MP Neil Parish said it was “only fair” to launch a ‘Red Meat Month’ to celebrate Britain’s livestock industry, in an open letter to animal welfare charity PETA, which is opposing the plan.
Parish has come under fire from PETA for encouraging the government to launch a ‘Red Meat Month’, which he said aims to support the British livestock and meat industries and promote locally sourced produce.
In his letter, published on The Spectator’s website, Parish pointed out the variety of weeks, days and months dedicated to promoting vegetarianism and veganism – most recently ‘World Vegan Month’.
Parish also questioned PETA’s commentary on meat-eating as “out of touch” and “irresponsible”, arguing the majority of the population would disagree.
PETA replied to Parish questioning to whom was ‘Red Meat Month’ fair?
“Certainly not animals,” said Mimi Bekhechi, PETA director. ”Nor to starving people around the world who could use the grains we inefficiently funnel through animals, producing only a fraction of the food we could eat as primary proteins… The logic against eating animals is irrefutable.”
Bekhechi went on to attack the effects livestock production has on the environment, which was refuted by Parish: “Beef cattle and sheep play a vital role in food production, because of their ability to turn non-human food into edible proteins and nutrients. Limiting the role of British livestock will reduce the efficiency with which we use our land for food production and will therefore reduce our ability to be self-sufficient.”
The two came to blows on the BBC’s Daily Politics Show on Thursday (15 January), when Parish, as chair of All Party Parliamentary Group for Beef and Lamb, also defended slaughter methods in the UK, which he described as humane.