After Neige, Idéale and Imminence, Ovalie - a beautiful 5-year-old Salers cow - will be the star of the International Agricultural Show, which opens on Saturday February 25 in Paris.
As usual, the muse has the right to her photo on the poster of this annual high mass and her official presentation to the public will be one of the highlights of the week.
A tradition that shows the central place of breeding in French agriculture.
But, while the climate impact of meat production is regularly pointed out by environmental defenders, this event is also an opportunity to rethink production methods and the place of steaks on plates.
Globally, meat consumption is constantly increasing.
According to data from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), it has increased fivefold over the past sixty years, from 71 million tonnes in 1961 to 339 million in 2021. And this massive production has strong consequences on climate change: the livestock sector is responsible for 14.5% of total greenhouse gas emissions of human origin and half of the emissions of the global agricultural sector.
Main responsible for greenhouse gases in the plates
"In France, we eat on average between 100 and 110 grams per day and per person. This is equivalent to approximately 85 kilos per year. This is twice the world average", explains Carine Barbier, agricultural economist , researcher at CNRS and Cired (environmental economics laboratory).
In total, only a quarter of the population declares itself to be flexitarian – eating it only occasionally – and 2.2% vegetarian.
"This is the first cause of greenhouse gas emissions linked to our food," she continues.
"In detail, food as a whole already represents 25% of French emissions - this includes the whole process, from production to the plate and imports. And livestock farming alone represents 9% of our total emissions."
If farming is so expensive for the planet, it is because it contributes to the release into the atmosphere of three greenhouse gases: CO2, nitrous oxide and methane.
“CO2 emissions come from the use of fossil fuels for transport, in particular imports, the use of agricultural machinery but also that of the agri-food industries and mass distribution”, explains the specialist.
Nitrous oxide (N2O), on the other hand, "comes from mineral nitrogen fertilizers applied to the fields".
Finally, methane is produced by the digestion of ruminants.
However, these last two, often less known, are nevertheless particularly harmful: N2O has a warming power 300 times greater than that of CO2 and methane 28 times greater.
>> Climate: record methane emissions, a gas "much more harmful than CO2"
"We must therefore distinguish between ruminants, pigs and poultry", insists Carine Barbier.
"Because of their particular digestive system, ruminants have a greater impact on the climate."
According to data from the Environment and Energy Management Agency (Ademe), one kilo of beef emits around 14 kilos of CO2 equivalent (or CO2e) - which includes CO2, methane and nitrous oxide, ten times more than poultry.
CO2 emissions linked to meat consumption in France.
© Ademe
Not to mention that to these impacts on the climate are added harmful effects on the environment.
In 2015, a report by the Institute of Physics estimated that, on a European scale, livestock farming was responsible for 78% of the loss of terrestrial biodiversity, 80% of soil acidification and atmospheric pollution. , and 73% of water pollution.
'There is a real awareness of the climate emergency'
Faced with this observation, many avenues are being considered by French breeders to reduce their environmental impact.
In a press release published in February on the occasion of the opening of the Agricultural Show, the National Interprofessional Association for Livestock and Meat (Interbev) thus announces the objective of reducing the carbon footprint of the sector by 15%. beef in 2025, compared to 2015.
"There is a real awareness of the climate emergency throughout the sector", explains Emmanuel Bernard, president of the beef section of Interbev. "Already because as breeders, we are in the first line of global warming and its consequences.
Carine Barbier proposes, for her part, to go "towards more extensive farming, consuming more grass and thus limiting the production of cereals intended for their food and therefore the use of fertilizers or pesticides".
"Imports of products for animal feed should also be reduced. I am thinking, for example, of soybean cakes imported from Brazil, which involve a lot of transport - today, in total, transport represents more than a fifth of the carbon footprint of food," she continues.
"Why not redevelop farms in polyculture-breeding, where the breeder would grow himself a large part of what he needs for his animals?"
Recommendations that Emmanuel Bernard tries to take into account.
Thirty years ago, this breeder took over the family farm located in Nièvre.
Today, he is responsible for 110 Charolais cows "to calve", that is to say intended to give birth to calves which will then be fattened before being taken to slaughterhouses.
And for several years, he has multiplied the facilities to make his operation more ecological.
"Already, I don't import any soya. My cows and calves are mostly fed with grass, fodder and cereals that I grow myself, on my farm. Of the 220 hectares of land, 125 hectares are thus meadows and 25 hectares are used for the cultivation of cereals", he explains.
Three years ago, he went further by submitting his operation to a CAP2ER, a diagnosis of the emissions it produces.
A process in five years which should allow it to have leads to further reduce its ecological footprint.
"I plan, for example, to replace the cultivation of corn with meslin, a mixture of cereals and protein crops, which consumes less water and fertilizer."
