Sir, – Mary Robinson's call for people to give up meat is greatly to be welcomed ("Farmers criticise Mary Robinson's calls to 'not eat meat'", September 30th).
The evidence of the high level of greenhouse gas emissions caused by meat consumption and of the damage it does to our health all point to the need to face this reality. While we can debate what levels of consumption are compatible with the need to move to a low-carbon society by 2050 and with public health, there is no doubt but that current levels of consumption are far too high, and growing in such places as China. For this reason, the Chinese government announced earlier this year that it plans to reduce meat consumption to between a third and a quarter of current levels by 2030. If the Chinese are facing reality, it is time for us to do so also.
Michael Fitzmaurice TD was quoted as asking what would happen to the tens of thousands of people who would become unemployed. As we in Cloughjordan eco-village can testify, a diet based on healthy vegetables and fruit, grown using biodynamic methods on our own community farm, provides an alternative model that is more healthy, more resilient and more climate-friendly than the current agribusiness model of dairy agriculture. It is high time we had an honest debate about the realities of the climate challenges facing us and their implications for cherished elements of our current lifestyles. Mary Robinson deserves our gratitude for having had the courage to raise this issue. – Yours, etc,
PEADAR KIRBY,
Cloughjordan,
Co Tipperary.