Photo by James Baltz

The “polluter pays” principle is a cornerstone of environmental regulation. It raises billions of dollars each year and has been fundamental in pushing energy companies to pursue cleaner, more cost-effective energy sources. But when it was first formalized in 1972 by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), it faced resistance. Energy companies argued that internalizing environmental costs would damage competitiveness, raise consumer prices, and deter innovation. At the time, many in the energy sector warned that internalizing environmental costs would damage competitiveness, raise consumer prices, and lead to layoffs—arguments widely circulated in the media and industry forums. Despite this, the principle gradually moved from being labeled “radical” and “punitive” to becoming a foundation of environmental and economic law.

Today, we face a similar urgency for change. This time, it’s regarding our food systems.

The problem is agriculture. The very system that sustains us has become a driver of environmental breakdown. It consumes 70 percent of fresh water, occupies half of all habitable land, generates around a quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions, and is the primary cause of deforestation and biodiversity loss. With the worldwide population expected to increase by 2 billion by midcentury, demand for food is projected to rise by 50 percent, and protein demand alone is set to double by then, according to the 2017 Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations report. So how can we produce more food without harming the planet, and where will the funds to support this transition come from?

The Problem With Food

Years of intensive agriculture mean that crops are being planted on exhausted fields; thus, in an ever-growing cycle of decay, farmers use more fertilizer to sustain yields. In his 2022 book Sixty Harvests Left, Philip Lymbery delivers an important message: that humanity’s food system is careening toward collapse. The title echoes a chilling United Nations warning that, under current industrial farming practices, 90 percent of the Earth’s topsoil is likely to be at risk by 2050.

Humanity consumes approximately 350 million tons of meat annually. That is equivalent to “nearly a thousand Empire State Buildings in carcass weight,” according to the book We Are Eating the Earth by Michael Grunwald. Livestock uses nearly

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