PETA on a Meat Tax

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals support a meat excise tax "to help cover the health and environmental costs that result from using animals for food." They detail the usual health and environmental impacts of meat consumption and production, and (as is usually the case, it seems) do not distinguish between internal and external health costs. PETA does, however, mention the potential cross-subsidy inherent through our health care financing: "It doesn’t make sense that the millions of meat-free Americans have to help pick up the tab (through taxes and health-insurance premiums) when meat-eaters get sick." On their "Tax Meat" FAQ page, PETA also notes the health impacts of the production of meat, the significant health and safety risks within the meatpacking industry -- an industry with working conditions that have been found further wanting during the Covid pandemic. The revenues also can be earmarked: "Revenue from the tax could be used to clean up areas polluted by animal agriculture, assist farms in transitioning away from animal-based agriculture, and increase access to healthy plant-derived foods in communities that need it most." I didn't see a specific tax rate in the PETA material, but they do indicate (on the FAQ page) that the tax payments from a typical (non-vegetarian!) family would come to about $5 per month. Given standard household meat expenditures in the US, that suggests something like a 5% meat (ad valorem) excise tax. 

PETA end their appeal for a meat tax by identifying the victims of the current system, the millions and millions of abused animals: "When it comes to Americans’ meat habit, animals are paying the biggest costs. A tax on meat could help persuade humans to save other animals (and their own bodies) from abuse."