Council asked to explore scheme promoting plant based diets
Council chiefs who represent one of Wales’ largest agricultural sectors have been asked to explore a scheme promoting plant-based diets which has been adopted elsewhere.
In response, cabinet member Cllr Aled Vaughan Owen said Carmarthenshire Council, which owns farms, was analysing food impacts but that rural and agricultural landscapes like Carmarthenshire’s required “a more nuanced and sophisticated approach”.
He was answering a question at a council meeting from a member of the public, who said a study in the publication Nature Food showed that plant-based diets resulted in 75% fewer greenhouse emissions, water pollution and land use than diets containing more than 100g of meat a day. Plant-based diets, it said, were also shown to cut the destruction of wildlife by 66% and water use by 54%.
Treaty
The member of the public, Hsui-Mien Wu, asked the council to contact Edinburgh Council to learn about its experiences of endorsing a plant-based food treaty and to carry out an impact assessment like Edinburgh had.
Cllr Vaughan Owen, cabinet member for climate change, decarbonisation and sustainability, said the council acknowledged the findings of the study. Any changes, he said, needed to benefit the local economy, environment and community well-being.
“While we welcome collaboration and an integrated impact assessment like Edinburgh’s, our rural and agricultural landscape requires a more nuanced and sophisticated approach,” he said.
“Rural counties like Carmarthenshire must balance sustainability with the unique challenges and opportunities of supporting local farming communities.”
The Plaid cabinet member said around 85% of greenhouse gas emissions from animal-based products stemmed from production methods and associated inputs, which varied widely. Carmarthenshire, he said, was well positioned to support sustainable, locally produced animal-based foods while also reducing reliance on imports.
He added: “The plant-based treaty, while principled, lacks the flexibility needed to support diverse rural economies like ours.”
Sustainability
Edinburgh Council adopted the non-binding plant-based treaty in 2023 and said it will improve access to plant-based foods for residents. It already offered daily vegetarian or vegan options at its schools.
Cllr Vaughan Owen said Carmarthenshire Council had begun analysing the impact of the local food system, primarily focusing on the food for its schools, care homes and leisure centres.
He said one piece of work was a re-design of the primary school menu to prioritise sustainably-sourced meat and vegetables from Welsh and UK farms, including one of its own farms.
This particular farm, he said, had adopted “regenerative” food production which absorbed carbon emissions and enhanced biodiversity. Cllr Vaughan Owen said the council was also developing a county-wide sustainable food strategy.
In response, Ms Wu said she felt the council still ought to endorse the plant-based treaty. Cllr Vaughan Owen said he’d be happy to meet and discuss how the council could involve the wider community in shaping its approach to climate and nature challenges.
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A vegan diet limits growth. Children need a balanced diet including animal products.
Why does every article by nation Cymru that has anything to do with the countryside or farming have pictures of cows and pigs on their way to a slaughterhose.This article and many others have nothing to do with the slaughter of animals.Is there an agenda here?
There ought to be an agenda – one of reducing animal suffering. The image of the pig’s eye looking at you (so much like a human eye) makes you uncomfortable, I suspect. So it ought!
Does not make me uncomfortable in the least.Animals die.Fact of life.
I’m just questioning why pictures of animals going to slaughter all the time.Why not just animals?
The study which Ms Wu refers to was published July 2023 (Scarborough et al, Oxford) took a large diet sample of residents of the United Kingdom and then correlated global averages by type. The study was based on 38,000 farms across 119 countries. This tells us nothing to help the rural and agricultural landscapes of Carmarthenshire other than suggest it’s better for the planet to eat Welsh beef than it’s equivalent imported from the United States of considerably different livestock husbandry.
“Food miles” – a popular concept for a while until the leaders of foody fashion elected to prefer foods shipped in from other parts of the world using a worn out argument like “eating meat is bad for you”. It has become amply evident that foods that have undergone intense processing are among the worst culprits and these often turn up with positive vegan credentials. Try vegan cheese – must have come from a polymer factory somewhere ! Common sense should prevail with a mixed diet based on freshness and reduced processing. Some people need to cut down on their… Read more »
This kind of nonsense drives me crazy! As a child, I watched creameries shut down across Wales because of the flawed belief that margarine was healthier than butter—it wasn’t. Now, everything is loaded with lard and butter again. Of all places, Carmarthenshire should know better than to jump on this bandwagon, which will do nothing but alienate farmers and those who rely on farming from Plaid Cymru.
My milk in re-used glass bottles delivered to door by EV truck from an organic farm near Cefneithin. The only inputs are rain and sunshine and happy cows. Yet I’m told it’s better for the planet to consume plant based soya bean emulsion, boiled, anti-foaming agent added along with a splitting inhibitor, all imported from Brazil where tropical rain forest once grew, in tetrapaks. The funny world of vegan.