Letters to the Editor: Beef industry cheerleaders peddling red herrings

According to research, avoiding meat and dairy products is the single biggest way that we can reduce our environmental impact on the planet.

The red herrings continually trotted out by advocates for the Irish beef industry must be called out.

According to Our World in Data, beef tops the table — by a country mile — of food products for greenhouse gas emissions per kg of food product, at a massive 99.48kg. According to research published in the journal Science in 2018, avoiding meat and dairy products is the single biggest way that we as individuals can reduce our environmental impact on the planet. Author and environmental activist George Monbiot, who has written a book on our food system and who was awarded the Orwell Prize for Journalism last year, has concluded that the most damaging farm products are organic, pasture-fed beef and lamb.