War of words over boost to vegan meals sold in stores
SUPERMARKET plans to significantly increase their sales of meals made from plant-based meat substitutes have come under fire from livestock farmers.
The National Sheep Association, which has members across the South West and beyond, is questioning the motives of the supermarkets who claim they are increasing their range of meatfree meals to improve the environment and the health of their customers.
Tesco has announced it plans to grow the sales of plant-based meat alternatives by 300%, while Asda has brought in a vegan aisle.
LIVESTOCK farmers are questioning the motives of major UK supermarkets who claim they are increasing their range of meat-free meals to improve the environment and the health of their customers.
Tesco has announced it plans to grow the sales of plant-based meat alternatives by 300% over the next five years. And Asda is dedicating some of its store aisles for vegan products only.
Tesco said the initiative – in partnership with the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) – aimed to halve what it says is the environmental impact of the average UK shopping basket
But the National Sheep Association (NSA) which represents hundreds of Westcountry sheep farmers as well as others across the country, yesterday questioned the retailers’ motives and disputed the sustainability claims being used to justify their meat-free initiatives.
The NSA said it was reminding consumers “there is often more to the environmental message that is used to promote such moves.”
NSA Chief Executive Phil Stocker said: “We are now seeing mass-produced industrialised and processed foods being dressed up as sustainable food options.
“Here we have two of our biggest retailers setting growth targets based on them being better for consumers’ health and for the environment.
“Not surprisingly, there are no targets for increasing the sales of fresh fruit and vegetables and it looks as though this could be another means of increasing profit margins through adding ‘value’ through intensive food processing and highly packaged products.
“If this is not being done for profit reasons and is truly an altruistic decision then I would strongly question the sustainability criteria being used.
“The NSA supports moves to improve diets and part of this for some people will mean having to moderate the amount of meat they eat, but for Tesco to blandly say that plant-based foods are more sustainable infers that meat production is unsustainable, and we know that is not the case.”
The National Farmers Union points out that rearing British beef, often cited as a significant contributor to global warming, is actually among the most sustainable in the world, produced on extensive grassbased systems. It points out the Government’s Committee on Climate Change found that greenhouse gas emissions from UK beef are about half the global average.
Mr Stocker from the NSA said the same advantages were found with British lamb. He said: “Plant-based enthusiasts conveniently avoid using holistic metrics to measure the sustainability of the full life cycle of food production and processing.
“In terms of British lamb, once you look at nutrient density, the unprocessed nature of our product, land use, the ability to produce mainly from grass alone, the semi-natural, extensive method of sheep farming, the thousands of family farms, and the symbiotic relationship with nature both within and above the soil, then lamb starts to look like a highly sustainable food.”
And he said that if Tesco and Asda were serious about driving sustainable food production and consumption then they should set targets for increasing the market share for British lamb sold in their stores.