Towards Ground Zero

LIVESTOCK farmers are coming in for criticism from vegan, health and climate change lobbies—NFU president Minette Batters was even asked on Radio 4 if meat was the new smoking —but her profession found some unexpected allies at the recent climate change and farming conference at Stow-on-the-Wold, Gloucestershire.

- Annunciata Elwes

Entitled ‘Towards Net Zero Carbon Emissions’, it aimed to tackle the conundrum of farming being both a sink and a source of greenhouse gases, was jointly organised by the Sustainable Food Trust (SFT) charity and the NFU and came as Theresa May committed the UK to net-zero emissions by 2050.

‘My aim is to have rebellious farmers,’ declares Gail Bradbrook, founder of Extinction Rebellion, who urged her audience to ‘stop being so British’. ‘There can be a mix-up in the animal rights lobby about what animal welfare is,’ she points out. ‘There’s a case for pasture-fed livestock regenerating the soil and farmers need to get out on the streets. Bring tractors to London!’