While a Yale Law School student, Manny Rutinel testified in support of legislation promoting “climate friendly food procurement,” arguing that meeting climate goals would require a substantial transition away from animal agriculture and toward plant-based foods.

“The globe must dramatically shift away from animal products and towards fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, and nuts.”

Transcription:

Thank you so much, chair. My name is Manny Rutinel and I’m a law student at Yale Law School and co-chair of the Yale Environmental Law Association. I just want to thank each of the representatives, senators, and chairs in advance of hearing my testimony. It's inspiring seeing so much public engagement on these issues. I'm here testifying and ask that you amend SB884 to include climate friendly food procurement language, which is the language that the committee originally considered as HB5030. Climate friendly food procurement is an efficient way to further current law that requires the state to procure green products in the electric, buildings, and transportation sectors by expanding considerations to food. Inefficient foods create an enormous strain on our environment. Reducing the impacts of our food system is absolutely necessary to reach international goals of maintaining temperature increases below 2 degrees celsius. With the growing population, this issue requires our urgent attention. The IPCC recently concluded that ag emissions will increase by 40% by 2050 without strong interventions. Simply put, achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement will not be possible without a substantial transition in the global food system from environmentally damaging foods to more sustainable choices. To address the critical environmental problems of ag, a team of leading scientists from various scientific backgrounds and nations created a report known as the planetary health diet, which outlines the ideal food production level that optimize both health and sustainability with their goal of nutritiously feeding 10 billion people in 2050, while maintaining the environmental objectives of the Paris agreement. The report concludes that the globe must dramatically shift away from animal products and towards fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, and nuts. This environmental shift will also have tremendous health benefits for consumers, which reduces the risk of heart disease, cancer, and diabetes which according to the Center for Disease Control were the leading causes of death in Connecticut. Codifying climate friendly food procurement would position Connecticut as a leader in greenhouse gas emission reduction. Several cities across the nation and state are either considering or have already passed similar bills. Similar legislation at the local level has not only lowered greenhouse gas emissions but has saved valuable taxpayer dollars. For instance, the Oakland Unified School District lowered its carbon footprint by 14% while saving $42,00 per year by procuring fewer carbon-intensive foods. Plus, there's a substantial amount of support for this idea. As of now, 22 groups have signed on in support of the language originally in HB5030, including Greater Hartford Environmental Coalition, The Sierra Club, Center for Biological Diversity, and Connecticut Votes for Animals. Connecticut and the Environments Committee have a large role to play in these efforts. I ask that you please amend SC884 to include climate friendly procurement language, the same language previously considered as HB5030.