Is Taxing Meat a Viable Green Policy Option?

5 thoughts on “Is Taxing Meat a Viable Green Policy Option?”

  1. I’d want to know the predominant farming methods of raising meat in Sweden. Here in the US, farmers like myself who are already unable to fiscally compete with big packers would be wiped out by such a tax.

    The most likely result would strengthen big meat and kill off the fledgling alternatives. Sure as a population we may eat less meat overall, but that less would be only the very worst kind.

    Also, I think the data on methane is skewed in many nuanced ways. If you haven’t already, check out Allen Savory’s TED talk. The data and textbook understanding is not reflective at all of the complexity.

    1. Thanks for raising that point! It’s true that the producer perspective and farm incomes/survival was only touched marginally by the paper, and I definitely see where you are coming from with your concerns. The worry that the ‘most efficient’ producers would take over was also mentioned in the Swedish debate. I was thinking about ways to potentially structure such a tax to circumvent those side effects and reward those producers that are more sustainable than others, but that might add a whole level of complexity. In any case, it’s so important to look at all sides of any issue!

      1. Attaching any tax to manure disposal would be one way to be more accurate. I do not have excess manure to dispose of because I do not have more animals than my land can process naturally. My manure is actually an asset, not a waste product.

        CAFOs on the other hand are producing manure at the rate of large cities. Proper manure disposal is a huge externality (is that a word?) not being factored into the price of their product.

        1. I love that idea! Especially since it is pinpointing exactly where the externalities (totally a word, even if WordPress doesn’t recognize it, haha) occur! I’d love to look into the feasibility of it more in depth..

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *