Published 21/08/2014

We were thrilled to see the prestigious BBC programme Horizon addressing the issue of meat consumption and feeding the planet in a series of two programmes, 'Should I Eat Meat? - The Big Health Dilemma' on 18^th and 'Should I Eat Meat? - How to Feed the Planet' on 20^th August.

Our CEO, Philip Lymbery, was interviewed in the second programme, making the point strongly that it’s madness to rear animals in factory farms where they are fed cereals and soya that could instead be feeding people directly.

What are the environmental impacts of eating meat?

We were concerned that some of the environmental issues were glossed over too rapidly. The programme presented a rather myopic view on greenhouse gases (GHG), suggesting that intensive animal farming is the most environmentally sound way forward. But whilst the GHG issue is vital, it cannot be seen in isolation.

 We needed more on the benefits of pasture-based free range and organic farming, where biodiversity is maintained, the soil is nourished with animal manure, the animals obtain most of their nourishment from their surrounding environment and they have the potential for a great quality of life.

With a hungry planet to feed, it is monstrous that we are currently feeding 4 billion people’s worth of cereals and soya to animals, whilst people go to bed hungry. The space to grow all this grain would cover the entire land surface of the European Union, although much of it is being grown in South America at the expense of the rainforest and savannah.

Factory farmed chickens in the spotlight

The visit to a broiler chicken farm was misleading as the chickens shown were only about three weeks old and, although they were obviously already walking in an ungainly way, with frequent rest stops, this was a week or so before the really dire lameness problems can set in over the last week or two of their short lives. That was not shown.

Eat less but better meat

Thankfully the programme did finally conclude that the only long-term solution is for a large reduction in meat consumption. Eating less meat will ease pressure on the earth, is likely to bring health benefits to people and will enable widespread adoption of the very best pasture-based farming systems, which will produce enough meat to meet human demand, whilst enhancing animal wellbeing. 

Find out more

If you want to know more about the devastating impacts of factory farming read Philip's book Farmageddon:

• Farmageddon is available in all good bookshops
• All proceeds from the book will go to Compassion in World Farming
• You can buy a copy on Amazon or other good online bookshops, for example Book Depository or Waterstones.