When will the United States start to tax Meat? Germany is about to.

​I find this a very relevant topic these days for 2 obvious reasons.  One of which is that it’s been proven through numerous scientific studies that meat consumption is a health hazard and two the current administration leading this country feels the need to tax everything and anything they can.  So if the so called “sin” taxes in this country (Cigarettes, alcohol, and gasoline) are issued by the federal government to help pay for the hidden health or environmental costs why is meat not taxed?  

---

Meat production is a leading source of environmental degradation.  The industries that drive the production and distribution of meat and meat related products has one of the biggest and most dangerous carbon footprints of any other in the country.  Need more proof? According to the Academy of Nutrition and Diabetics, vegans are less prone to develop heart disease, diabetes, and cancer than meat-eaters are and they’re also less likely to be obese. In addition, the production of meat is a leading cause of climate change, a looming environmental disaster that threatens the U.S. with billions of dollars in damages from rising sea levels, worsening storms, and increased droughts.  A tax on chicken, turkey, pig, cow, fish and other animal products sold in this country could help significantly reduce health care costs not to mention be used to better the environment and help fight more better animal welfare.

https://www.peta.org/features/tax-meat/

• The World Health Organization classifies processed meat as a Group 1 carcinogen, in the same category as cigarettes and asbestos.
• A 2016 University of Oxford study estimated that vegan eating could save $40 billion in environmental damages and $250 billion in health-care expenses associated with treating diet-related chronic diseases by 2050 in the U.S. alone.

​Germany has always been a very vegan friendly and forward country and I read an article today that they are planning a 12% rise in sales tax on meat which currently sits at 7%.  Doing so will encourage people to eat healthier, live longer, and raise awareness to the detriments this industry brings to the public and environment.  According to the article published on VegNews “In the first half of 2019, Germany produced 4.3 tons of meat by slaughtering nearly 30 million pigs, cows, sheep, goats, horses, and birds, according to the Federal Statistics Office. A raised VAT on meat encourages the consumption of plant-based products, a move that politicians argue will benefit Germany’s goal of reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 31 percent by 2030.”