Environmental and health costs of the food system burden the economy and society with billions of euros per year
Eckart von Hirschhausen, German Alliance for Non-Communicable Diseases and Greenpeace present study on consequences
The costs of environmental and climate damage caused by meat production in Germany amount to around 21 billion euros per year. The damage is caused by greenhouse gas emissions from livestock farming and air pollution with particulate matter and pollutants. In addition, excessive consumption of red meat, ham and sausage, which increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer and type 2 diabetes, results in health costs of around 16 billion euros. In addition to obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure, excessive sugar consumption can also lead to tooth decay and periodontal disease. This places an additional burden of almost 12 billion euros on the German healthcare system every year. These costs are shown in a study conducted by the Forum Ökologisch-Soziale Marktwirtschaft (FÖS) on behalf of Greenpeace.
Environmental and health costs of the food system burden the economy and society with billions of euros per year
Lucas Wahl / Greenpeace
The so-called external environmental and health costs of the food system are not borne by those who cause them and are not reflected in consumer prices. This means that the economy, social security funds and taxpayers are burdened with billions each year.
Hidden costs should be visible in prices
"The consequential costs of our diet are enormous and must be better included in the prices of food and its production. If these previously hidden consequential costs were visible to consumers on supermarket shelves, consumption and production could become more sustainable and economical."
- Beate Richter, Scientific Officer for Agricultural Policy at FÖS
"Politics and business have a joint duty to quickly and effectively relieve us all of these billions in costs. To do this, supermarkets must provide their customers with better information and offer them healthy, organically produced products instead of tempting them into overconsumption with advertising for cheap meat. The German government should finally exempt climate-friendly food from VAT and thus create the right incentives for consumers. Continuing to subsidize food that is harmful to the environment will end up costing us all."
- Matthias Lambrecht, economist and agricultural expert at Greenpeace
""We can no longer afford to rely on ineffective voluntary industry measures and well-intentioned appeals to personal responsibility. Non-communicable diseases are a lifelong burden for those affected, overburden our healthcare system and have considerable economic consequences. Politicians have a responsibility here. We urgently need preventive measures that make the healthy choice the easy choice."
- Barbara Bitzer, spokesperson for the DANK science alliance and managing director of the German Diabetes Association (DDG)
""What do we look at first on the supermarket shelf? The price! But none of what we buy there has been grown there, and many products are not only unhealthy for us, but also for the planet. This study shows: The true price of our diet is healthy lifetimes and an intact natural environment."
- Dr. Eckart von Hirschhausen, doctor, science journalist and founder of the Healthy Earth - Healthy People Foundation
The organizations' demands on politics and business can be found on the respective websites: Eckart von Hirschhausen and the Healthy Earth - Healthy People Foundation, the German Alliance for Non-Communicable Diseases (DANK) science alliance and Greenpeace.
About the German Alliance for Non-Communicable Diseases (DANK)
The German Alliance for Non-Communicable Diseases (DANK) is a scientific alliance of 21 medical-scientific societies, associations and research institutions that has been campaigning for 15 years for measures to prevent diseases such as obesity, diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular diseases. www.dank-allianz.de
About the Healthy Earth - Healthy People Foundation
The Healthy Earth - Healthy People Foundation was established in March 2020 by Dr. Eckart von Hirschhausen to focus on the connection between our personal and "planetary health". The foundation plants ideas that grow faster than trees. With positive solutions and a language that reaches the head and the heart, we activate people to recognize the urgency of this task of the century and to take action. For the protection of our livelihoods.
You can find more photos from the press conference here.
Note: This article has been translated using a computer system without human intervention. LUMITOS offers these automatic translations to present a wider range of current news. Since this article has been translated with automatic translation, it is possible that it contains errors in vocabulary, syntax or grammar. The original article in German can be found here.
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