The environmental and health costs of meat "production" and consumption are not included in the price that citizens pay when buying food of animal origin. These "hidden costs" are borne by the whole community, which does not receive any compensation for the damage received.
LAV has entrusted Demetra, a consulting company in the field of sustainability, with an independent study on the environmental and health costs of meat consumption in Italy.
The study uncovers alarming costs: in one year 36.6 billion euros are unknowingly paid by the Italian community due to meat consumption.
Divided by the Italian population, the damage generated per capita by meat consumption is around 605 euro per year (between 316 and 1,530 euros per person). The average cost is almost equally divided between environmental (48%) and health costs (52%).
LAV, based on the evidence found by the study, believes that it is time to implement policies - both at national and Community level - that maximize the diffusion of proteins of plant origin as an alternative to animal proteins. In order to move in this direction, it is essential that the numerous subsidies that support the livestock industry – in many phases of the “production” of meat – are soon eliminated, that the hidden costs highlighted in the study presented today are largely brought back to the cost of meat, and that specific tax levers are activated to direct consumption.