Beef and lamb receive 580 times more in EU subsidies than legumes, a report has found, despite scientists urging people to get more of their protein from less harmful sources.
Analysis by the charity Foodrise found the EU’s common agricultural policy (CAP) provides “unfair” levels of support to meat-heavy diets that doctors consider unhealthy and climate scientists consider environmentally destructive.
It found beef and lamb were subsidised 580 times more than legumes in 2020, while pork was subsidised nearly 240 times more. Dairy, meanwhile, received 554 times more in subsidies than nuts and seeds.
this is dated. it relies on the 2016 position paper by the ADA (now known as AND) which has now expired…they issued a new position, and this claim is not in it.
I assume you mean this paper. It is the position of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics that, in adults, appropriately planned vegetarian and vegan dietary patterns can be nutritionally adequate So they now limit the recommendation to adults. For older adults they paint an in my opinion pretty balanced take, but the recommendations they make are still applicable to older people that do not eat plant based.
“Facilitating vegetarian dietary patterns in individuals younger than age 18 years and/or for those pregnant or lactating requires specific guidance that considers how vegetarian dietary patterns may influence these crucial stages of growth and development and is outside the scope of this position paper.” (source above). The way I am reading this, the paper doesn’t mention young and pregnant people because that was not the aim of the paper, and not because they present clear evidence against it.
NHS scotland in 2025 said A vegetarian or vegan diet can be suitable for everyone. However, you might need to consider specific needs at different life stages – for example, children or if you’re pregnant, even though they did not list their sources.
The DGE said in 2024 For vulnerable groups, i.e. children, adolescents, pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers and elderly people, the DGE cannot make a clear recommendation either in favour of or against a vegan diet due to limited available data
The NHS says During pregnancy and when breastfeeding, if you follow a vegan diet you’ll need to make sure you get enough vitamins and minerals for your child to develop healthily., though this hasn’t been updated since 2022, while the review date in 2025 has apparently passed but the guidance did not get reviewed. There are no sources for this page I can see.
So vegan diets are definitely suitable for adults and maybe or maybe not for other age groups / stages of life.
Just because somebody does eat animal products doesn’t mean they automatically have good health, you have to think about how to get your nutrients with any diet. Taking a supplement of B12 / eating fortified foods is not difficult in europe.
I think it’s telling that they changed the scope of their position. and the fact that most of the paper is spent detailing how to avoid deficiencies
Okay, but the AND has lots of articles on how to avoid deficiencies while eating animal products, isn’t that kind of their job? As well the 2025 AND paper says “The target audience for this article is RDNs, NDTRs, and other health care practitioners.” So it makes sense why they detail how to avoid deficiencies.
I am not saying just do whatever. But there are clearly upsides to a plant based diet that to me offset the work you have to do.
If you are interested you can check out acti-veg.