The majority of EU citizens who answered a public consultation do not want EU-funded advertisements for products that are not in line with the shift to a more plant-based diet, like meat and dairy.
The results, presented at the two-day agri-food promotion policy review meeting in Brussels yesterday, showed 95% of EU citizens surveyed wanted to see an end to the promotion of meat, dairy, eggs, and fish, and in particular from intensive animal agriculture.
European citizens were asked, in a consultation launched by the European Commision March 2021, to give their opinion on how the EU promotion scheme currently spends its budget. The response was far higher than usual, with 7528 entries (of whom 7182 are members of the public and 110 civil society organizations).
In recent years, the Commission has spent nearly a third of its 200-million-euro annual budget for promoting agricultural produce on advertising animal-based products. Campaigns including Let’s Talk About Pork and Become a Beefatarian have been explicitly aimed at reversing a decline or maintaining growth in meat consumption.
In spite of an overwhelming majority speaking out to oppose the promotion of meat and dairy, the European Commission stated “It is important to recall the public consultation is not a statistically representative survey”, prompting an outcry from several NGOs on the undue influence of meat and dairy companies.
Jasmijn de Boo, Vice President of ProVeg International, commented, “It is clear that EU citizens want the promotion of meat and dairy to end and the budget to be shifted towards promoting healthy and sustainable diets. Only a few companies are pushing back against the will of European people. The question is, will the Commission bend to corporate interests or join its own citizens in standing up for the planet and human health? We need diet change, not climate change.”
The ProVeg International billboard campaign ‘thismakesnosense.org’, launched on Monday at Schuman station in Brussels. It offers EU citizens the chance to directly call out the hypocrisy at the heart of the EU’s promotion scheme. The EU is on the one hand advising that we eat less meat and dairy while at the same time encouraging us to eat more of the same products, through millions of euros of adverts.
Members of the public can visit the donation page at thismakesnosense.org where, for as little as five euros, you can help to fund a billboard in an EU city.
A recent Eurobarometer survey showed that European citizens believe climate change is “the single most serious problem facing the world”. Funding a billboard sends a message to policymakers: you cannot ignore the voice of European citizens.
Visit www.thismakesnosense.org to help fund a billboard.
About ProVeg:
ProVeg International works with decision-making bodies, governments, food producers, investors, the media, and the general public to help the world transition to a society and economy that are less dependent on animal agriculture and more sustainable for humans, animals, and the planet. The charity has permanent-observer status with the UNFCCC, is accredited for UNEA, and has received the United Nations’ Momentum for Change Award.
