I learned today that Wageningen in the Netherlands has a total ban on outdoor advertising (of anything). Just one to file as a counter-example when people tell you that even small policy changes are not politically feasible
Emma Calvert
@emmacalvert.bsky.social
Back in Belfast after 15 wonderful years working and living in Brussels. Formerly food @ European Consumer Organisation (@beuc.bsky.social) trying to make healthier choices easier for all! Still dipping a toe into EU Food Policy.
The battle to keep global heating from passing the agreed 1.5-degree threshold has been lost. This should be an era when human ingenuity works to save the planet from catastrophe. Instead the tech broligarchy is busy embarking upon ludicrous AI data centre “infrastructure” fuelled by coal and gas.
Battle to halt global heating at 1.5 degrees is lost - UN
Focus must now switch to limiting extent of overshoot, says United Nations' climate report
irishtimes.com
‘Shatter crunchin’ chicken ain’t all about the love; it’s mostly about profits derived from fat, sugar and salt.’ And so it goes…Yet another 🇺🇸fast food chicken shop opens in 🇮🇪: a testament to not only the failure to stop the junk foodification of our high streets but also how cheap chicken is 😕
Diarmaid Ferriter: As Popeyes opens in Ireland, it’s clear we’re becoming a fast food nation
⚽️You really have to wonder at what point do these millionaire footballers decline to take junk food ad money? Given their professional lives were dedicated to peak health you would hope they would hesitate before endorsing McDonald’s to the masses..
Genuinely intrigued by how many sponsored #McDonalds ads of non-compliant food I’m seeing. Reddit, Facebook, on-demand TV… 🤳The new marketing rules banning these kinds of online ads in the UK came into force in January. They’ve had plenty of time so why the continued blitz of junk food ads? 🤔
🤔🍟Sponsored ad for non-compliant food on Facebook and earlier in the day another on the on-demand tv service… Has McDonald’s just decided it’s above the UK law which bans these kinds of ads?
🤔🍟Sponsored ad for non-compliant food on Facebook and earlier in the day another on the on-demand tv service… Has McDonald’s just decided it’s above the UK law which bans these kinds of ads?
I regret to inform you that the absolute worst people in food academia have teamed up to write a truly cynical screed against meat reduction.
Irony lost in Belfast’s @sainsburys.bsky.social. A wonderful wall showing kids’ ideas of what a healthy plate is buffeted by a wall of coke 😐 Why not help these kids make their healthy plates a reality and stop promoting junk food in key areas of the shop? Retailers can and should do so much more!
The European Scientific Advisory Board on Climate Change published its newest report with a clear message for the agriculture sector: business as usual is not an option if Europe wants to ensure a better future for its farmers and rural communities. Read our latest: www.iatp.org/scientists-s...
Scientists say 'business as usual' no longer an option for EU’s food and farm systems
The European Union has adopted its target for cutting climate pollution by 2040 and is now working on the policies needed to achieve it. Its climate advisors have just published a major report on agri...
iatp.org
We need binding regulation and not corporate self-regulation, exhibit #1,000,000. 98% of meat and dairy company climate and environmental promises are bullshit. www.newscientist.com/article/2523...
98 per cent of meat and dairy sustainability pledges are greenwashing
The food industry has made big promises to reduce emissions and become more sustainable, but a review concludes that many of the pledges are not backed up by evidence
newscientist.com
"Extreme heat is threatening the world’s food systems, with farmers unable to work outside, livestock experiencing stress and crop yields falling, putting the livelihoods of more than a billion people in peril..." Sadly, climate concern is woke, so I guess a billion people just gotta burn/starve.
World food systems ‘pushed to the brink’ by extreme heat, UN warns
Severe heatwaves in commonly hot regions could leave farmers unable to work outside, with livestock mortality rates expected to rise
theguardian.com
Excellent article on how Ireland, a country which in theory feeds 50 million, can be so nutritionally insecure. ❗️90% of 🇮🇪’s food is exported and most is meat and dairy 📉 ~9 out of 10 veg producers have disappeared since the 90s 🛒I’d add an important part of solution is to address consumer demand
Important read from Mick Kelly on Ireland's (dis)illusional food security.
“By cramming large numbers of animals into confined spaces and relying heavily on fertilisers, these intensive systems release far more ammonia than the environment or our bodies can cope with.’ And yet the UK govt is considering relaxing planning rules for industrial chicken farms… 😐
Ammonia pollution hotspots found in areas of UK with most pig and poultry factory farms
Cool beans! Nice to see beans sponsoring a sports team! Makes a change from the usual roster of junk food, alcohol and betting companies usually associated with sports sponsorship 🫘😎 www.gaa.ie/article/batc...
