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Countryside Alliance angry after Pembrokeshire council email suggests staff eat less meat and dairy

25 Apr 2022 2 minute read
A lone sheep on the Preseli Hills. Picture by Gareth James (CC BY-SA 2.0).

Countryside Alliance Wales have hit out at Pembrokeshire Council after they suggested staff should eat less meat and dairy in an internal email.

The newsletter sent out to staff urged employees to cut back on meat and dairy citing it as one of the “biggest ways” to “reduce your impact on the planet”.

The council said the newsletter was part of a series of tips for saving the planet, with details gathered from an external source. The statement was reproduced out of context and according to the authority, the newsletter is no longer shared.

It said it was supportive of the rural community and agriculture.

But the Countryside Alliance Wales have called on the council to apologise and to “pledge its wholehearted support” for Welsh farmers by committing to only source local produce.

Rachel Evans, the Alliance’s Director for Wales, also asked for the council to be transparent as to who, or what the external source used was and whether taxpayers are footing the bill for their “inappropriate advice”.

“What local farmers in Wales need right now is to know local representatives have their back and for them not to be briefing against their industry behind closed doors,” she said.

“It is becoming increasingly clear that an animal rights agenda is masquerading itself as genuine environmentalism, which in this case has been legitimatised by the local council. Pembrokeshire council should be transparent about who the ‘external source’ is and whether taxpayers are funding their inappropriate advice.

“In order for farmers to maintain our beautiful countryside here in Wales, we need people to continue buying their produce, including meat and dairy. Without a buoyant market for it, the countryside risks deteriorating.”

Carmarthen East and Pembrokeshire Senedd Member Samuel Kurtz, the Welsh Conservative’s rural affairs spokesman in the Senedd, also commented: “Pembrokeshire is renowned for its fantastic agricultural produce, of high quality and sustainability, so the industry would expect support from the local authority.”


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GW Atkinson
GW Atkinson
2 years ago

Maybe the council have a good point. There is also way too much land allocated to farmers for sheep in this country. Is it really that huge an industry that it makes it worthwhile that we have barely any forests in this country because they are cut down for farmland for lamb that barely anyone in Wales eats? When was the last time you ate lamb? Is that worth the deforestation, the lack of habitat for wildlife and the over the top land prices? The farming industry can complain all they like, but they are going to have to modernise… Read more »

Llinos
Llinos
2 years ago

Well the Countryside Alliance need to grow up! There is no onus on any responsible organisation to promote the eating of meat and dairy just because the CA is having another hissy fit, demanding apologies for issues already dealt with appropriately. The advice given by the council sounds appropriate for those wishing to eat a diet that reduces your carbon impact. Going plant based is the most impactful way to do this in any context. Food security and sustainability is becoming a more serious issue day on day and reducing meat and dairy intake and meat and dairy farming is… Read more »

Argol fawr!
Argol fawr!
2 years ago

So it’s only OK for public bodies to offer healthily eating advise when it doesn’t adversely affect the pockets Countryside Alliance clan. OK, got it. Sounds just like something RT would gripe about.

Richard Jenkins
Richard Jenkins
2 years ago

The countryside alliance must think climate change is a scare story! Stupid people can’t see that unless we all takes action there will be no countryside as we know it! Fools.

Peter Cuthbert
Peter Cuthbert
2 years ago

According to the Guardian the Countryside Alliance is not quite such a nice organisation as it claims to be. They suggest that it is “being run by and for the “squirearchy” – a small elite of Tory aristocrats and landowners.” The Observer also reported that “it was holding investments worth more than half a million pounds in oil corporations, chemical manufacturers and arms companies.” Additionally, it seems that “the group is “unashamedly, passionately pro-hunt”” (Guardian Fri 20 Sep 2002). The group may have changed radically since then but, if not, the current comments do seem to fit in rather well… Read more »

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