Faced with an “unsustainable” consumption model promoted by large supermarket chains, especially at Christmas time, animal rights and climate activists denounce that some of them, such as El Corte Inglés and Eroski, “show off their high standards.” of animal welfare and sustainability” ignoring the impact of the livestock industry on animal suffering, human health and climate change. They therefore defend the implementation of a transition towards a more plant-based diet with strategies such as those developed by the main chains in Germany and the Netherlands.
As reported BURNS (Animal Respect and Defense for the Environment), last Saturday, December 21, hundreds of protesters gathered at the doors of supermarket chains in the cities of Granada, Madrid, Palma de Mallorca, Vigo and Vitoria within the campaign ‘ ‘Your Supermarket Sells Cruelty’, which points out its responsibility in promoting exacerbated and focused consumption of products of animal origin, particularly at Christmas time. They demand urgent policies that prioritize respect for animals, human health and sustainability on the part of retail distributors.
According to the latest data According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Spain leads the consumption of meat products in the European Union, with almost 105 kilograms per person per year, about 2 kilograms per week. This figure contrasts with the maximum 300 grams per week recommended by the EAT-Lancet Commission, made up of 40 international scientists.
In Spain, remembers ARDE, more than 10 million people suffer pathologies related to the heart, more than 120,000 die each year. Harvard Public Health Department and Purdue University they concluded that replacing red meat with vegetable proteins reduces the risk of heart disease. Meir Stampfer, professor of epidemiology and nutrition and author of the study, said: “If we replace hamburgers with cookies or fries, we are not healthier. But if you replace red meat with healthy sources of plant protein, such as nuts and beans, you get a health benefit.” Furthermore, the recent Omniveg Studio from the Francisco de Vitoria University affirms that replacing animal products with vegetables in the traditional Mediterranean diet implies improvements in cardiovascular health.
Furthermore, continues ARDE, the Scientific Committee of the Spanish Agency for Food Safety and Nutrition (AESAN), the greater predominance of foods of plant origin is aligned with the ‘One Health’ approach of the World Health Organization, in which Human health is closely linked to the health of the planet. For its part, the European Commission has committed to developing an action plan to promote plant foods by 2026. This is a policy framed in the Strategic Dialogue on the Future of EU Agriculture. And throughout the world, he emphasizes, the livestock industry employs 80% of agricultural land, generates two thirds of the sector’s emissions and causes the sacrifice of 70,000 million animals, not counting aquatic animals. However, this industry only provides 36% of the protein and 16% of the calories.
Julia Elizalde, spokesperson for the ARDE collective, points out: “Supermarkets like El Corte Inglés or Eroski demonstrate their high standards of animal welfare and sustainability, nothing beyond reality. They have absolutely no measures to promote a more plant-based and sustainable diet. On the contrary, they continue to promote the products of the livestock industry in an exacerbated way. “Both supermarkets have a goal of ‘climate neutrality’ by 2050, which is simply false because more than 80% of their emissions come from their supply chain.”
Non-profit organizations demand that supermarkets, where the Spanish population buys more than half of the food, implement urgent measures. According to ARDE data, in the Netherlands, eleven supermarkets, which account for 90% of national sales, they committed to increase the percentage of its sales of plant-based proteins from 40% today to 60% in 2030. Four leading supermarkets in Germany reduced the price of vegetable substitutes to equal that of meat. Lidl declared that sales of plant-based products increased 30% after cutting prices and placing vegetable meat next to animal meat. It cause that a vegetable shopping basket is cheaper than its equivalent in meat products.
The ARDE spokesperson adds: “We demand the truth in every product, on every label. We will not tolerate more ‘greenwashing’, nor more advertising of happy animals in a field. Animals are not resources or products, but sentient beings with their own interests. Supermarkets must expose and act on the real impact of their products: animal suffering, environmental destruction and social consequences; as well as offering consumer alternatives. If they don’t, they will be responsible for perpetuating a corrupt and destructive system.”.
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