Redditch Vegetarians & Vegans are continuing to lobby National Friends of the Earth about the environmental impact of meat/dairy production, and why FOE don`t promote eco-friendly plant based diets.
Several RVV members are also members of Redditch FOE, which enables us to take part in FOE`s current consultation regarding their next 5 Year Strategic Plan. As part of this consultation, we have recently submitted the following feedback.

National FOE are also currently developing their food campaigning strategy for the next few years. Last Saturday, FOE held a Real Food Away Day in Birmingham, where local group members met to discuss current issues and the way forward for food campaigning. A member of RVV/Redditch FOE was among approx 30 food campaigners that attended from all corners of the UK. Organisers granted us permission to display our unique and visually stunning eco-veggie posters ( see them here ) in conjunction with the excellent `Eating the Earth` booklets produced by the Vegan Society. From the start of the day, it was apparent that meat/dairy production was going to be a hot topic, despite not being specifically listed on the agenda.

The Real Food team were proposing to campaign for the public to consume less but better meat!! But many in attendance were adamant that this would simply not go far enough. The general feeling was that, at the very least, FOE should create awareness of the environmental impact of producing a range of foods. It was emphasised by many that such a campaign should clearly illustrate how meat/dairy production is infinitely more destructive, and therefore urge people to adopt a more eco-friendly diet. The organisers were noticably surprised by the strength of feeling on the issue.

But one meeting alone isn`t going to be enough to change FOE`s proposed policies! What`s needed is for many more eco-friendly veggie/vegans to join local FOE groups across the UK, in order to take part in these ongoing consultations. Find your local group here but if you don`t have a group near you, why not form one!!


Our Submission to the FOE 5 Year Plan Consultation

Every human being on the planet contributes to the environmental devastation that we face. The choices that we make in our everyday lives can either limit that ecological destruction or alternatively, our choices can escalate it. Travel, waste, energy, water usage, employment, shopping, parenthood etc are environmental decisions that most of us face at one time or another, but there is only one decision that we all make, every single day of our entire lives. The options we select in this simple choice can ultimately, either help to heal our dying earth or knock another nail in its coffin - quite simply, it`s the food we consume.

FOE has hundreds, probably thousands of members/supporters like me who currently feel restricted in the way we are able to campaign for the environment, due to the lack of attention National FOE pays to the issue of meat/dairy production.

Whether or not our food is locally produced and organic is clearly important, but these factors pale into insignificance when you consider the environmental impact of meat and dairy production. There is an ever increasing amount of evidence from a wide variety of organisations, that supports my view that the adoption of a plant based diet is the single most effective action that any individual can take to reduce their personal impact on our fragile planet. For instance, take a look at this quote:

"The livestock sector accounts for 18% of global greenhouse gas emissions - more than transport, which emits 13.5%."

This quote is taken from a report titled - Livestock’s Long Shadow, by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. The report goes on to say that livestock production is at the heart of almost every other environmental catastrophe confronting the planet - rainforest destruction, spreading deserts, loss of fresh water, air and water pollution, acid rain and soil erosion. Read the report in full here 

Here`s another great quote:

"Molecule for molecule, methane is 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas." NASA Godard Space Flight Centre Report 2005.

Even the government, on their own website, are now advising the general public to avoid meat and dairy for the benefit of the environment! Environment minister Ben Bradshaw has announced that they may consider meat rationing in the future, if people don`t cut down of their own free will!! Mr Bradshaw also announced that the government are considering a labelling scheme for all food products, based on the `farm to fork` impact that each product has on the environment. Read more here  I`m delighted that the government are taking a radical approach on this, but it`s a strange situation - shouldn`t it be green groups like FOE that adopt the radical approach and pressurise the government into taking these actions?!!

By failing to address this issue thus far, national FOE have lost the support of many 1,000`s of vegetarians/vegans like myself. But if FOE continue to ignore this crucial matter, it risks losing credibility as the `UK`s most influential environmental campaigning organisation`. The environmentally conscious general public should be able to look at the FOE website, newsletters, leaflets etc, and find information about EVERY way in which they can reduce their individual impact on the planet. A leaflet promoting plant based diets should be as much a part of a FOE information stall as leaflets on transport, waste, energy, pollution, global warming etc. Just as the UK should lead the world in taking action on climate change, FOE should take the lead in showing other green organisations and the public alike, that our diet is critical to the survival of the planet. In view of the indisputable facts, if FOE fails to address this vitally important issue, i feel you will be sending out a very confusing message and will in effect be guilty of dishonesty!!

But more important than that, failure to include a policy to promote plant based diets in your five year plan, will i fear, have very dire consequences for the future of the planet!! When the time comes to draft the next five year plan, it may well be too late!!

Kevin White
Redditch Friends of the Earth
Redditch Vegetarians & Vegans

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