Background

The North American Meat Institute (NAMI) is an industry group representing U.S. meat and poultry processing and packing companies, as well as their suppliers. [1]

Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the North American Meat Institute was formed in 2015 following the merging of the American Meat Institute (AMI) and the North American Meat Association (NAMA). [2]

NAMI works to “build relationships across the food system” and is “ethically committed to do what’s right for people, animals, and the environment,” according to its website. [3]

In 2016, NAMI successfully lobbied for new official U.S. dietary guidelines not to encourage Americans to consider the environmental impact of the food they eat or to recommend that red meat consumption should be reduced. [4]

Stance on Climate Change

On a page on NAMI’s website titled “Climate Change and Animal Agriculture: The Facts,” the organisation states that the answer to the question, “To what degree does human activity on Earth lead to climate change?” is “unknown.” [5]

However, it acknowledges that “there is growing public and governmental concern that greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions should be curtailed to reduce future effects of increasing global temperatures and climate change.”

NAMI runs an “Environmental awards program” aimed at acknowledging meat processing plants “that have implemented strong environmental programs and are dedicated to continuous improvement.” The program aims to improve meat plants’ water, energy and land use and reduce impacts such as wastewater discharges, air pollution, odour, and hazardous waste generation and noise. [6], [7]

Livestock emissions

In 2020, NAMI’s Vice President of Sustainability Eric Mittenthal claimed that animal agriculture’s share of GHG emissions has been “misrepresented for years,” referring to a 2017 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) report showing that “only 9% of the total greenhouse gas emissions in the United States come from the agriculture industry as a whole, only 4% of which come from animal agriculture.” [8]

The same year, NAMI claimed there was “promising” research that it said showed “how animal agriculture can not only reduce its carbon footprint but leave it completely neutral.” [9]

According to a 2021 study by New York University researchers, the U.S. meat industry “takes advantage of large overall U.S. emissions and frames emissions as a relative percentage rather than absolute terms.” The study further noted that animal agriculture industry organizations, including NAMI, “regularly fund, publish, and promote research and web content minimizing or disavowing the link between animal agriculture and climate change.” [10]

The EPA’s estimate does not factor in land use and land-use change when calculating agriculture’s share of GHG emissions, which account for a large proportion of meat emissions. [11]

Key Narratives

NAMI promotes a number of narratives to justify the meat industry’s business model. Find out more about how the meat industry is climate-washing its activities in our investigation. And you can read counter-arguments and criticisms of these narratives in our factsheet.

‘Animal agriculture isn’t a serious driver of climate change’

‘US meat is environmentally friendly’

In 2020, NAMI stated that “according to the CLEAR Center at U.C. Davis, U.S. farmers and ranchers are the most advanced in the world.” [9]

Elsewhere, NAMI states: “All of animal agriculture’s GHG emissions from 1990 to 2005 have remained nearly constant, increasing by only about 3.5 percent since 1990. During the same period total U.S. meat production has increased 50 percent.” The organisation concludes that “the fact that emissions have remained the same while industry production has increased shows that livestock and meat producers have taken responsible steps to provide an abundant and affordable meat supply while still protecting the environment.” [5]

A 2018 study published in Nature, however, found that reducing meat consumption is crucial to lowering the food system’s emissions and that “[i]f socioeconomic changes towards [meat-heavy] Western consumption patterns continue, the environmental pressures of the food system are likely to intensify, and humanity might soon approach the planetary boundaries for global freshwater use, change in land use, and ocean acidification.” [12]

‘Grazing supports biodiversity’

In 2015, NAMI shared a study on its website authored by animal science researchers, including from North Dakota State University’s Department of Animal Sciences and the American Society of Animal Science, stating that “grazing by ruminants promotes the health and biodiversity of grasslands.” [13], [14]

However, according to an UN-backed report published by Chatham House in 2021, meat production is a key driver of global biodiversity loss because animal farming necessitates converting natural ecosystems into agricultural land, or preventing it from being returned to nature. A 2020 study by researchers from the University of Alberta warned that scaling up livestock grazing to meet future food demand could threaten the biodiversity of herbivores and pollinators worldwide. [15], [16]

‘Plant-based diets do not solve the problem of climate change’

‘Cutting out meat from our diets will only have a small impact on emissions’

