Animal farmers have blasted Veganuary as a ‘gimmick’ and have called on people to buy their local meat rather than go plant-based.
Leicestershire-based beef and arable farmer Joe Stanley told Sky News that rather than go vegan, people should help the environment by ‘eating more sustainably-produced local meat and reducing their carbon footprint in other ways’.
“Veganuary, from my perspective, is just a gimmick which is distracting society from the bigger questions we need to be addressing around the sustainability of our diets – not just the meat in our diet but the sustainability of all the food we’re consuming and how it’s being produced across the world,” he said.
“There is a danger of casting a very sustainable British industry to the wall in the pursuit of well-meaning campaigns such as Veganuary and then we may find that we’re importing food from other parts of the world which have much worse environmental records and much higher carbon footprints.
“So I would say to any consumer out there who is concerned about the carbon footprint of their food, the first and biggest change you can make to ensure sure you have a sustainable diet is to always try to buy British. Because we really do have some of the most sustainable food production in the world in this country.”
Research from Oxford University
However, in a blog about the environmental impact of food, Veganuary said: “It’s a common misconception that eating locally is the best way to keep climate emissions from food down. It’s understandable why people think this. But, in fact, in-depth research from Oxford University shows just how wrong this notion is.
“Overall, animal-based foods tend to have a higher footprint than plant-based. Lamb and cheese both emit more than 20 kilograms CO2-equivalents per kilogram. Poultry and pork have lower footprints but are still higher than most plant-based foods, at 6 and 7 kg CO2-equivalents, respectively.”
“For most foods – and particularly the largest emitters – most GHG emissions result from land-use change, and from processes at the farm stage, including emissions from the animals themselves. Together, these account for more than 80 percent of the footprint for most foods. Transport is a small contributor to emissions.”
What is Veganuary?
Veganuary is a global initiative which supports those as they try a vegan diet in January and beyond. It was started by husband and wife Matthew Glover and Jane Land in 2014 with around 3,000 people taking part. Since then it has exploded with 2021 being the most successful so far. More than 525,000 participants have signed-up so far, and more are expected by the end of the month.
In total, according to Veganuary, more than one million people have signed the pledge over the years. Market research company Kantar suggests 10 times that amount have taken part unofficially (i.e. without signing up). The charity says people from every country in the world have taken part – apart from just three. These are North Korea, Vatican City, and the Kingdom of Eswatini.
A message of hope
Animal farmers are clearly keen for people to keep buying their products. But Veganuary believes it is more important than ever for people to take part in the initiative. One of the reasons the charity says people should take part is to help the environment.
In a statement sent to Plant Based News, Toni Vernelli, Veganuary’s international head of communications, said: “2020 has brought much hardship and heartbreak. But it has also given us an opportunity to change and build a better future.
“Our united message is one of hope – but we must all act now.”
Original source: https://plantbasednews.org