Today, on the 17th of April 2021, the World Health Organization (WHO) met during the United Nations conference in Zürich, Switzerland. They discussed the topic of the effects of animal agriculture on antimicrobial resistance, especially focusing on Zoonotic diseases. A zoonotic disease gets transmitted from animals to humans. Our current Corona crisis illustrates perfectly how crucial this discussion is since Covid – 19 was most likely caused by the consumption of animals (bats or penguins).
Research says, such Zoonotic diseases often originate in so-called factory farms; very large, industrialized farms, where animals are crammed into small spaces. This obviously accelerates the propagation of diseases among the animals, which we then eat.
The delegates present in today’s meeting all agreed upon the importance of this subject.
A noteworthy point was just how invested and passionate the various delegates were in the WHO, wholeheartedly committed – each in their own way and with the means afforded to their country – to solve some of our time’s largest health crises.
“Proactive”, “purposeful”, “divided”, “busy” and “confident” were some of the words used to describe the committee by the delegates when approached for comment.
When the moment arrived to decide which draft resolution should be discussed first, the intense debating subsided and made way for polite arguments.
Multiple proposals were made, however, the largest discussion seemed to be around the investment in meat alternatives. Many delegates want to go the radical route of replacing meat with plant-based or scientifically made alternatives.
However, when our representative of Die Weltwoche asked the delegates in the press conference about the damages such resolutions would do to the meat industries, they admitted not having thought about that.
Furthermore, the delegates seemed a little too optimistic about the market such meat alternatives would have. Eating meat is heavily engraved in many cultures around the world. As long as the consumers for such products are not there, the large companies will certainly not change the way they produce meat. It seems like the delegations want to reduce meat consumption overall, not change the way it is produced, which is neither an attainable nor a realistic goal. Especially in countries like the USA or Brazil, where the meat industries are very prominent and certainly have a power of lobbyism that should not be underestimated, such a resolution would probably not be effective.
Rather than discussing concrete actions that could be taken to ensure the proper production of meat (such as sanctions for companies that don’t meet regulations, or incentives for those that do), it seems the members of the WHO have dared to dream (way too) big. Hopefully, it will not take another global pandemic for them to wake up and take clear action against factory farming and Zoonotic diseases.
Picture: Polina Tankilevitch, Pexels
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