Friends of the Earth’s Food Chain campaign

North West Regional Gathering

24 January 2009

Structure • About the Food Chain Campaign – Part 1

– Why the campaign? Environmental and social impacts of meat and dairy– Where it fits within the Strategic Plan

• Making the links in the chain exercise• About the Food Chain Campaign – Part 2

– Our solutions– Key messages – Timeline– Local Groups activism & how to get involved

• Questions and discussion • Solidarity action with FoE Paraguay

About the Food Chain Campaign – Part 1

–Why the campaign? Environmental and social impacts of meat and dairy

–Where it fits within the Strategic Plan

Brazil’s soy harvest March 2008

Livestock’s impacts - growing acceptance

“Livestock impacts on ecosystem goods and services are largely negative, through impacts such as deforestation, nutrient overloading, greenhouse gas emissions, nutrient depletion of grazing areas, dryland degradation from overgrazing, dust formation, and bush encroachment.”Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005

Livestock’s impacts - growing acceptance

“Livestock’s contribution to environmental problems is on a massive scale”Livestock’s long shadow, UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, 2006

“Globally, livestock has a disproportionately large impact on the environment and on resource use” Food: an analysis of the issues, Strategy Unit, 2008

“… a healthy, low-impact diet would contain less meat and fewer dairy products than we typically eat today” Food Matters, Strategy Unit, 2008

Livestock’s impacts

• One of the main drivers of biodiversity loss in forests & other habitats - to make way for soy monocultures and pasture

• 18% of global GHG emissions

• Communities - loss of land and livelihoods, pesticide impacts, labour abuses, pollution of soil and water

Factory farming – dependant on soy

• Soy provides cheap source of protein for animal feed

• Use has soared as a result of agricultural policy and since BSE

• Much soy grown in South America and imported into Europe is GM

• UK farmers affected by commodity price volatility

A vicious circle - soy expands to meet demand

Soy expansion - Paraguay

The European market

• The EU is the biggest market for South American soymeal

• A third of all Brazilian soy is exported to Europe

• An area the size of Hungary is needed to grow soy for the EU market (10M ha)

Europe’s land grab

• Since 1996, the amount of land needed to produce soy for the European market is roughly equal to the area of deforestation in Brazilian forests

The UK’s role

• UK imported 1.7 MT soymeal; 650,000T soybeans from South America in 2007

• From an area of 1.2 million hectares = larger than Cornwall and Devon

Strategic Plan 2008-13

• Aim1: Biodiversity and ecosystem services

Objective 3

To ensure that by 2013 the UK Government has put in place targets and incentives through its Sustainable Farming and Food Strategy such that livestock farming

systems in the UK reduce reliance on imported animal feed.

• Aim 2: Climate Change

Making the links in the chain

80 32 18 50

2050 97 70 200

1300 80 22 100,000

About the Food Chain Campaign – Part 2

– Our solutions– Key messages – Timeline– Local Groups activism– How to get involved

The Food Chain campaign

• Major public campaign for UK political action to address the impacts of livestock production

• Change the system - whilst maintaining a thriving & sustainable UK livestock sector

• Working with partners in South America

• Solutions in producing and consuming countries

Solutions: 1 – Shift money

• Shift subsidies away from intensive systems - including CAP

• Procurement: ensure public money is not spent on damaging, unhealthy food (£2.2 billion per year)

• Fund research into alternative feeds, breeds, crop varieties and cropping systems

• Change public investment policy

Solutions: 2 – Reform policy

• Climate change - secure international agreement to reduce forest loss from agricultural expansion

• Review EU trade policy - prioritise environmental & social impacts of global trade

• UK competition policy – supermarkets watchdog

• Corporate accountability – a Commission for Business, Human Rights and the Environment

Key messages

• Most people don’t know that producing meat and dairy is leading to more climate-changing emissions than all the planes, trains and cars on the planet.

• Animals in factory farms are being pumped full of imported soy crops, creating demand for big plantations that are wiping out forests and forcing communities off their lands in South America.

Key messages

• Taxpayers are spending billions propping up a system of factory farming that gives a raw deal to UK farmers and consumers alike, and is pushing the planet to the brink of runaway climate change.

• Friends of the Earth is calling on the Government to revolutionise the way we produce meat and dairy to break this chain. Ask your MP to change the deal behind your meal for good meat and dairy, thriving farms and a healthy planet.

Timeline

• Parliamentary launch and ‘What’s Feeding our Food’ – December 08

• Individual Activism – March 09• Local Groups Activism – May • Summer of Action• Day of Action – October• Private Members’ Bill ballot ~ Nov• Targeted lobbying of MPs drawn in ballot to take up ‘Sustainable Livestock Bill’ ~ Nov/Dec

Local Groups activism

• Activism launches at May Regional Gathering

• Lobbying MPs to sign EDM • Summer of Action – including street theatre, stalls, speakers, films – Other ideas?

• Making links in your local area – farmers, shops, health groups, animal welfare groups…

• Targeting non-MPs: Local Authorities, schools, hospitals, supermarkets…

How to get involved

• Sign up to the campaign here today

• Email Richard in the food team: Richard.hines@foe.co.uk

• Sign up to the Real Food Network through Richard or online: http://www.foe.co.uk/campaigns/real_food/press_for_change/join_list_index.html