Portugal and Spain’s different bites on meat consumption

The debate over meat’s environmental impact only hit the mainstream in 2021 when Spain’s socialist PM Pedro Sánchez publicly contradicted his consumer minister.

The Iberian Peninsula is a culinary powerhouse – think Spanish jamón and Portuguese bacalhau – and ranks among the EU’s top consumers of meat. But as the global debate over animal products heats up, along with the climate, Spain and Portugal are taking very different bites out of the issue.

With the livestock sector accounting for over 80% of the EU’s total agricultural greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and the World Health Organisation (WHO) calling for a shift to “more plant-based diets," eating habits have become highly political. The EU is also heavily reliant on imports of protein crops, such as soybeans, to produce feeds for animals.

In this context, the Iberian Peninsula provides an interesting laboratory of trends. Portugal is taking a significant step towards a greener diet: the country is set to become the second EU nation, after Denmark, to launch a national strategy promoting plant-based foods. (...)