Storm in a stew pot over lamb dish’s ‘polluting’ label

Farmers angered by WWF report that says one-bowl meal has the same impact as boiling kettle 258 times

SHEEP farmers have butted heads with an international wildlife foundation after it published a report labelling lamb stew as one of the most environmentally unfriendly meals in the UK.

Farmers’ unions have been left “astonished” and “disappointed” by a report published by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), which labelled Welsh lamb cawl as the “most polluting” classic British meal.

The report, published to highlight how some of Britain’s top dishes could change due to climate change, said a bowl of lamb cawl produced as much pollution as boiling a kettle 258 times.

The charity compared four classic dishes: chicken tikka masala; ploughman’s lunch; fish and chips; and lamb cawl. They calculated the carbon footprint for each, taking into account agricultural production and processing. The cawl was found to be the worst offender, producing 5.9kg of carbon dioxide equivalents. Three quarters of the emissions derive from the lamb, largely due to its production of methane, the charity said.

The average daily carbon footprint in the UK is 35.6kg CO2E.

The National Sheep Association and National Farmers Union Cymru argued that the findings had failed to highlight the advantages of Welsh lamb stew; both environmentally and from a nutritional perspective.

Phil Stocker, chief executive of the National Sheep Association, said: “From our perspective it’s a pretty shoddy piece of work that hasn’t looked at the wider benefits of sheep farming. It has taken a very narrow view of the impacts of lamb cawl and is it really quite astonishing.”

According to the report, the impact of a dish of lamb cawl is the equivalent of having an LED bulb switched on for 65 days, driving a car 31 miles or charging a smartphone 722 times.

In response, a WWF spokesman said: “Climate change is a major threat to our world and its precious wildlife and landscapes. Food consumption is one of the biggest drivers of carbon emissions which is why our report showed the impact on climate change of Britain’s most iconic dishes, including Welsh cawl.”