Local councils criticised for promoting Veganuary

The Countryside Alliance has called on several councils to retract their support for vegan diets and instead support local farmers and freedom of choice.  

Lambeth, Spelthorne, Hertfordshire, Taunton and Cambridge city councils have all recently initiated campaigns that encourage residents to switch to vegetarian or vegan diets under the guise of addressing climate change.  

Hertfordshire County Council has urged local residents to sign up to ‘Veganuary’ – a challenge for residents to eat exclusively vegan food for the month of January. The council claims that the campaign ‘highlights the health, environmental, and ethical benefits of a plant-based diet’, while sharing a number of links to pro-vegan materials including ‘how to challenge a meat eater (and win every time)' and ‘this is vegan propaganda; & (other lies the meat industry tells you)' both written by Ed Winters, a ‘vegan educator’ and animal rights activist.

Cambridge City Council has urged its 136,000 residents to sign ‘the Cambridge Climate Change Charter’ while claiming that ‘reducing the amount of meat we eat and eating more plant-based food is a way that we can all help produce less carbon, save water and help reduce the effects of climate change’.

Lambeth Borough Council in London has urged its 316,000 residents to try Veganuary telling people to ‘reduce meat’ consumption while claiming its ‘good for your health and the planet’, while Spelthorne Council in Surrey has ‘invited’ its residents to go plant-based to ‘help make a difference for the planet’. Additionally, Taunton Town Council in Somerset encouraged its residents to either ‘entirely’ or ‘increase’ take up plant-based meals as a ‘New Years’ resolution.

Veganuary, launched in 2014 and run by a UK non-profit organisation, is an annual pledge where people give up animal products for a month. Supporters say they want to see a “vegan world” which is kinder to the environment, while its website calls for ‘a world without animal farms or slaughterhouses’.

But experts have warned there could be health issues associated with an “ultra-processed” meat-free diet, while vegans may struggle to get certain vital nutrients from plant-based food.

The Countryside Alliance has hit back, arguing that the councils are ‘repeating lazy tropes’ about livestock farming, relying on global statistics about emissions from livestock farming which ignore UK-specific food production.

British meat, the organisation argues, is among the most sustainable in the world and promoting veganism not only misleads residents, but poses an ‘attack to British farmers altogether, who work tirelessly to produce nutritious, affordable, and sustainable food’.

Additionally, the organisation adds, all councils have claimed that vegan diets improve diet and overall health - a claim which is, at best, disputed.

Professor Christ Elliot, a leading food scientist at Queen’s University in Belfast has warned many plant-based substitute meats are of little nutritional value. He believes profit is the main driver of plant-based products, rather than health or environmental concerns.

Mo Metcalf-Fisher, director of external affairs for the Countryside Alliance said:

“British farmers are part of the solution to climate change, not part of the problem. The UK agricultural sector is leading the way to reduce emissions and increase biodiversity. It is disappointing to see councils ignoring these efforts and regurgitating lazy claims”.

“These councils should be using their platforms to promote local meat, dairy, and vegetable produce, rather than spreading tenuous claims about the benefits of plant-based diets or encouraging any one diet for their residents.”

Dorset, Fenland, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Cornwall, and North Northamptonshire Councils have all recently voted in favour of a Countryside Alliance campaign to promote British farming, while upholding freedom of choice– defying other councils around the country which have enforced compulsory veganism at their events and signed up to a ‘Plant-Based Treaty’ that calls for an end to the construction of any future livestock farm.

Earlier this month, several NHS trusts came under fire for taking part in Veganuary, with one insisting it promotes “diversity and inclusion” in the workplace.