MEPs reject Commission co-funding of campaign to promote consumption of bovine meat

Brussels, 9 December 2020 - On the initiative of MEP Francisco Guerreiro (Greens/EFA), 34 MEPs from several groups opposed the “Beefatarian” campaign which is co-funded by the European Union (EU). 

In a letter sent to Commissioners Stella Kyriakides and Janusz Wojciechowski, MEPs criticize this marketing operation, approved in 2019, before the goals of the Green Deal were set, and consider that the current global environmental crisis is sufficient reason for the EU to cancel the financial support for the “Become a Beefatarian” campaign and any others that clearly go against the EU's goals.

According to the EAT Lancet report, meat consumption in the EU should drop by 71% by 2030, and by 81% by 2050, to tackle farming’s contribution to climate breakdown. This would mean an average of no more than 460 grams of all types of meat leaving the slaughterhouse per person per week by 2030, and 300 grams in 2050, down from the current EU average of 1.58 kilograms per person per week. In addition, the need to switch “to a more plant-based diet with less red and processed meat and with more fruits and vegetables” is recognized by the EC's Farm to Fork strategy with those exact words.

Read the full letter below.

Read the European Commission's reply below.

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