Farmer's outrage over Oxfordshire County Council's new vegan diet website

Oxfordshire County Council’s taxpayer-funded website Climate Action Oxfordshire has a list of advice for local residents that aim to decrease the county’s carbon footprint. The website also includes tips such as joining community action groups, walking instead of driving and buying second-hand clothes.

However, it’s the section of the website which directs users to adopt a plant-based diet which has caused outrage among many of Oxfordshire’s farming communities. The Climate Action Oxfordshire website makes the claim that 58 per cent of our food emissions come from animal products and advises people to visit the Vegan Society website which will help them create a vegan diet for themselves.

Local farmer Julie Adams said: “Oxfordshire County Council really need to understand more about farming and food production here in the UK. Their new website "Climate Action Oxfordshire" suggests that to reduce your climate footprint for food, you should eat a plant-based diet.

"The website content relates to global GHG emission figures for beef and has no relation to what we do here in the UK, where our cattle are grass-fed. It is totally misleading. I am an arable farmer and I’m passionate about the countryside and farming as a whole. The website undermines the hard work of many local livestock farmers who produce local, sustainable food. Grazing ruminants, like cattle and sheep in the UK, are both beneficial to biodiversity and account for only 3.7 per cent of UK carbon emissions, when the carbon stored in grassland is included.

"Nowhere, on the website does it mention about food miles or that it is far more important to know where and how your food is produced. Also, nothing is mentioned about buying seasonal produce or how to avoid food waste. The website is totally wrong to be directing you to the Vegan Society, as a vegan or vegetarian diet is not necessarily more environmentally friendly.

"The website was backed by all the local authorities in the area which is a disgrace. I am not happy that the taxpayers’ money has been spent on this website or on the “no meat and dairy” lunches provided at the Oxfordshire County Council meetings. Their first lunch contained watermelon, kiwi, mango and passion fruit, which is not local, seasonal or sustainable, as Liz Leffman, the OCC chairman had promised it would be.”

A spokesperson for Oxfordshire County Council responded and said: “A recent survey conducted by the Oxfordshire councils and the Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership showed that local residents share the council’s concerns about climate change and feel the need to contribute to tackling it. We simply want to help people who want to make changes to help tackle climate change by making suggestions as to how they can do so. Helping tackle climate change is a key priority for Oxfordshire County Council.

“Oxfordshire County Council’s thoughts on plant-based food are in alignment with central Government’s National Food Strategy which explicitly recommends that people should reduce their meat consumption."