Reduce livestock
But to go further and transform farming methods on a large scale, "we will necessarily have to go through a reduction in the size of the herds", insists Carine Barbier.
Especially since these changes in practices would lead to a virtuous circle: "For example, by limiting the meat portion of our diet and the use of cereals and oilseeds for animals, we gain available agricultural land that we can use for human consumption directly," she continues.
The decline in herds is already an objective set by France.
It appears in its national low-carbon strategy for agriculture, presented in June 2021 and which provides for a reduction of around 13% by 2030 – a less ambitious horizon than what scientists recommend.
And in farms, the trend has already begun.
Between 2000 and 2019, the total number of dairy and suckler cows fell by 8%, according to the Livestock Institute (Idele).
Same observation for sheep, which decreased by 8.3% from 2011 to 2020 and in the pig sector, where the number of sows has dropped by 19% in ten years.
"Starting this transition towards agricultural practices that are more respectful of the environment is essential today to ensure better resilience of the agricultural system in the face of climate change and to strengthen our food sovereignty", insists Carine Barbier, recalling that the world of farming is already in crisis.
"But for that, we need stronger support from the European Union. We must ensure the sustainability of income during this transition."
"Today, we make a lot of diagnoses and observations on the problems related to breeding, but we are struggling to democratize real methods of adaptation", abounds the breeder Emmanuel Bernard.
"And the reason for this is above all financial. If the political sphere followed, if we had real support, we would be ready to take up all the challenges."
"Without this, the risk is that we become less competitive with other countries, and that this ultimately encourages imports," he insists.
"It wouldn't be good for us or for the climate."
A revolution on the plate
But for Carine Barbier, a real change in production cannot take place without consumers.
"Beyond all that, we must reduce our meat consumption. This is what will really encourage breeders to make the transition", continues the author of a study published in October 2022 establishing several scenarios for a neutral diet in carbon by 2050.
In addition to the purely ecological aspects, it also puts forward nutritional arguments.
"We consume too much protein anyway, about 80% more than we need," continues the specialist.
While the cardiovascular risks associated with the overconsumption of meat are regularly highlighted.
In 2019, a commission formed by the medical journal The Lancet estimated that Europeans should reduce their consumption of red meat by 77% to respect planetary limits and their health, while doubling that of fruits, vegetables, nuts and legumes.
"Already reducing our consumption to be closer to our real needs will significantly reduce the carbon impact of our plate."
"If we follow the most sober scenarios, we must divide our meat consumption by three and our dairy products by two," she explains.
"Under no circumstances is it planned to completely eliminate meat for the entire population. It is a question of changing our diet and farming practices to achieve carbon neutrality."
Prioritize plant-based alternatives
And to initiate these changes in eating habits and gradually reduce the proportion of meat on the plates, there are many vegetable alternatives.
The first, and most obvious, is to switch to more protein-rich grains and legumes, such as lentils or chickpeas.
At the same time, in recent years, many vegetable products intended to replace meat have multiplied at the top of supermarket shelves.
Among them, "vegetable steaks", "false bacon", "vegetable aiguillettes" made from peas, tofu or soy to imitate the taste and texture of beef or chicken.
“Today, all these options imitate meat really well and can be a good way to help change habits,” says Tom Bry-Chevalier, doctoral student specializing in alternative meats at the University of Lorraine.
"Especially since we now know that these options have much less impact on the climate than meat," he insists.
According to a recent study, these vegetable substitutes are ten times less emitting than beef.
It's even 25 times less for tofu.
In July 2022, a report by the strategy consulting firm Boston Consulting Group estimated that "investments in plant-based alternatives to meat" would be "much more effective in reducing greenhouse gas emissions than other green investments" .
"Each euro invested in these products would have three times more impact than if it were placed in the energy improvement of buildings and eleven times more than in the manufacture of electric cars", can we read.
"Another alternative could be the development of meat grown in the laboratory, produced directly from animal cells", continues Tom Bry-Chevalier.
If this industry is experiencing strong growth, with dozens of start-ups spreading around the world, the project remains for the moment mainly confined to laboratories.
"And this option has several limits. First, cultured meat is rather expensive in terms of greenhouse gas emissions if the energy mix used for its production is not decarbonized", explains the doctoral student.
"But above all, we are still far from large-scale commercialization. However, the climate issue is an emergency. We cannot wait for laboratory-grown meat to develop to change our habits."
For Carine Barbier, "vegetable steaks" and meat grown in the laboratory - if it were to develop - must above all be seen as transition tools.
"We already have all the food necessary for our protein intake thanks to raw plants," she insists.
"Let's offer appetizing vegetarian dishes in collective catering establishments, let's offer you to choose your portion of meat there… This can really make a difference."
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