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Beef and dairy farmers should no longer be paid subsidies and producers of animal products should be treated in the same way as tobacco companies, an influential scientific journal has argued.

Leading journal the Lancet has published a study which claims money currently used to prop up meat and dairy farmers should instead be spent on ‘sustainable farming for healthful food’, such as plant-based alternatives.

Farmers and producers of ‘big food’ should also be banned from lobbying and engaging with governments, according to the study.

The report, titled The Global Syndemic of Obesity, Undernutrition, and Climate Change, looks at obesity, the underlying societal and political drivers for malnutrition and climate change.

“Both meat and dairy products require more resources and generate larger emissions of methane than plant-based alternatives.”

The Commission urges mandatory taxes and health and environmental labels on red meat and sugar products.

It also urges a radical rethink of business models, food systems, civil society involvement and national and international governance. And instead of propping up the meat and dairy industry, the report calls for funding what authors describe as ‘sustainable farming for healthful foods’.

 

Read more: https://www.totallyveganbuzz.com/news/farmer-subsidies-should-be-scrapped-and-redirected-to-vegan-alternatives-scientists-conclude/