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Kenny Torrella @kennytorrella.bsky.social · 13h

Gift link: www.vox.com/future-perfe...

Animal abusers are getting off easy

How Trump and his Supreme Court made a big problem even worse.

www.vox.com

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Kenny Torrella @kennytorrella.bsky.social · 13h

USDA enforcement of the Animal Welfare Act just keeps getting worse. According to a new analysis, the (recent) blame could lie with SCOTUS and the Trump admin:

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Kenny Torrella @kennytorrella.bsky.social · 2d

hard agree

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Reposted by Kenny Torrella

Jenny Splitter @jennysplitter.bsky.social · 2d

Important reporting from @kennytorrella.bsky.social on how the meat lobby has infiltrated NYC climate week, including sponsoring Regen House and Food Tank events. Full story here: www.vox.com/future-perfe...

The Protein Pact, a coalition of meat and dairy companies and trade groups, sponsored a panel put on by the climate events company Nest Climate Campus, which listed one of Protein Pact’s representatives — who spoke on its main stage — as a “climate action expert.” The Protein Pact is also a leading sponsor of Regen House, an agriculture events company that hosted several days of Climate Week programming. Meanwhile, the Meat Institute — the founder of the Protein Pact — sponsored events put on by Food Tank, a nonprofit think tank. It would be one thing if the Protein Pact were open to compromise on environmental regulation and spoke more honestly about their industries’ climate impact. But many of its members lobby against environmental action and downplay the industry’s environmental footprint. Some even participated in the campaign against EAT-Lancet’s first report.

Given this track record, it’s hard to see the industry’s presence at Climate Week as anything but a reputation laundering effort.

The Meat Institute, Food Tank, Nest Climate Campus, and Regen House didn’t respond to requests for comment.

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Kenny Torrella @kennytorrella.bsky.social · 3d

And beyond climate, there's also deforestation and air/water pollution. Ag is a huge part of these problems (#1 for deforestation).

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Kenny Torrella @kennytorrella.bsky.social · 3d

Reducing fossil fuel use isn't mutually exclusive to reducing meat, plus ~15% of fossil fuels are used in food systems. As article stated, even if we ended fossil fuel use, business-as-usual food systems will tip emissions past 1.5C. Also, article doesn't talk about veganism.

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Kenny Torrella @kennytorrella.bsky.social · 3d

correct! (bc of deforestation, and I'd presume pollution helps too)

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Kenny Torrella @kennytorrella.bsky.social · 3d

two of the more outspoken people on this issue are vegan (Jeff Sebo and Kyle Fish).

www.nytimes.com/2025/04/24/t...

If A.I. Systems Become Conscious, Should They Have Rights?

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Kenny Torrella

Vox @vox.com · 5d

The most effective way to avert a climate change catastrophe: People in wealthier countries have to eat more plant-based foods and less red meat, poultry, and dairy.

The climate movement’s biggest weakness

What the climate movement is getting dead wrong.

www.vox.com

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Kenny Torrella @kennytorrella.bsky.social · 5d

Animal agriculture is ~14.5-19.6% of GHG emissions, leading cause of deforestation, and a top/air water polluter.

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Reposted by Kenny Torrella

Richard Waite @waiterich.bsky.social · 5d

“For the past 2 decades, scientists have…landed on the same takeaways—esp. that rich countries must shift their diets to be more plant-based. But that message has, with few exceptions, failed to incite action by governments and food companies, or even the environmental movement itself.” #EatLancet

The rich must eat less meat

Scientists say rich countries need to eat a lot less meat. Will the environmental movement finally listen?

www.vox.com

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Reposted by Kenny Torrella

Kathrin Lauber @kat-lauber.bsky.social · 5d

This really hits home, particularly after attending the FAO Sustainable Livestock Transformation conference this week which - over 3 days - remained silent on the issue of overconsumption…

Kenny Torrella @kennytorrella.bsky.social · 5d

The new EAT-Lancet report is out and I wrote about it -- and also what I saw at Climate Week NYC: An environmental movement still cozying up to Big Meat, and still unafraid to confront scientific consensus on food, agriculture, and livestock.