In a whitepaper on plant-based and cultured meat alternatives, NAMI stated that “a recent study from the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences evaluated the potential impact if everyone in the US adopted a meatless diet and found that it would only reduce total US GHGs by 2.6 percent, and there would be a greater number of deficiencies in essential nutrients.” [17]

NAMI supported this statement by quoting a 2017 study by researchers at Virginia Tech’s Department of Animal and Poultry Science and the US Dairy Forage Research Center at the US Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service. Environmental, nutrition, and epidemiology researchers have criticised the study as misleading for failing to include land use for feed crops in its methodology, “uncritical use of nutritional values and optimization algorithms, and a highly unrealistic and narrow scenario design.” [18], [19], [20], [21]

‘Meat is needed for a healthy diet and to feed the world’

‘Livestock agriculture contributes to global food security’ and ‘Meat is needed to feed the world’s growing population’

In a statement addressing the climate impact of animal agriculture, NAMI states that “today’s American farmer feeds about 144 people worldwide” and quotes an estimate by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) that “by 2050, food production must increase by 70 percent – 34% higher than today – to feed the anticipated 9 billion people.” [5], [22]

A 2018 study published in Nature, however, found that reducing meat consumption is crucial to lowering the food system’s emissions and that “[i]f socioeconomic changes towards [meat-heavy] Western consumption patterns continue, the environmental pressures of the food system are likely to intensify, and humanity might soon approach the planetary boundaries for global freshwater use, change in land use, and ocean acidification.” [12]

‘Eating meat is a personal choice’

In 2015, NAMI launched a petition on the website Change.org directed at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), asserting that “we stand together as people who value personal choice and reject taxes on foods that elite academics deem unhealthy.” [23], [24]

‘Meat is an exceptional source of nutrients’

According to NAMI, “meat and poultry are an essential part of a balanced diet.” On NAMI’s page on nutrition, the organisation states that beef, pork, and lamb are excellent sources of protein, vitamins and minerals. [5], [25]

Nutrition associations worldwide, including the British Nutrition Foundation, approve of meat-free diets, however. According to the American Dietetic Association, “appropriately planned vegetarian diets, including total vegetarian or vegan diets, are healthful, nutritionally adequate, and may provide health benefits in the prevention and treatment of certain diseases.” [26], [27]

‘Innovations in animal agriculture will tackle climate change’

‘Technological and land-use innovations are cutting emissions’

According to NAMI, “the fact that GHG emissions from U.S. animal agriculture have remained relatively constant while protein production has increased dramatically reflects improved feed efficiencies, better manure management strategies and efficient use of cropland.” [5]

However, sustainability non-profits GRAIN and the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) argue “that the large gains in ‘efficiency’ realised by industrial farming in the twentieth century will be hard to repeat without major ecological, social and health impacts.” And environmental advocates have criticised manure management technologies such as biogas digesters for “supporting and helping to perpetuate large-scale factory farming—and in some cases, causing farms to grow in size—under the guise of mitigating climate change.” [28], [29]

Funding

NAMI is a trade association and receives funding through membership fees. According to the database Cause IQ, in 2018, NAMI reported $10.6 million in revenue, of which $9.9 million came through the organisation’s “program services”. It reported $10.1 million expenses, $11.4 million assets, and $5.6 million liabilities. [30], [31]

As of 2021, NAMI’s “general members” included Cargill, JBS USA, Maple Leaf Foods, Smithfield Foods, Tyson Foods, Walmart, and OSI Group, a US-based holding company of meat processors supplying brands such as McDonald’s, Chipotle, and Burger King. [32], [33], [34], [35]

The organisation also receives other forms of funding from external organisations, such as the beef initiative Beef Checkoff, a US industry-funded marketing and research program, which funds and maintains content on NAMI’s website. The Beef Checkoff was established as part of the 1985 Farm Bill and the collection and spending of its funds are managed by the Cattlemen’s Beef Board (CBB), with oversight by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). [36], [50]

Lobbying

According to a 2021 study by New York University researchers, U.S. meat and dairy associations, including NAMI, “have been involved in opposing climate policy that would limit production.” The study found that NAMI had “spent nearly $200 million in lobbying since 2000, lobbying yearly on climate related issues such as cap-and-trade, the Clean Air Act, and greenhouse gas regulations and reporting rules.” [10]

According to OpenSecrets.org, NAMI spent $5.47 million on lobbying between 1998 and 2020. During the same period, NAMI lobbied the following agencies: [37]

