David Birch

It’s extraordinary how selective these environmental arguments are. Apparently, eating meat is destroying the planet, but the environmental damage caused by producing plant-based foods barely gets a mention. Take avocados. Research has estimated their water footprint at around 1,400 litres per kilogram, with intensive cultivation in parts of Mexico linked to deforestation and pressure on local water supplies. Or soya. Its cultivation has contributed to habitat destruction in South America. Tofu doesn’t magically arrive on supermarket shelves without land, water, agricultural machinery, processing and transport. And what about the insects? Industrial crop production involves pesticides, harvesting and habitat destruction, killing countless insects and other animals. We don’t have a reliable global figure, but pretending plant-based agriculture is free from animal deaths is absurd. Then there’s the health argument. Many vegan burgers, sausages and meat substitutes are ultra-processed products containing added salt, flavourings and other ingredients. A 2025 study found that people consuming the highest proportion of nutritionally poor, ultra-processed plant-based foods had a 46% higher incidence of coronary heart disease than those consuming the lowest proportion. That’s an association, not proof of causation, but hardly something to ignore. And those dramatic water figures? They routinely combine rainfall, irrigation and water needed to dilute pollution, as though they were all equivalent to taking drinking water from someone’s tap. They’re not. None of this means animal agriculture has no environmental impact. Of course it does. But replacing one simplistic narrative with another, while ignoring biodiversity, soil health, food processing, nutritional value and local growing conditions, isn’t environmental science. If we’re serious about sustainability, we should be talking about how food is produced, not pretending that everything labelled ‘plant-based’ is automatically healthy, ethical or environmentally harmless.

Droughts in winter……how crazy does the climate have to get! The biggest thing we can all do about it? Stop eating meat and dairy. It takes 1,000 litres of drinking water to make just 1 litre of cow milk. Or 50 litres of water to make 1 litre of oat milk. While a quarter pound beef burger uses nearly 2,000 litres of water - two tonnes of water for just over 100 grams of beef burger. A plant based burger of the same size uses 90% less water, around 200 grams for the same sized 100 gram burger… thetimes.com/uk/politics/art…

Breaking News: 🚨 Andy Burnham is set to announce a major new policy in the coming weeks. All UK supermarkets will have to have trolleys that dont require a pound coin. The PM said in a statement ; "this will help millions of shoppers with the cost of living crisis, I get it"