture during the event, the list of themed days has been published and that does not seem to have come to fruition. However, similar to COP26, even if food and agriculture are not a major focus of the official discussions, activist groups will be hosting side events and taking advantage of media focus to voice their disappointment about that fact and call for more focus on the environmental impact of the food system. As with the UNFSS process, the international meat and animal agriculture communities must ensure we’re at the table so that positive voices are heard as well.

On the domestic front, the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health is taking shape for September – the first of its kind in over 50 years. The last event resulted in many significant food policies that continue to have a major impact, including SNAP, WIC and school meal programs, so the conference certainly has the attention of many in the food community. While sustainability and food production practices have not entered the discussion thus far and indications are that they will not be part of the event’s scope, it’s a certainty that organizations focused on those topics will be using the conference process (which includes opportunities to hold listening sessions and submit comments) to promote their perspectives. We’ve already heard from attendees of some of the early White House-hosted listening sessions that animal rights organizations were vocally participating.

In the words of one of our esteemed Alliance board members, “we have to talk about what we’re for – not just what we’re against.” These important domestic and international discussions about nutrition and sustainability give us a fantastic opportunity to do just that, as the meat and animal agriculture community have wonderful stories to tell about our commitment to producing sustainable, nutritious and accessible food. It’s up to all of us to make sure we’re stepping up in every forum possible to make that message heard.

COP27, White House Conference on Nutrition both events to watch for animal agriculture

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