Thursday, 7 January 2021

Where's the Beef?

It has been suggested that the UK's beef herd could be 'at the heart' of a sustainable farming system for the country (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jan/07/uks-beef-herds-could-be-key-to-sustainable-farming-says-report). The authors of the report, suggest that the UK could move to a system, producing sufficient healthy food, that was entirely 'organic' (clearly, not in the Chemistry sense) by 2050. In order to be sustainable, they say consumption of other meats (chicken, lamb and pork), milk and eggs would have to be halved by that date. Large tree forests would also have to be created, on former agricultural land, to remove excess carbon dioxide. They claim cattle manure could replace artificial fertiliser for crops. This is all very nice (it would be like living in a giant garden) but 'organic' food is much more expensive that that produced in other ways. I suspect that a) many people would not be able to afford it and b) well-off people might well (it's been seen before in many cultures) would take more than their 'share' of 'organic' meat, milk and eggs. If cheaper meats, dairy products and eggs are imported, the country's net contribution to climate change would not be sustainable. It has also been pointed out, by critics, that the lowest impact meat generates many times the emissions associated with the highest impact plants. Cows also burp methane, which is a much more potent 'greenhouse gas' than carbon dioxide (and isn't taken up by trees). Still, it would be good to see UK farming moving in this general direction and for people's diets to change somewhat.

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