Study: 100% of meat and dairy companies have lobbied against environmental and climate policies

spaceghoti@lemmy.one to politics @lemmy.world – 928 points –
Study: 100% of meat and dairy companies have lobbied against environmental and climate policies
medium.com

All 10 of the largest U.S. meat and dairy companies have lobbied against environmental and climate policies, resisting climate regulations, including rules on greenhouse gases and emissions reporting. This is according to a study by New York University, which examined the political influence of the 10 largest meat and dairy companies in the United States.

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Holy misleading headline, Batman!

I'm not saying that there isn't a problem with the industries, but the 10 largest in one country is NOT "100% of all meat and dairy companies" or anywhere near that!

A sample size of the 10 largest in a country where it's literally impossible to get to the top 10 anything company without truly despicable practices is some supercharged selection bias!

The 4 largest companies control 70% of the market. Markets tend to be one to three companies taking the lions share and then a long tail.

The top 10 will easily round up to 100%.

I'd also be hard pressed to find a meat producer that actually supported climate initiatives and wasn't some super small farmer.

https://www.reuters.com/business/how-four-big-companies-control-us-beef-industry-2021-06-17/

They couldn't be top 10 if they supported those initiatives. It's selection bias. Only the ones who couldn't possibly support those policies and still be in their position are counted. It's pretty misleading, even if it's a large portion. Besides, it's the 10 largest US companies. There's a bunch not in the US, obviously the US doesn't make up 100% of the industry. It's just the place that's most concerned with profit over anything else, it seems.

70% of the market (...) easily round up to 100%

That's some real special math you have there, willfully ignoring probably millions of people as irrelevant and probably just as bad as some of the worst in the world 🤦

and wasn't some super small farmer

But I thought you just said that such a thing doesn't exist! 70% being 100% and all..

Besides, you know that sustainable farming co-ops exist and many of those deal in meat and dairy, right?

Some of them are quite large, in spite of your insistence on eliminating them to defend a headline that reads as something a crazed PeTA activist would shout at people 🙄

Can you read? He said 4 companies make up about 70%, he didn't say 4 companies make up 100%... he said 10 companies would round up to 100%. You are illiterate

It was super early and I hadn't had my coffee yet, so I missed that detail. My overall point still stands.

Ok sorry for calling you illiterate, but yeah I do agree the title shouldn't just be a blatant lie (even if it's close to the truth in terms of market share)

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That's some incredibly misleading editing of my comment which is already above so why bother. It's just weird. I do hope you get better.

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More important, as long as people keep looping all the small farms with "big ag", especially in the US, there will never be a reasoned discourse.

We all hate big ag. More agricultural subsidies than people realize are paid by small farms (not individuals) and received by big ones.

I got some hippy-ass, "one bad day," native grass open pasture, keep the calves with their moms until they wean naturally, one cow per acre, priced to reflect the true cost of meat cattle ranches where I live. I don't think they were part of this survey.

Same. My farmer, Justin, also makes sure the animals don't travel far to the abattoir. That said, I feel like (though hope I'm wrong) our farmers do not make up a significant part of the industry. I wouldn't even consider our guys part of the same "industry" that the big shops are part of

It's pretty niche. The place I go started a program to help breed pigs back down to a reasonable size. Apparently they have painful problems from being over bred, like hip dysplasia. They are networking with other small farms to breed their pigs progressively smaller and healthier.

But yeah, not really putting a dent in the factory farming problem and not accessible to most.

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