'It's a taboo' Minister uncowed by flak over call to eat less meat

Eating less meat will play a key role in helping Spain mitigate the effects of the climate emergency, slow the process of desertification and protect its vital tourism industry, the country's consumer affairs minister has said.

- Sam Jones

Alberto Garzón said people in Spain needed to realise the huge impact that eating meat - particularly beef raised on industrial mega-farms - had on the environment, and to change their eating habits accordingly.

“People here know about the part that greenhouse gases play in climate change, but they tend to link it to cars and transport,” said Garzón. “It was only very recently that everyone started to look at the impact of the animal consumer chain and, especially, at the impact of beef. Other countries were pretty advanced on that but in Spain it's been a taboo."

The minister said that the country's geography made it profoundly vulnerable to climate change, adding the Spain that people knew and loved was in danger of disappearing forever.

"If we don't act, it won't just be climate change we're dealing with - it'll be the triple crisis: the loss of biodiversity, pollution, and climate change,” he said. “It would be the end for a country like Spain. Spain is a country in the Mediterranean basin - it isn't the UK or Germany and desertification is a very serious problem for our country, not least because it depends so much on tourism. Visiting a desert isn't quite as attractive as visiting the Costa del Sol."

Garzón said Spaniards did not need to stop eating meat altogether but suggested they ate far less and ensured it was good quality for the sake of their health and the environment. He contrasted cheap, mass-produced products with traditionally reared meat.