• Dept of Agriculture
• Dept of Energy
• Dept of Homeland Security
• Dept of Health & Human Services
• Dept of Justice
• Dept of Labor
• Dept of the Treasury
• Environmental Protection Agency
• Executive Office of the President
• Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
• Food & Drug Administration
• National Economic Council
• Office of Management & Budget
• Office of US Trade Representative
• Social Security Administration
• US Citizenship & Immigration Services
• White House

In 2020, NAMI contributed $107,500 to federal candidates, 69 percent to Republicans and 31 percent to Democrats. NAMI further contributed $44,500 to Senate Candidates, 98 percent to Republicans and 2 percent to Democrats, including: [38]

• Mitch McConnell
• Joni Ernst
• John Cornyn
• Lindsey Graham

In 2018, NAMI contributed $96,500 to federal candidates, 82 percent to Republicans and 18 percent to Democrats. NAMI further contributed $85,000 to Senate Candidates, 79 percent to Republicans and 21 percent to Democrats, including: [39]

• Collin Peterson, former Democratic Representative for Minnesota and Chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture, who received the highest amount of donations from the agrochemical trade association CropLife America in 2020.
• Kevin Brady, Republican Representative for Texas and Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, who received a donation from oil company BP in 2016.
• Greg Walden, former Republican Representative for Oregon, who has received significant donations from oil companies and the electric utilities sector, including Koch Industries, Valero and Exelon.
• Rick Crawford, Republican Representative for Arkansas, who received considerable funding from the oil, gas, and the electric utilities sector in 2012.
• Rodney Frelinghuysen, former Republican Representative for New Jersey, who voted in favour of the “TRAIN” Act in 2011, a bill that delayed the clean-up of power plant pollution. 

In 2018, an email shared between current and former employees of Kraft General Foods Inc., Syngenta, and Monsanto and accessed by nonprofit investigative research group U.S. Right to Know revealed that NAMI called on the Carcinogen Identification Committee (CIC), a U.S. agency, not to categorise “nitrite combined with amines or amides” as carcinogenic at their November 2016 meeting. [40]

In 2015, NAMI launched a petition on Change.org and spent more than $220,000, according to Politico, successfully lobbying for the official U.S. dietary guidelines not to encourage Americans to consider the environmental impact of the food they eat, or to recommend that red meat consumption should be reduced. Its petition stated that “the dietitians and nutritionists who make up the Committee overstepped their bounds by not focusing on nutrition and instead wandering into environmental issues.” [23], [4]

In 2009, the American Meat Institute, NAMI’s predecessor, criticised the Waxman-Markey “American Clean Energy and Security Act” (H.R. 2454), a climate bill approved by the House of Representatives. The organisation claimed that “this cap-and-trade policy could place U.S. businesses at a competitive disadvantage with our international competitors, adversely affecting our ability to trade.” [41], [42]

Affiliations

In January 2021, then U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer appointed NAMI’s CEO Julie Anna Potts as an advisor to the Agricultural Policy Advisory Committee. In 2009 Julie Anna Potts was named Chief Counsel of the Senate Agriculture Committee, serving under then Chairman Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas. [43], [44]

Other organisations represented by advisors include:

• Corteva Agriscience
• CropLife America
• National Cattlemen’s Beef Association
• American Farm Bureau Federation

In 2018, Potts, a former executive vice president of the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF), was named president and CEO of NAMI. [45]

NAMI has a contract with the Beef Checkoff Program, a US-based producer-funded marketing and research program, for “veal promotion, industry information, quality assurance and post-harvest beef safety research.” [46]

NAMI’s 2021 “Environmental Conference for the Meat and Poultry Industry” was sponsored by packaging company Sealed Air and chemical manufacturer Hawkins. [47]

William Sessions, NAMI’s Director and Product Marketing and Promotion, is the former Associate Deputy Administrator of the Agricultural Marketing Service’s Livestock and Seed Program, run by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). [46]

As of 2021, NAMI’s “general members” included: [32]

• American Foods Group
• Cargill
• Hormel Foods Corporation
• JBS USA
• Maple Leaf Foods
• National Beef Packing Co.
• OSI Group
• Perdue Premium Meat Company
• Sysco Specialty Meat Company
• Smithfield Foods
• The Kraft Heinz Company
• Tyson Foods

As of 2021, NAMI’s “allied members” included: [48]

• Bord Bia – Irish Food Board
• Chipotle Mexican Grill
• Dutch Meat Association (COV)
• Kepak North America Corporation
• Meat & Wool New Zealand
• Meat and Livestock Australia
• National Corn Growers Association
• The Hershey Company/Krave Pure Foods
• U.S. Meat Export Federation
• Wal-Mart
• Whole Foods Market
• Zoetis

Along with CropLife America, the Grocery Manufacturers Association, and the United Egg Producers, NAMI was a sponsor of the Alliance to Feed the Future, a campaign organised by the International Food Information Council (IFIC) to promote genetically engineered food.

