August M
Beef and lamb production in the European Union receives vastly more public funding than plant-based protein sources, according to new research.
Campaigners say the imbalance risks reinforcing diets that health and climate experts argue should shift toward plants, reports The Guardian.
Funding imbalance
Analysis by the charity Foodrise, drawing on academic research, found that under the EU’s common agricultural policy (CAP), beef and lamb were subsidised 580 times more than legumes in 2020.
Pork received nearly 240 times more support, while dairy was granted 554 times more funding than nuts and seeds.
The report said CAP delivers “unfair” backing to meat-heavy diets, despite growing scientific consensus that reducing red meat consumption would benefit both health and the environment.
Where the money goes
The EU allocates nearly a third of its total budget to farming support, with most payments based on land area rather than nutritional or environmental priorities.
Because livestock farming requires land to grow animal feed, meat and dairy producers capture a larger share of subsidies, including indirect support through feed crops.
According to the findings, meat and dairy received €39bn in subsidies in 2020, compared with €3.6bn for fruit and vegetables and €2.4bn for cereals.
Calls for reform
Martin Bowman, a campaigner at Foodrise and author of the report, said: “It’s scandalous that billions of euros of EU taxpayer money is being used to prop up such a high-emissions industry at a time when scientists are telling us that we need – on health and environmental grounds – to shift to lower-meat diets.”
The academic study underpinning the analysis, currently available as a preprint, was led by researchers including Anniek Kortleve of Leiden University.
“Our analysis shows CAP support is highly concentrated in animal-sourced foods relative to the calories they provide, while plant proteins like legumes receive very little support,” Kortleve said, noting that EU strategies increasingly call for more plant-rich diets.
Experts say meaningful reform would require considering the entire subsidy chain, including support for animal feed, and integrating public health and environmental goals more directly into agricultural policy.
Sources: The Guardian, Foodrise, Leiden University
