I regularly receive campaigning literature from the likes of Greenpeace, WWF and Friends of the Earth. Mostly the information and the ideas for action are spot on. Without such organisations we would be in a worse position than we are today and I wholeheartedly support them. But I have a real issue with the latest Friends of the Earth (FoE) campaign – The Food Chain.

FoE have finally woken up to the enormous damage that the meat and dairy industry is doing to the planet. I say ‘finally’ because for some years now they have refused to really enter into the issue. I can only guess that up till now they have not wanted to upset their membership by suggesting that as well as cutting down on car use etc they really also ought to be cutting down on their meat and dairy intake. Anyway, they have had a change of heart and now they present the ‘shock news’ that the meat and dairy industry produces more CO2 than global transport. Oh well, better late than never – the UN report ‘Livestock’s Long Shadow’, from where this figure is derived was published in November 2006. And I posted a piece in this very blog in August 2007 berating FoE for not picking up on it
www.vegetarian.co.uk/blogs/2007/08/campaigning_with_the_brakes_on.html

The issue I have with the Food Chain campaign is that even with all the information now out in the open there is no mention of suggesting a reduction in people’s meat and dairy intake. They do want to get schools to change their menus and provide ‘less but better quality meat and dairy’ but what they want me as a supporter to do is send them money to campaign for a shift in subsidies away from factory farms and to support small-scale farming in the UK to develop home grown feeds. To me this is only half the solution. If meat and dairy is to be produced on a less than industrial scale the output will not feed the insatiable appetite of carnivorous diners. The same UN report called for radical action to reduce consumption so why does the FoE continue to fail to grasp the nettle. It only strengthens my view that the ‘right’ to eat as much meat as you want is the greatest barrier of all as we look urgently for ways to reduce carbon emissions. FoE – you still have the brakes on as far as I am concerned.