Health

Meat tax will not solve environmental concerns | Letters


As a farmer, I wholeheartedly agree that the agricultural industry should aspire to live within planetary means, as outlined in Julian Baggini’s article (A blunt tax on red meat won’t save the planet or improve health, Journal, 29 May).

While taxation can sometimes be useful in influencing behaviour, I agree it’s often too blunt a tool to apply to complex policy aspirations.

As Baggini rightly pointed out, livestock production varies hugely across the world. British farmers seek to produce food as sustainably as possible using a variety of systems. A broad-brush meat tax across these systems would not deliver environmental ambitions.

British farmers recognise the urgency of tackling climate change and are already working to reduce agricultural emissions through productivity improvements, boosting low-carbon energy output while maintaining pastures that are a crucial carbon store. We have also set an ambition to be net zero by 2040.

Scientific evidence has also shown that valuable nutrients found in red meat, when consumed as part of a balanced diet, are highly beneficial. A meat tax would simply make an important part of a healthy, balanced diet less affordable, inevitably hitting lower-income households the hardest.
Stuart Roberts
Vice-president, National Farmers’ Union

Patrick Barkham writes in a positive way about the possible introduction of the wildcat to Britain (Report, 31 May). A new breeding facility has already been established in Devon. I was horrified to read that “male wildcats will usually kill any domestic cats they encounter except during breeding season when, if they cannot find a female wildcat, they could mate with a domestic cat”. Is this what our much-loved domestic pets can look forward to?
Joan Carter
Torrington, Devon

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