Our thinking

(Wilber)forcing the issue on meat

28 October, 2022

Last week saw the inaugural Wilberforce Lecture from the RSPCA. This year’s half-hour lecture, delivered by Henry Dimbleby of Leon and the National Food Strategy fame, is a thought-provoking, honest and realistic evaluation of our relationship with meat eating and animal cruelty.

Dimbleby explores three particularly important areas: carbon, biodiversity and cruelty. Carbon emissions associated with livestock make up nearly a quarter of total global emissions. It’s a highly inefficient way to feed ourselves: in the UK, 20% of the most unproductive farmland produces just 3% of the nation’s calories. Biodiversity is under threat from forest and peatland destruction for meat production – environments that would otherwise be capturing carbon and housing wild animals. This year’s Living Planet Report from WWF and ZSL found that animal populations have declined almost 70% since 1970, up from 60% just four years ago. And cruelty remains an issue, with the UK’s world-leading welfare standards under threat from deregulation and increases in the import of meat produced with lower welfare standards.

So what can we do? On a personal level we can eat less meat. This isn’t easy – Dimbleby points out that eating meat is hard-wired into our genes as well as our cultural norms and social rituals. But the change we need is achievable: the UK needs a 30% reduction in meat consumption to reach its carbon reduction and biodiversity targets.

On a national level there is more to do. If the Environmental Land Management Scheme (Elms) survives political turmoil it will allow farmers to be paid not only for producing food, but for delivering a range of public goods, including increasing biodiversity. The government can also ensure that animal welfare standards are upheld and strengthened, making it easy for consumers to make ethical choices. One measure that we will likely not see is a ‘meat tax’ – something consumers find difficult to stomach.

As a meat-eater, Dimbleby’s lecture is sobering and empowering. As a citizen it is a call to arms that change is both necessary and possible.

By Ben Wood