What’s the place for meat and dairy in a better food system? As part of her Travels Round the Food Zones blog, Julie Brown starts a heated debate…
At Growing Communities one of the principles that guides our work is that the food we trade should be “mainly plant-based”. We think there is a case for the sensitive inclusion of livestock in an ecological farming system, and in the human diet – but as a treat not a staple.
We’re reviewing our principles at the moment as there is a lot of new information out there since we last updated them a few years back. And there is loads of literature concerning the environmental impact of livestock – much of it complicated and often contradictory – so it’s going to take a while to plough through it all. I thought a good way to get the discussion going might be to ask some people who are respected in the field to answer the following question:
Some people argue that a vegan diet is best for the environment. Do you think a better food system should include animals it it and if so, why?