ELLIE HARRISON
Vegans and farmers have more in common than either like to think
Vegans and farmers have more in common than either like to think.
Sometimes good comes from Instagram. Trying it for the first time, it seemed to me like only one girl posted on it, either leading her boyfriend around the world while wearing fancy dress or riding an inflatable unicorn in an LA pool. It can’t be the same girl, but Instagram eye brows and lips make it hard to pick out individuals.
Then a random feed showed me a video of animal cruelty in farming. Once you’ve looked at one, more are offered. The footage is devastating. I began to follow animal-rights activists and vegan groups. Every film left me acutely distressed, sometimes for weeks afterwards. My family urged me not to look any longer, but that felt like a cop out: “Don’t remind yourself so you don’t have to think about it in the supermarket”.
Even as a vegetarian, it was important to bear witness. Especially as a dairy and egg consuming vegetarian. And then I felt embarrassed, having grown up in the countryside and presented Countryfile for all these years, that I didn’t know all this. I hadn’t filmed live male chicks sliding into grinders. Or seen how a quietly suckling calf is taken from its mother while she tries desperately to get back to it. I hadn’t properly observed her emaciated body, ravaged by insemination and milking. I hadn’t seen sows in dark, filthy crates unable to connect with their young. Or pigs desperately swimming through the scalding tank because they hadn’t been stunned properly. Or the minutes of pain it takes for them to be gassed, crammed tightly in metal cages. And much more. Who would welcome Countryfile through the gates to film that?
It changed me. It made me choose differently. I am just an individual who spends my money how I like, but to be clear, I’m not an activist. Social media has meant that many others have also seen the films and begun to spend on different food choices, too. They’re not activists, either. And yet that is the story we’re being told: barbaric farmers vs dangerous animal-rights activists.
The truth is that we have almost everything in common with our rivals and just a few, small often surmountable differences. In this spirit, here is a real conversation between me (bold) and a farmer on the rise of veganism.
It isn’t anti-farming to be a vegan; it’s asking for more crops.
“The rise in veganism is really only hitting livestock farmers. I’m personally not concerned: I produce food and I’ll produce what people want to eat.”
These films show barbaric treatment of farm animals.
“A lot of it isn’t from the UK and those that are are extreme cases. Those farmers need shutting down, so it’s good that it’s being exposed. In the UK, Red Tractor does spot checks and chucks farms off its books, which makes it very hard for that farmer to sell.”
We’re seeing abbatoir processes with unnecessary suffering.
“With slaughter, they’re trying to take out the human element. With pigs, they used to be stunned then bled, but they found that, because a person controlled it, they were causing harm. They now have a gas chamber, which is deemed more humane.”
Vegans as allies?
“Vegans do a lot to drive the conversation. Their concerns are often well-founded and the industry needs to do the right thing for those who do want to eat meat. For livestock farmers, we need to look carefully at welfare and production systems. That’s happening all the time. Large pig and poultry units are working with vets, the RSPCA and scientists, all driven by the consumer. But it comes at a cost. Sustainability is about three things: animal, environment and, of course, making money. If you can’t make money, you have to cut corners on the other two, so the system suffers. Our prices then become uncompetitive with food from abroad. The consumer doesn’t differentiate between imported and fresh UK food: they may buy high-welfare British eggs but will then buy a cake with imported milk from who-knows-what system. So farmers want Government to look at imports – and we need to educate consumers about this, maybe offering a GCSE in agriculture.
What about the stereotypes?
“Extremists on both sides mean we don’t have a sensible conversation. A farmer that won’t listen and a vegan that is making up facts are bad for everyone. Some farmers are belligerent, others are sympathetic and trying to do the best by their animals and the environment. I worry about welfare on my farm. It preys on my mind all the time.”