Meat Me Halfway by Brian Kateman

Author:Brian Kateman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Prometheus
Published: 2022-01-23T00:00:00+00:00

The companies claim they will achieve “zero by 2040” and that they have set “time-bound, science-based targets” and are “backing them up with $1 billion in capital over the next decade.” Considering that JBS’s annual revenues in 2019 alone were $38 billion, that the commitment is short on specifics, and that only JBS is holding JBS accountable for meeting it, I won’t hold my breath, and you shouldn’t either. There’s a precedent for such skepticism. In September 2020, JBS announced a commitment to address its role in deforestation in the Amazon. There was only one problem: The announcement was merely a restatement of a commitment made in 2009, a pledge it failed to deliver on in the subsequent decade. “The industrial beef sector is a liability,” said Daniela Montalto, forests campaigner with Greenpeace in response. “While promising to maybe someday save the Amazon, JBS and the other leading beef processors seem willing to butcher the Pantanal [the world’s largest tropical wet-land] today, making mincemeat of their sustainability pledges.”54 So it’s no surprise that environmental advocates like Sarah Lake, vice president and global director for Latin America at Mighty Earth, is skeptical about this new 2040 commitment: “JBS has repeatedly made false promises.”55 So, no, this, I’m afraid, is likely nothing but a weak attempt at making the company seem eco-conscious, when it is anything but.

Industrial animal agriculture’s promotional strategies, often in the face of inconvenient research, are vast; its modus operandi is entrenched in the very foundations of our political, legal, and educational systems. From savvy marketing and public relations campaigns aimed at the general public to strategic lobbying efforts and partnerships, the industry not only creates demand, but more subtly, removes any potential roadblocks to filling that demand, stacking the odds in its favor well before any of its products hit the shelves. The takeaway is clear: Industrial animal agriculture does all it can to keep us hooked on meat.

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