Mimi Bekhechi, PETA Australia.
Researchers in the UK and US have put forward a plan that could prevent millions of deaths globally each year and save billions of dollars in healthcare costs.
It’s a simple plan: tax meat.
A 2015 World Health Organisation report found that bacon, hot dogs, and other processed meats cause cancer and that red meat – including beef, pork, and lamb – is probably carcinogenic as well.
The research estimates that in 2020, 2.4 million people will die from red and processed meat attributed deaths, while the healthcare costs for red meat-related illnesses will hit US$285 billion ($400 billion AUD).
A modest 16 percent drop in meat consumption would lead to a drop in global greenhouse gas emissions by over a hundred million tonnes. We tax cigarettes heavily to help cover medical costs – it’s time to do the same for meat.
Such a bold move would also save billions of non-humans from lives of terror, including having their horns cut or burned off and males having their testicles ripped out of their scrotums – all without painkillers, followed by agonising deaths.
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