This briefing paper from UK food waste NGO Feedback argues that supermarkets’ strong influence on the food system means they must act urgently if the UK is to significantly reduce meat and dairy consumption - and associated greenhouse gas emissions - over the next decade.
As of January 2021, Tesco and Sainsbury’s have acknowledged the importance of dietary change in meeting climate targets, but no UK supermarket has yet committed to selling less meat and dairy. Tesco aims to increase sales of meat alternatives, while several retailers have signed agreements to waste less meat.
Feedback calls for UK supermarkets to halve their meat and dairy sales by 2030, setting year-on-year reduction targets. Table 2 of the paper sets out a range of interventions that supermarkets could use, ranging from providing information and marketing plant-based food as aspirational through to the strongest interventions such as removing certain products from shelves, such as chicken fed on Brazilian soy (since it is difficult to guarantee deforestation-free sourcing of this feed).
Read the full report, Meating the climate challenge: Why supermarkets must urgently cut their meat and dairy sales, here (PDF link). See also the Table explainer What can be done to shift eating patterns in healthier, more sustainable directions?
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