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Jan Dutkiewicz @jandutkiewicz.bsky.social · 18h

Given the massive scale of feed conversion loss in animal ag, if humans ate more soy and soy products - tofu, tempeh, etc. - instead of meat and dairy, we would actually need far less total soy and less soy-related land use.
iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1...

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Jan Dutkiewicz @jandutkiewicz.bsky.social · 18h

And of course soy used for animal feed is a major driver of deforestation, including in the Amazon. Importing soy is a way for meat producers like China and the EU to offshore the demands for land that their meat consumption requires and can't be provided domestically.
www.sei.org/features/con...

Connecting exports of Brazilian soy to deforestation

Today, Trase is launching new supply chain, deforestation and emissions data for Brazilian soy.

www.sei.org

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Jan Dutkiewicz @jandutkiewicz.bsky.social · 18h

bsky.app/profile/jand...

Jan Dutkiewicz @jandutkiewicz.bsky.social · 18h

www.eufic.org/en/food-prod....

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Jan Dutkiewicz @jandutkiewicz.bsky.social · 18h

www.eufic.org/en/food-prod....

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Jan Dutkiewicz @jandutkiewicz.bsky.social · 19h

The story as it's told is that some soy farmers are losing and some are benefitting from a reshaping of the global value chain for soy. Yes, true. But the bigger story is that the global appetite for soy is a result of the global appetite for meat, which is driving ag beyond planetary boundaries.

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Jan Dutkiewicz @jandutkiewicz.bsky.social · 19h

As usual, one thing lost in the media coverage of the market for soy beans is that the vast majority of soy produced globally - including that bought by China, which is now buying more from Argentina and Brazil - is milled into animal feed to feed animals on factory farms. It's a dark business.

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Reposted by Jan Dutkiewicz

David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 1d

News that shocks no one: Carbon offsets do nothing for climate.

Carbon offsets fail to cut global heating due to ‘intractable’ systemic problems, study says

Analysis of 25 years of evidence shows most schemes are poor quality and fail to lower emissions

www.theguardian.com

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Jan Dutkiewicz @jandutkiewicz.bsky.social · 1d

I don't care what anyone says this is a banger. 26 years later and it still stands up.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=S965...

The Get Up Kids - Something to Write Home About (Remastered 2024) [FULL ALBUM STREAM]

YouTube video by The Get Up Kids

www.youtube.com

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Jan Dutkiewicz @jandutkiewicz.bsky.social · 3d

that's the thinking behind this:
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

Universities should lead on the plant-based dietary transition

As the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change1 and the EAT–Lancet Commission2 have pointed out in recent reports, substantial reductions in demand for animal-based foods are vital for achieving cli...

www.thelancet.com

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Jan Dutkiewicz @jandutkiewicz.bsky.social · 3d

I talk about this a lot in terms of social change as driver of and prerequisite for policy change. In simplest terms: how do you get mass public support for policy that would restrict consumption decisions that individuals are unwilling to change themselves? I'm not sure you do.

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Jan Dutkiewicz @jandutkiewicz.bsky.social · 3d

Anyhow here's the new EAT-Lancet. Topline conclusions haven't changed much from last one: massive reduction in meat, especially in high-consuming affluent countries, to keep ag within planetary limits.

www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

The EAT–Lancet Commission on healthy, sustainable, and just food systems

The global context has shifted dramatically since publication of the first EAT–Lancet Commission in 2019, with increased geopolitical instability, soaring food prices, and the COVID-19 pandemic exacer...

www.thelancet.com

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Jan Dutkiewicz @jandutkiewicz.bsky.social · 3d

Crucially, this is not an argument for neurotically shifting all concern with systemic issues onto the self (we've all read that Maniates article) but rather challenging the false binary between individual and systemic action, especially in cases where the former is broadly available and effective.

