You may not like everything Jay Inslee and AOC say, but their views on factory farming could end up saving our lives

The most important parts of Green New Deal and the Evergreen Economy Plan aren't necessarily the parts you've heard about

AOC's Green New Deal generated support and controversy, but we can presume Inslee's plan released today was inspired by it (Getty)

Jay Inslee, the little-known Democratic governor of Washington state and presidential candidate, just unveiled the ambitious second phase of his own climate plan, which he calls the Evergreen Economy Plan. It outlines a $9 trillion investment over 10 years and seeks to create 8 million jobs aimed at decarbonizing the economy, all while "closing the gap in wealth and prosperity, and empowering workers of all races and genders."

The ambitious 38 page proposal did not come out of nowhere: as one commentator put it, it has "the Green New Deal and the grassroots energy behind it [which has] ensured that every one of the Democrats running for president will be forced to prioritize climate change."

The Green New Deal received widespread approval when it was introduced in February this year by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. It calls on the US to radically cut carbon emissions from electricity generation, transport and agriculture in the next 10 years, broadly in line with scientific warnings on how we can mitigate the worst of climate change.

The deal aims to get to net zero greenhouse gases while also creating millions of jobs, including a “greenhouse gas-free food system,” according to an FAQ released by Ocasio-Cortez to the media. Some critics say the deal was vague, but its aim was to start a conversation.

It calls for policies to “eliminate pollution and greenhouse gas emissions from the agricultural sector,” and proposes we do this by supporting family farming, investing in sustainable farming and land-use practices that increase soil health, and building a more sustainable food system that ensures universal access to healthy food. The FAQ also jokingly said, “We aren’t sure we can get rid of farting cows and airplanes that fast”. This caused some critics to distil the conversation around the deal down to radical socialism that will eliminate hamburgers.

While the Senate voted the resolution down in March, Ocasio-Cortez is still focused on drafting related bills — and she’s enjoying a fair amount of support with it. Whether that or a plan inspired by it such as Inslee’s becomes mainstream, we should make sure some priorities don’t end up getting forgotten.

Agriculture and meat consumption in the US are a huge contributor to greenhouse gases, and any future iteration of the Green New Deal or an Evergreen Economy Plan must focus on eliminating factory farming and dramatically decreasing meat and dairy consumption.

According to data from the World Resources Institute, the US is the second largest contributor to emissions behind China, and its agriculture sector currently makes up 9 per cent of these emissions. But it’s more complex than just “farting cows”. The US’s factory farming industry also uses vast quantities of land and water, and is responsible for slaughtering more than nine billion land animals every year – not to mention contributing to antibiotic resistance.

There seems to be growing political appetite to replace factory farms and agribusiness with small farms. Bernie Sanders tweeted that, “Factory farms are responsible for 1.4 trillion pounds of animal waste in America. They are a threat to the water we drink and the air we breathe, and it is unbelievable to me that Republicans in Congress have been working overtime to exempt factory farms from environmental laws.”

Similarly, Elizabeth Warren wrote in a Medium post that, “Bad decisions in Washington have consistently favored the interests of multinational corporations and big business lobbyists over the interests of family farmers… Federal regulators have allowed multinational companies to crush competition and seize control over key markets. Over the last few decades, giant agribusinesses have grown bigger and bigger.”

The monopolies in the meat and poultry industries, which are dominated by just a few companies, leave many farmers living below or near the poverty line. They’re often incentivized to overproduce cheap food, which is a huge contributor to the country’s food waste and emissions and has led to record-high stockpiles of unsold meat and cheese.

We must also swap our meat- and dairy-based diet for plant-based food, according to the EAT-Lancet Commission, by continuing to innovate and offer healthy and affordable plant-based alternatives. Ocasio-Cortez said on Showtime’s Desus & Mero show about the GND, “It’s not to say we’re gonna force everybody to go vegan or anything crazy like that…[but] maybe we shouldn’t be eating a hamburger for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.” That’s the correct sentiment to have.

In recent years the demand for plant-based alternatives has soared, and the market is projected to grow to $5bn a year by 2020. But getting people to eat less meat is a slow and gradual process. Another way to reduce our factory-farmed meat intake is the nascent cell-based meat industry, which involves scientists growing meat using animal stem cells to create meat that is identical to meat from otherwise slaughtered animals.

According to one study, cell-based meat is expected to generate 96 per cent less greenhouse emissions, and use 99 per cent less land and up to 96 per cent less water than conventional meat. It isn’t yet on the market, but many companies predict it will only be a few years before it is properly regulated and affordable.

Climate change is a complex problem that requires a number of solutions, but ultimately, there has been an increasing recognition in recent years that we need a major reduction in livestock production to spearhead our efforts to slow it. Ultimately, we must free up farmers to produce food in sustainable ways that help support localized and climate-resilient food systems, and fairly compensate them for doing so. That — more than anything else AOC or Jay Inslee can suggest, and no matter which party you vote for — would help our country, our planet and our people.

Brian Kateman is cofounder and president of the Reducetarian Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to reducing consumption of meat, eggs, and dairy to create a healthy, sustainable, and compassionate world. Brian is the editor of The Reducetarian Cookbook (Hachette Book Group: September 18, 2018) and The Reducetarian Solution (Penguin Random House: April 18, 2017).