Research Collaborations

As of 2021, NAMI’s “academic members” were: [49]

• Dr Keith Belk, Colorado State University
• Dr H. Russell Cross, Texas A&M University
• Dr Sapna Chitlapilly Dass, Texas A&M University
• Dr Robert Delmore, Colorado State University
• Dr Michael Fagel, Northern Illinois University
• Dr Dwain Johnson, University of Florida
• Gail Nichols, Pitt Community College
• Dr Jaymie Noland, Cal Poly State University
• Dr Kenneth Odde, Kansas State University

Resources

1. “About NAMI,” North American Meat Institute. Archived July 10, 2021. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/Ou3FE 
2. “American Meat Institute General Members Vote to Proceed With North American Meat Association Merger,” North American Meat Institute, April 16, 2014. Archived June 15, 2021. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/1TpxW 
3. “Mission statement,” North American Meat Institute. Archived June 15, 2021. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/jTCkZ 
4. Helena Bottemiller Evich. “Meat industry wins round in war over federal nutrition advice,” Politico, July 1, 2016. Archived June 15, 2021. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/inYZd 
5. “Climate change and animal agriculture: the facts,” North American Meat Institute, August 2009. Archived June 15, 2021. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/coYwj 
6. “Meat Institute executive board makes environmental impact a non-competitive Issue,” North American Meat Institute, July 15, 2019. Archived June 15, 2021. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/sbnul 
7. “Environmental MAPS program: environmental management systems for the meat processing industry,” American Meat Institute. Archived September 22, 2015.
8. Kimberlie Clyma. “Crushing meat myths,” MEAT+POULTRY, March 18, 2020. Archived June 15, 2021. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/0xFU2 
9. “NAMI’s Response to New York Times’,” North American Meat Institute, June 1, 2020. Archived June 15, 2021. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/JPkgQ 
10. Oliver Lazarus, Sonali McDermid and Jennifer Jacquet. “The climate responsibilities of industrial meat and dairy producers,” Climatic Change, March 25, 2021. Archived July 13, 2021. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/NybZc 
11. “Inventory of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions and sinks: 1990-2019: agriculture,” United States Environmental Protection Agency. Archived July 16, 2021. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/Knftm 
12. Marco Springmann et al. “Options for keeping the food system within environmental limits,” Nature, October 10, 2018. Aof U.S. greenhouse gas emissiorchived July 14, 2021. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/RMASK 
13. “Article Examines Importance of Animals in Agricultural Sustainability and Food Security,” North American Meat Institute, July 15, 2015. Archived June 15, 2021. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/hGSTm 
14. Lawrence P Reynolds et al. “Importance of animals in agricultural sustainability and food security,” The Journal of Nutrition, May 13, 2015. Archived June 15, 2021. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/A2tLs 
15. Tim G. Benton et al. “Food system impacts on biodiversity loss: three layers for food system transformation in support of nature,” Chatham House, February 2021. Archived June 30, 2021.
16. Alessandro Filazzola et al. “The effects of livestock grazing on biodiversity are multi-trophic: a meta-analysis,” Ecology Letters, 2020. Archived July 13, 2021. 
17. “Plant based and cultured alternative protein products,” North American Meat Institute. Archived June 15, 2021.
18. Robin R. White and Mary Beth Hall. “Nutritional and greenhouse gas impacts of removing animals from US agriculture,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, November 28, 2017. Archived July 14, 2021. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/9lxka 
19. Koenraad Van Meerbeek and Jens-Christian Svenning. “Causing confusion in the debate about the transition toward a more plant-based diet,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, February 12, 2018. Archived July 14, 2021. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/Bbst2 
20. Isaac Emery. “Without animals, US farmers would reduce feed crop production,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, February 12, 2018. Archived July 14, 2021.  Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/0ExCF 
21. Marco Springmann, Michael Clark and Walter Willett. “Feedlot diet for Americans that results from a misspecified optimization algorithm,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, February 12, 2018. Archived July 14, 2021. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/CKhd9 
