Open Letter to Rio+20 Summit Leaders

Dear Rio+20 Summit Leaders,

 It is also a shocking fact that 40% of the EU budget still goes to agricultural subsidies, the majority affecting the price of meat and dairy products and giving them a competitive advantage above other foods. President Bush actually the subsidies to intensive factory farming by 80% during his recent term in the USA.

As this time of economic adversity, intensive factory farming is causing environmental destruction worldwide driven by the consumption of meat products - and this is being directly subsidised by public funding by taxpayers. Meat and livestock products are also subsidised indirectly by subsidies to animal feed crops.  Imported animal feed, particularly soy, is responsible for widespread destruction of the tropical Amazon rainforest.  Livestock contributes a total of 18% to global greenhouse gas emissions.

There is no reason why intensive factory farming should be subsidised in this way and given an advantage over other forms of small-scale farming.  Artificially lowering the price of cheap, inhumane meat also has health implications in a world where a growing proportion of the world suffers from obesity and heart problems.

I feel these detrimental agricultural subsidies are at the very root of our broken food system and that Rio+20 offers a real opportunity to change this system. Reduction of the consumption of animal products must be included in the Rio outcomes, along with the removal of the distorting subsidies they receive.

We must overcome the intensive factory farming lobby to implement these changes. If these major subsidies at the root of environmental degradation are not addressed at the Rio Conference, the Summit will be a missed opportunity for the planet and the world. I welcome your response to this.

Yours Sincerely,

A Citizen of the Earth