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Jan Dutkiewicz @jandutkiewicz.bsky.social · 3d

Individual behavior change is/has to be part of broader norm change. Especially where it's widely possible. It's why dietary change is used as an example in highly cited lit. on norm shifts.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Social norms as solutions

Policies may influence large-scale behavioral tipping

www.science.org

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Jan Dutkiewicz @jandutkiewicz.bsky.social · 3d

I will also note that a world in which everyone actually lived by the adage that "there are no individual solutions to systemic problems" (as opposed to only deploying it to avoid inconvenient issues) when it came to language, behavior, consumption, etc. would be a truly abhorrent one.

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Jan Dutkiewicz @jandutkiewicz.bsky.social · 3d

I would also posit that in the case of meat, the inefficacy objection is much weaker than in other cases because (*food secure) consumers actually have vast agency in making food choices. For the longer treatment of this point, see Dickstein et al. (2023) www.cnsjournal.org/veganism-as-...

Veganism as Left Praxis

Veganism should be enacted broadly on the Left as a praxis not only of anti-speciesist or animal-rights-motivated politics, but also broader politics of anti-capitalism and liberation.

www.cnsjournal.org

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Jan Dutkiewicz @jandutkiewicz.bsky.social · 3d

This, and especially the meat-eating, should not be up for debate *especially among visible climate/enviro folks in the global north*. The inefficacy objection to individual action falls apart when you consider the visibility of communicators' actions.
link.springer.com/article/10.1...

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Jan Dutkiewicz @jandutkiewicz.bsky.social · 4d

the thing with clearinghouse-style "thought leader" events is that you get the oddest mishmash of bedfellows whose politics of food are often diametrically opposed. a remarkable group of orgs to have under one roof. also obviously massive disincentive to critique livestock or boost climate science.

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Jan Dutkiewicz @jandutkiewicz.bsky.social · 4d

as soon as possible.

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Jan Dutkiewicz @jandutkiewicz.bsky.social · 4d

when i wrote this essay in 2020 i sincerely hoped that the climate folks would take food seriously and the food folks would take climate seriously. in research this has happened, but a lot of the public conversation has been captured by the industry and by idiots.

newrepublic.com/article/1591...

The Climate Activists Who Dismiss Meat Consumption Are Wrong

Narrowly focusing on greenhouse gas emissions isn’t enough.

newrepublic.com

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Jan Dutkiewicz @jandutkiewicz.bsky.social · 4d

read this whole thing on the state of the food and climate conversation by @kennytorrella.bsky.social
www.vox.com/future-perfe...

The climate movement’s biggest weakness

What the climate movement is getting dead wrong.

www.vox.com

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Jan Dutkiewicz @jandutkiewicz.bsky.social · 4d

lol.

only the joke is on anyone who actually cares about the climate or a better food system.

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Jan Dutkiewicz @jandutkiewicz.bsky.social · 5d

the more i think about this the more infuriating it is. it's not hard: don't give kids screens, don't give them social media, don't let them talk to AI. give them crayons and blocks, take them to the park, sign them up for sports. there are few reasons for screen time, none for exposing them to AI.

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Jan Dutkiewicz @jandutkiewicz.bsky.social · 5d

And it can lead to perverse conclusions, among policymakers and consumers alike, like the idea that that "unprocessed" red meat is heart-healthier than soy-based "processed" foods, when research shows the opposite to be true. Read this by @mbolotnikova.bsky.social.
www.vox.com/future-perfe...

You’re being lied to about “ultra-processed” foods

Coverage of the latest nutrition buzzword is overly broad, arbitrary, and wildly misleading. The problem goes deeper.

www.vox.com

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Jan Dutkiewicz @jandutkiewicz.bsky.social · 5d

I recognize the potential perceived benefits of a tool that identifies UPFs as the basis for policymaking to improve health outcomes, but ultimately I think it casts too wide a net that gets too much bycatch (baby food, alt protein, etc.) when we ultimately know what foods we should avoid.

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Jan Dutkiewicz @jandutkiewicz.bsky.social · 5d

Consider that studies that parse the types of UPFs being eaten, like this one, tend to conclude that UPFs are bad when they contain bad things and not bad, or even good, when they contain good things.
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39608567/

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