What Anti-Meat Activists Have on the Menu at COP29

By U.S. Congressman Mike Flood

As COP29 kicks off, world leaders are gathering in Baku, Azerbaijan, to talk about the state of climate and some of their latest ideas for what they want world governments to do to ratify some of the most extreme elements of the environmentalist agenda. 

 While the annual Conference of Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change has been happening for almost three decades now, their vision for reshaping our world has expanded as climate activism evolves. One area that's received increasing attention is what you eat. In recent years, these summits have increasingly become a forum for anti-meat activists who want to restructure our food supply and reshape our grocery stores.

 This isn't speculative - they've already begun to take aim at your diet.

 At COP28 last year, the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization unveiled a new food systems strategy that recommended a reduction in the amount of meat in diets and promoted non-meat alternatives. Rep. Ashley Hinson, R-Iowa, and I leaped to the defense of ag producers and pushed back immediately, introducing a congressional resolution disapproving of the new recommendations. 

 Ahead of this year's meeting, a coalition of organizations and countries are doubling down on this push to sideline meat in conventional diets. Over 150 groups and countries have signed onto a declaration pushing to curtail meat consumption. They want COP29 to officially support "transitioning away from animal protein overconsumption."

 Let's be clear: This is a radical position that would not only upend the basic diets of Americans and people around the world, but it would also end the way of life that thousands upon thousands of ranchers and ag producers have lived for generations here in my home state of Nebraska and around the globe.

There's no reason to go after meat. In fact, it's something that science and common sense show is at the heart of a healthy diet. Meat is an incredibly efficient way to deliver protein and is foundational to the world's food security. 

We can deliver the same amount of protein in three ounces of beef that comes in three cups of quinoa. Today, we're producing beef, pork, and chicken more efficiently and with less water than we were half a century ago. America's farmers lead the world in innovation and sustainability, putting the latest precision agricultural technologies to use and helping to reduce the amount of pesticides and fertilizers used in agriculture. 

Pushing to shift to meat production in labs defies reason - especially when the people advocating for it haven't proven that it's better for your diet, the environment, or your pocketbook. We don't need meat cultured in a Petri dish when we already raise the best meat in the world in a way that responsibly stewards our environment and helps people live, work, and raise a family in the communities they love.

The good news is that America has a voice at COP29. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and other members of the Biden administration are leading an official delegation to the summit. They have an opportunity to speak for Americans. As the summit attendees weigh the contents of any new agreements and other policy statements, it's critical that Secretary Vilsack and the delegation stand up against these efforts to promote a "transition" away from meat. 

Coming out of the year's summit, climate activists scored an agreement endorsing an end to the world's so-called fossil fuel era. We can't let them do that when it comes to meat production. Allowing these anti-meat revolutionaries to get their way would not only upend the economics of our food supply, but it would deprive everyone of one of the most efficient sources of nutrition, and it would put at risk the way of life of millions of farmers and ranchers who earn a living by growing the food we need to feed the world.