– Norwegians’ meat consumption is not natural at all. We both eat a lot more meat than in much of the world, and than they did in Norway a couple of generations ago.
This is what Grønn Ungdom Vestland County Chief Frøya Skjold Sjursæther told Dagbladet. Green Youth is the party of the young people of MDG.
On Thursday, the industry organization Animalia – owned by Nortura and the National Association of the Meat and Poultry Industry – unveiled the report “The state of the flesh 2022”. Among other things, it showed that Norwegians’ meat consumption has increased in recent years.
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Animalia itself used the report to warn that Norway’s food security may be weakened when sustainability is included in next year’s dietary recommendations. Sjursæther, for her part, sees the results of the report in a completely different light.
He believes it demonstrates that Norway must now take active measures to reduce the population’s meat consumption.
It compares with tobacco
– We need to loosen the grip that the meat industry has on our consumption habits. It is therefore time to ban advertising on meat products, Sjursæther tells Dagbladet.
POINTS TO SAY: Frøya Skjold Sjursæther points out, among other things, that both the UN and the Norwegian Directorate of Health believe that we should cut down on meat consumption. ILLUSTRATIVE PHOTO: Heiko Junge / NTB
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He points out that the Norwegian Directorate of Health recommends cutting meat. The UN and the Klimakur interdisciplinary relationship do the same. Now Sjursæther believes that the time has come to heed the recommendations. Then he believes that the government should take measures.
One of them, in her opinion, should be to ban advertising for meat.
– We have a long tradition in Norway of banning the advertising of products that are not good for us. Advertising alcohol or tobacco is not allowed in Norway. The same should be true for meat.
I WANT A BAN: Leader of Grønn Ungdom Vestland, Frøya Skjold Sjursæther. Photo: private
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– Meat is not good for the planet, animals or public health, and I see no reason why the meat industry should still be able to advertise a product that the Norwegian Directorate of Health, the United Nations and the climate change recommend eating less, she continues.
Looking to the Netherlands
If the government is serious about achieving climate goals, it should be much easier to choose respect for the climate and the environment, Sjursæther believes. He therefore believes that we must ensure that people can make more environmentally friendly food choices more easily and avoid being exposed to the “disproportionate pressure of the meat industry”.
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When asked if she thinks it is all advertising for meat, or just some of it, that should be banned, Sjursæther explains that the ban should be limited to the production of meat that is not sustainable or ethically healthy.
– How do you think such a ban could be designed?
– Requires thorough work, that’s clear. And it must be followed. But I certainly think it’s possible. When the Dutch city of Haarlem has succeeded, it is possible here too, Sjursæther replied.
Get support
The proposal to ban meat advertising was previously registered by Grønn Ungdom for the MDG party program, but was rejected during the program process when the current party program was adopted last year.
Sjursæter will propose the same again before the next party program, and he hopes once again that Grønn Ungdom will support the proposal and in this way give weight to the proposal vis-à-vis the parent party.
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– The MDG wants to halve Norwegians’ meat consumption by 2050. So I think this is an important move to achieve this goal. We now need effective measures, and this is an effective measure, Sjursæther says.
It receives a lot of support from the spokesperson for Grønn Ungdom’s main organization, Ulrikke Torgersen, who believes there is good reason to resume this debate in the party.
– According to the UN climate panel, we must roughly halve world meat consumption if we are to achieve global climate goals. WWF estimates that mass production of meat and milk is responsible for 60 percent of the loss of species diversity on earth. This mass production also takes place in Norway and is influenced by consumer trends, says Torgersen and continues:
– Today in Norway more than three times as much money is spent on the marketing of meat, as it is on the marketing of fruit and vegetables. If we want to change consumer habits, we must also change the way consumers are influenced, including through advertising.