22. “More technological advances critical for adequate food supply, review finds,” North American Meat Institute, July 21, 2010. Archived July 15, 2021. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/DKkiW 
23. Meat Institute. “Hands off my hot dog: inject common sense in 2015 Dietary Guidelines,” Change.org. Archived June 15, 2021. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/6MBlD 
24. “NAMI launches online petition to inject common sense into Dietary Guidelines,” North American Meat Institute, May 16, 2015. Archived June 15, 2021. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/2Q9q1 
25. “Meat facts/resources,” North American Meat Institute. Archived June 15, 2021. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/NCFFv 
26. Plant-based diets,” British Nutrition Foundation, June 2019. Archived July 14, 2021. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/Afaf1 
27. Winston J Craig, Ann Reed Mangels and American Dietetic Association. “Position of the American Dietetic Association: vegetarian diets,” American Dietetic Association, July 1, 2009. Archived July 14, 2021. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/JLA9T 
28. “Emissions impossible: how big meat and dairy are heating up the planet,” GRAIN, July 18, 2018. Archived July 14, 2021. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/3T9Zz 
29. Gosia Wozniacka. “Are dairy digesters the renewable energy answer or a ‘false solution’ to climate change?,” Sentient Media, April 24, 2020. Archived July 15, 2021. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/6oDlD 
30. “North American Meat Institute [LinkedIn page],” North American Meat Institute. Archived July 16, 2021.
31. “North American Meat Institute,” Cause IQ. Archived June 15, 2021. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/QvBgx 
32. “General (Packer/Processor) Members,” North American Meat Institute. Archived June 16, 2021. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/bvjh2 
33. “Company assessment: Walmart, INC,” Climate Action 100+. Archived July 16, 2021. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/MKoCE 
34. “America’s largest private companies: #66 OSI group,” Forbes. Archived July 16, 2021. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/dhH4j 
35. Chloe Sorvino. “Meet the secretive billionaire who makes McDonald’s McNuggets, Burger King’s Impossible Whoppers And more,” Forbes, September 21, 2020. Archived July 16, 2021. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/H40LH 
36. “North American Meat Institute [website],” North American Meat Institute. Archived June 15, 2021. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/ppq8u 
37. “Client profile: North American Meat Institute,” OpenSecrets. Archived July 16, 2021. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/XHas0 
38. “North American Meat Institute PAC contributions to federal candidates [2020],” OpenSecrets. Archived July 16, 2021. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/HhxTa 
39. “North American Meat Institute PAC contributions to federal candidates [2018],” OpenSecrets. Archived July 16, 2021. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/1YwQj 
40. Timothy Pastoor and James R. Coughlin. “Your new publication [emails],” U.S. Right to Know, October 28, 2016. Archived June 15, 2021. Archive.ph URL: ​​https://archive.ph/qnbu9 
41. Bryan Walsh. “Why the Climate Bill died,” TIME, July 26, 2010. Archived June 16, 2021. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/vyI5w 
42. “AMI requests economic impact analysis evaluating effects of American Clean Energy and Security Act,” American Meat Institute, June 10, 2009. Archived June 15, 2021. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/a5aNr 
43. “USDA, USTR name new agricultural trade advisors,” USDA Foreign Agricultural Service, January 14, 2021. Archived June 15, 2021. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/RYL3v 
44. “World Meat Congress 2022,” World Meat Congress. Archived June 16, 2021. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/XiNrv 
45. Daniel Enoch. “Farm Bureau’s Julie Anna Potts named to head North American Meat Institute,” Agri-Pulse, August 22, 2018. Archived February 28, 2021. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/4Sn7C 
46. “Staff Bios,” North American Meat Institute. Archived June 15, 2021. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/E4Orx 
47. “Annual events: Environmental Conference,” North American Meat Institute. Archived May 2, 2021. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/b9fJn 
48. “Allied members,” North American Meat Institute. Archived June 15, 2021. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/VqT5b 
49. “Academic members,” North American Meat Institute. Archived June 15, 2021. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/NFiFf 
50. “About the Checkoff,” Beef Board. Archived July 18, 2021. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/wip/ZrqSm