Batchelors Announced as Official Beans Partner of the GAA/GPA
The GAA and the Gaelic Players Association (GPA) today announced a new three-year partnership with Batchelors, Ireland’s leading baked beans brand, who become the Official Beans Partner of the GAA/GPA...
gaa.ie
This is the complete opposite to the direction we should be going in. Allowing intensive farming to expand will increase animal suffering, undermine food security, increase pollution, fuel the climate crisis and put all of us at risk. Read more: https://bit.ly/4c0tF6e
Science points in one direction, lobbying in the other. Crucial but grim reporting by @zdboren.bsky.social. "Ministers are rewriting planning rules to make it easier to build intensive livestock farms despite concerns ..." www.theguardian.com/environment/...
UK looks to relax planning rules for factory farms after industry lobbying
Exclusive: documents chronicle years-long campaign to make it easier to build intensive livestock units
theguardian.com
Essential messages here. We take food for granted. Our food system is extremely vulnerable. Governments are doing very little to prevent or mitigate future crises. Massive corporate interests. A bit safer if we switch to plant-based diets. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
We’re letting big corporations gamble with our lives. Act now, or the food could run out | George Monbiot
The fragility of the global food system fills me with dread – and the war with Iran has exposed just how close to collapse it is, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot
theguardian.com
If plant-based foods must be more 'honest', let’s do the same for meat – fancy some ‘cow-muscle tissue' or 'pig belly'? By Deirdra Barr www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
If plant-based foods must be more honest, let’s do the same for meat – fancy some ‘cow muscle’? | Deirdra Barr
EU rules banning terms such as ‘bacon’ for veggie products are problematic, btw cow muscle = steak, says the Vegetarian Society’s Deirdra Barr
theguardian.com
finally, subway beginning to put protein into their sandwiches
Some startling stats today at the All-Ireland Obesity Action Forum’s conference on the impacts of digital marketing. 💰 Digital advertising spend due to be $1 trillion by 2028 🇮🇪 Children spend 4.5 hours on average on digital devices (some up to 10 hrs!) 🍟 Exposed to unhealthy food ads every 4 mins
REVEALED: The EU spends hundreds of times more public money on high-emissions beef and dairy than legumes and nuts through its common agricultural policy (CAP) subsidies, according to new figures published today by Foodrise. Read the new report: foodrise.org.uk/CAPCrossroads/
80% of agricultural land is used for livestock (and textiles), yet this huge land use provides only 17% of our calories and 38% of our protein. 16% of the land used for crops provides 83% of our calories and 62% of our protein. It's past time we rethink what we eat.
EU #CAP farm subsidies overwhelmingly go to those who are already rich, and not enough support reaches those who really need it Farmers on the brink of bankruptcy, small agroecological farms, and all those who want to transition to more sustainable practices – these need real support
Welfare for the rich: up to 40% of CAP money goes to 1% of recipients - Greenpeace European Unit
A tiny fraction of rich landowners and industrial farmers siphon off the lion’s share of the EU’s subsidies under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), with a wealthy 1% of recipients taking as much a...
greenpeace.org
Why can sugary cereals or even candies proudly boast about vitamin D or ‘no fat’? Well because the EU hasn’t done its job…for *17* years. Nutritional standards - ‘nutrient profiles’ - would’ve stopped these kinds of misleading claims on labels but the EU has missed the deadline since.. 19/01/2009🎂
"Eating less meat remains one of the fastest, easiest & cheapest ways to cut emissions... It’s especially important as many other climate solutions become more expensive, politically fraught or unavailable… It’s not possible to separate our own health from that of the planet." [Also: dairy = meat!]
Opinion | The New Food Pyramid, Brought to You by Big Meat
nytimes.com
Oh wow… where to start.. Red meat and cheese (!) prioritised and put on the same level as broccoli and carrots Butter above bananas And whole grains at the very bottom… 🙄 Making America confused again
New food pyramid just dropped: cdn.realfood.gov/DGA.pdf
🚨Excellent new report on influencer marketing from my former colleagues exposing the myriad ways food brands are using the powerful sway of influencers to push kids+teens towards junk food. 👉As brands increasingly engage these marketing tactics, regulators need to take the issue in hand, urgently!
Influencer marketing is like a siren's call; it is simply too hard to resist, especially for our kids and teenagers. Our new report gathering evidence from across Europe proves it's time for the EU to act. ⬇️
Getting restaurants to serve more plant-based food can have big climate impacts.
Young Activists Are Getting Plant-Based on the Menu, for Climate and Animals
Getting restaurants to serve more plant-based food can have big climate impacts.
buff.ly
🍬‘One portion = Happiness!’ Great that Haribo have made giant stuffed toy versions of their sweets…🙄 Now they can market to kids *inside* their bedrooms. This is of course a company who claim they don’t market to under 16s