An agriculture leader

I WOULD like to respond to the “meat matters” piece in your recent Property supplement in which Friends of the Earth ask people to eat less meat.

Their belief is that this is good for global carbon emissions. If Friends of the Earth are allowed to persist with their misguided agenda, this could destroy the potential of the agri-food sector in Ireland to deliver exports worth €12bn and badly-needed jobs in this country, identified in the Food Harvest 2020 strategy. Milk and beef in this country is produced from a grass-based system, which ensures a low carbon model as grassland acts as a huge carbon sink. FAO (food and agricultural organisations) stated that Ireland produces less that half the GHGE emissions per kilo of beef as South American countries. Agriculture is the only industry to reduce emissions by 9% since 1990 due to increased efficiencies in production.

Ireland is in an unique position to meet increasing food demand and guard against the consequences of carbon leakage.