Meat and Dairy Get 3x the EU Subsidies of Fruits and Veg, 580 Times More for Beef Than Legumes. Europe’s Numbers Are Outrageous

Credits: foodrise.org.uk

When I read the report from foodrise.org.uk stating that in Europe meat and dairy receive three times the subsidies compared to plant-based products, I cannot help but feel incredulous... I am truly disheartened. But let’s look at the numbers to understand concretely what we are talking about: 39 billion euros are destined for meat and dairy, compared to only 11.6 billion for fruits, vegetables, and grains. It is an enormous gap that makes no sense, why such disparity?
Continuing to feed the animal industry affects not only the environment but also our health and the future of the planet; here damage is being incentivized instead of the solution.

It is even more shocking when we look at individual categories: beef and lamb have received about 580 times more funds than legumes (8 billion versus 14 million), and dairy 500 times more than nuts and seeds (16 billion versus 29 million). Meanwhile, animal production is responsible for 81-86% of the greenhouse gas emissions embedded in the European food supply chain, while providing only 32% of the calories and 64% of the protein we consume. Just think that one gram of protein from beef can cause up to 62 times more emissions than legumes, and yet these are only the proportions of funding... how can we not understand how off track we are by doing this?

And all this happens while the EU discusses the future of the Common Agricultural Policy for 2028-2034, which would be a great opportunity to change course, redistribute funds toward plant-based foods, and stop financing the promotion of meat and dairy with high environmental impact, yet as it has emerged the pressure from agro-industrial lobbies and especially conservative political groups is making things much more complicated. For me, it is also a matter of values, it is scandalous that billions of euros of public money support a production model that degrades the climate, abuses animals, depletes natural resources, and keeps people away from healthier diets. It is a waste that weighs on all of us and future generations.

To really change something, we must reduce animal production and support those who choose plant-based products, not only with words but with political choices and concrete funding, changing what has been done so far. There is so much talk about climate change and pollution, about buying electric cars, about photovoltaic systems, but what is the point if the European Union promotes pollution from animal farming (as well as exploitation and violence against the animals themselves)? Every time I think about these numbers, I think that if politics does not decide to do something, we can partially do it ourselves with our daily choices. Choosing plant-based is not only an ethical matter, but a small concrete act against a system that continues to reward those who damage the planet and ignore those who protect it.

References:

https://foodrise.org.uk/press-release-cap-crossroads/
https://foodrise.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/FoodRise-CAPCrossroads-Feb26-LowRes.pdf