ALT-PROTEIN How ‘Big
ALT-PROTEIN How ‘Big Meat’ lobbies Brussels to keep carnivore status quo “In China, they’re building skyscrapers of pigs,” says Greenpeace. And in Brussels, the Big Meat lobby is spending millions to stop so-called ‘vegan radicals’ from shaping EU policy. By ANDREW RETTMAN While Big Pharma firms spend some €36m a year in Brussels, according to Corporate Europe Observatory, Big Agri spends over €50m. “It’s not about banning meat — that’s not the point,” says Marco Contiero, who works in Brussels on agriculture for Greenpeace, an NGO and leading advocate of more plant-based food. “But in China, they’re building skyscrapers of pigs. It’s insane. That’s where things are headed, so we need to change direction,” he added. Contiero grew up in Padua, in northern Italy, where meat is a time-honoured part of native cuisine. His favourite recipe is canederli (a kind of meatball) and If you thought oil and tobacco were influential, Big Meat is in a league of its own. he and his family eat organic meat once every 10 days or so, he told EUobserver. But for all the Paduan’s love of traditional food, the scientific verdict is already in: eating meat once or twice a day — the way many Europeans do and Chinese people aspire to — is ruining the planet due to the methane, ammonia, and nitrogen emissions of the dystopian-scale farming required to feed our appetite. And that’s on top of ruining your health and causing animal suffering. 27