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Kenny Torrella @kennytorrella.bsky.social · 5d

Gift link: www.vox.com/future-perfe...

The rich must eat less meat

Scientists say rich countries need to eat a lot less meat. Will the environmental movement finally listen?

www.vox.com

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Kenny Torrella @kennytorrella.bsky.social · 5d

The new EAT-Lancet report is out and I wrote about it -- and also what I saw at Climate Week NYC: An environmental movement still cozying up to Big Meat, and still unafraid to confront scientific consensus on food, agriculture, and livestock.

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Reposted by Kenny Torrella

Richard Waite @waiterich.bsky.social · 7d

RIP Jane Goodall. As someone who learned about her work in elementary school, it was pretty cool as an adult to see her in her 80s on stage at the Global Climate Action Summit in 2018, talking about the advantages of eating more plants/less meat for animals, our health, nature, and the climate. 💚

Jane Goodall on stage being interviewed at the Global Climate Action Summit in California in Sept 2018. Behind the people is a scene of a lush forest.

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Reposted by Kenny Torrella

Guardian Environment @environment.theguardian.com · 11d

Meat is a leading emissions source – but few outlets report on it, analysis finds

Sentient Media reveals less than 4% of climate news stories mention animal agriculture as source of carbon emissions

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Kenny Torrella

Civil Eats @civileats.com · 12d

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins gave a glimpse inside the upcoming Dietary Guidelines for Americans, saying the recommendations will boost demand for U.S. beef and whole milk.

Ag Secretary Hints at a Boost to Beef in Upcoming Dietary Guidelines

Public health groups have raised concerns that the Trump administration may reverse course on saturated fats, despite scientific evidence linking these fats to negative health outcomes.

buff.ly

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Kenny Torrella @kennytorrella.bsky.social · 12d

blogs.edf.org/growingretur...

Without financing solutions, farmers have to leave money — and environmental benefits — on the table | Growing Returns

This op-ed was originally published in Hoard’s Dairyman. Since its initial publication, the financial uncertainty for farmers engaging in conservation practices has grown substantially. Ongoing trade ...

blogs.edf.org

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Kenny Torrella @kennytorrella.bsky.social · 12d

Uh, so EDF is now republishing op-eds from a dairy industry publication:

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Kenny Torrella @kennytorrella.bsky.social · 12d

But... But... Aren't commodity growers the original stewards?

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Kenny Torrella @kennytorrella.bsky.social · 20d

A root problem is that the USDA allows companies to say pretty much whatever they want about welfare. But there are some countries that have implemented widespread welfare forms, and are also reducing meat consumption, like Germany, Sweden, and I think the Netherlands.

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Kenny Torrella @kennytorrella.bsky.social · 20d

I think that’s a valid concern, and I worry a lot about humane washing and have written about it a lot. I want to see welfare reforms instituted but I really don’t want their benefits to be overstated. Slower growing chickens still have it really bad, but not as bad as fast growing chickens.

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Kenny Torrella @kennytorrella.bsky.social · 20d

I advocate for eating less meat in a lot of my stories, including this one. But I think meat reduction should also be paired with welfare reforms, considering meat consumption is anticipated to go up and reduction efforts have been largely unsuccessful so far.

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Kenny Torrella @kennytorrella.bsky.social · 20d

I agree that cultured meat is worth pursuing (and preferable!), but there's no guarantee it'll scale. IMO we need a mix of pursuing tech like cultured meat, along with corporate welfare reforms and meat reduction.

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Kenny Torrella @kennytorrella.bsky.social · 20d

Keep in mind that, relevant to other meats, poultry has a much lower GHG footprint, and 24% is an industry estimate (other estimates are lower, including another industry estimate).

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