FAIRR’s top news picks
Inside Big Beef’s Climate Messaging Machine
The Guardian | 3 May 2023
The US beef industry appears to be training influencers and campaigners to produce messaging praising beef consumption and downplaying the negative impact of beef on the environment. Creation of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), the beef industry’s main lobby group, an online training course called the Masters of Beef Advocacy prepares its students to engage with consumers online and offline promoting beef industry sustainability.
Shrinking Us Cattle Herd Squeezes Meatpacker Profits
Reuters | 4 May 2023
US cattle producers are gaining increasing bargaining power over major meatpackers like Tyson and JBS. Tyson’s beef margins are estimated at 3% next quarter, down from 12.7% the previous year. As this undermines the meatpackers’ profitability, they are expected to pass the higher costs onto customers by increasing the prices of ground beef during high inflation. The remaining question is: how much are consumers willing to pay?
Cargill Faces Legal Complaint Over Deforestation-Linked Soya in the Amazon
Bloomberg | 4 May 2023
Cargill is facing a legal challenge in the US over its failure to remove deforestation and human rights abuses from its soya supply chain in Brazil. This raises the risk that the meat sold in supermarkets globally is raised on the so-called ‘dirty’ soya. The findings of the investigation go against Cargill’s pledge to ensure its soy from the Amazon and the Cerrado biome is deforestation-free by 2025, and to eradicate deforestation entirely by 2030.
Graphic of the week:
More Food for Thought
Two 10-Year-Olds Discovered Working at Kentucky McDonald’s | Michael Sainato | TheGuardian
FAIRR’s Protein Pulse is a weekly collection of news articles related to the food sector that may be of interest to our members. FAIRR does not necessarily endorse the views of these news articles and assumes no responsibility for any errors or inaccuracies found in third-party content.