The following letter was sent to MP John Weston and copied to Coast Reporter.
According to a 2013 article in the Globe and Mail, farm subsidies in Canada over the last three decades totaled roughly $6 to $8 billion per year. The main beneficiaries are dairy, egg and meat producers. These subsidies cost each household over $500 per year, and the bulk of that goes to corporate factory farms.
The environmental impacts of meat and dairy farming are staggering: loss of topsoil, excessive energy and water consumption and pollution from feedlot manure, herbicides and pesticides. One result is huge dead zones in lakes and oceans that lack the oxygen to support fish.
In the upcoming budget, please eliminate subsidies for the meat and dairy industries. It is an environmentally responsible way to cut taxes or free up tax dollars for health care.
According to the Centre for Disease Control, chronic medical conditions consume 84 per cent of health care spending. The top chronic diseases (heart disease, stroke and diabetes) are aggravated by excessive meat and dairy consumption.
Eliminating subsidies allows consumers to see the true cost of meat and dairy. This encourages reduced consumption leading to improvements in health and environment.
To help farmers adapt to the change, let’s emulate the Dairies to Berries program, which helped Finland’s farmers switch from raising animal products to growing healthy plant foods. Finland’s population has experienced a dramatic 80 per cent drop in cardiac mortality since the start of that program.
