It is very commendable that George Monbiot has converted to veganism (Opinion, 10 August), but perhaps he is deluding himself into thinking that this will alter our output of CO2 into the atmosphere. We can practise all the accepted methods of reducing carbon emissions, but nothing is more effective than choosing to have no more than two children. As we hurtle towards the point of no return with regards to global warming, choosing not to eat meat is quite low down the scale of things we need to do.
Which are: 1 Stabilise world population. 2 Eradicate poverty. 3 Stop using fossil fuels and change to renewables. 4 Use our land to produce crops more effectively. 5 Reduce excessive meat consumption.
We need to get over the taboo against discussing population growth and face the facts. The most effective national and global climate change strategy that governments can put into action is to limit the size of our population, in a non-coercive way with better family planning and education.
Sheena Howarth
Worcester
• I am a fairly experienced organic farmer. I have just 100 acres of land in an area of outstanding natural beauty. It is chalk downland and on it I rear 30 or 40 beef shorthorn cattle, an old and noble native breed that has been recently recognised for its ability to thrive and fatten on grassland. I use no artificial fertiliser derived from fossil fuels and depend entirely on the manure that the cattle produce when they lie on straw in the barn during the winter. This way I can replenish the land and its fertility. I also have a vegetable garden and this too depends on the manure to boost the quality of the soil, to make it friable and moisture retentive.
So when Mr Monbiot declares that he will have no truck with animal products, I am at a loss as to how he or any vegan imagines that vegetables, or indeed grain, can be grown without animal manure – unless it is with artificial fertilisers. With a lot of care and attention, it is possible to produce enough compost to nurture a veg garden – but a whole field of wheat, oat or barley? When Lady Balfour founded the Soil Association, the health of the soil was at the basis of her philosophy. I firmly believe that organic farming can strike the balance between consumption of animal products and caring for the environment. I was horrified by the story of the river pollution in Devon and hope that the dairy farm in question was not organic because we really do have some very strict rules and are inspected to enforce these. In any case, the CAP rules also regulate emissions from farms and if these are broken one would expect the farmer to be fined and subsidies to be severely reduced.
What I would really like is a reply from someone who grows 20 acres of wheat on thin soil without the use of animal manure. Maybe this rara avis exists. But meantime I look down on the hundreds of tons of rich FYM ( farmyard manure lying waiting to be spread in the autumn and feel that this recycling is the best way of maintaining the soil whose health in turn ensures that of man and beast whether wild or domestic.
Penny Reid
Wantage, Oxfordshire
• I wish that anti-meat-eaters would stop making veganism look such a no-brainer. George Monbiot states that “replacing meat with soya reduces the clearance of natural vegetation, per kilogram of protein, by 96%�. It actually reduces it in Britain by 100% because, unlike most meat we eat in the UK, soya can’t be grown here at all, so it is 100% imported. No wonder we’d apparently use so little agricultural land to support a nation of vegans. But what about food security?
David Mills
York
• George Monbiot does not mention the other big existential threat facing our species. The huge amount of antibiotics fed to animals means that the consumers of meat are becoming immune to them. This is a nightmare scenario and diseases that were brought under control over the last 100 years are reappearing. People are already dying as antibiotics are no longer working. Because George consumes milk, fish and meat albeit occasionally he cannot be counted a vegetarian or a vegan. Perhaps he needs to look at the compassionate factor of not eating animals.
Nitin Mehta
London
• On a recent train journey from Reading to Devon – having attended a conference spelling out the many benefits of a plant-based diet for people with multiple sclerosis – I couldn’t help but notice the vast majority of our countryside is dedicated to the production of meat and dairy products which George Monbiot quite rightly describes as the reason we need to import so much food, create so much pollution and indeed, ill health.
I have MS, and have benefited from a plant-based, no-sugar diet. The NHS would be able to cope with capacity to spare if less dairy, meat and sugar were consumed. The UK would be self-sufficient in food and it might even become possible to meet our climate change obligations with sustainable production.
I wonder what a train trip of our country would look like with a nation of vegans. More woodland, more wetlands, more wildlife, more jobs, more diversity, and smaller hospitals. This would be a big improvement on the “green desert� passing the railway window at the moment.
Dr Colin Bannon
Crapstone, Devon
• Two cases involving what appears to be uninformed parenting are no grounds to throw parents of vegan children behind bars (Parents who feed children vegan diet face prosecution under proposed Italian law, theguardian.com, 10 August). Vegan foods – which are cholesterol-free, low in saturated fat, and rich in complex carbohydrates, protein, fibre, vitamins, and minerals – are optimal for children.
The late Dr Benjamin Spock, a leading authority on childcare, spoke out against feeding animal-derived foods to children, advising that they can cause diabetes and, in the long term, set kids up for obesity, cancer, high blood pressure and heart disease. He also held that consuming plant-based foods forms the foundation of dietary habits that support a lifetime of good health.
This is one of the many reasons why countless conscientious parents have raised or are raising healthy babies on well-planned, nutritionally complete vegan diets – and our children are thriving. Just ask my seven-year-old daughter, who is incredibly proud of her 100% school attendance record.
Dawn Carr
Peta UK
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