April 10th, 2019
Civil society groups and climate experts are “flabbergasted” by
Young Fine Gael’s call for An Taisce to revise its recently published climate action teaching resource.
The downloadable
resource recently launched
by the Green Schools programme contains a range of lesson plans, presentations,
surveys and data on climate change and action.
Reducing meat and
dairy consumption in school is a goal outlined in the Climate Action Plan
section of the resource,
which includes a suggestion of hosting vegetarian or vegan potluck tasters and
running #MeatlessMonday campaigns.
In a statement released today, Young Fine Gael (YFG) said that the
resource conflicts with dietary advice from the Department of Health, claiming
that the document asks “young people to reduce or wholly cease their
consumption of meat and dairy”.
“An Taisce’s efforts
to combat climate change are welcome,” Young Fine Gael president Killian
Foley-Walsh said.
“However these efforts
must be supported by the science, and claiming that young people should
severely limit their consumption of meat and dairy products is in stark
conflict with the advice of the Department of Health, which is to eat plenty of
both,” he continued.
Director of Friends of
the Earth Ireland Oisin Coghlan said that he was “genuinely flabbergasted” by YFG’s
statement today.
“Young Fine Gael has
given a real two fingers to the thousands and thousands of their peers who
joined the school strike for climate last month,” Mr Coghlan told The Green
News.
“What their message
sounds like is we don’t care about our generation’s long term future as much as
we care about the agri-industry’s short-term profit,” he added.
Thousands of Irish students took part in the international School Strike for Climate
Action last month. The next international march is set for 24 May.
Dietary debate
The Young Fine Gael
statement comes on the heels of the Irish Farmer Association’s (IFA) call for
the immediate withdrawal of the resource last week. IFA president Joe Healy said that An Taisce had “crossed a line by including dietary
advice in their resource pack.”
The Healthy Food for Life Pyramid from the HSE currently recommends two servings a day of
meat, poultry, fish, eggs, bean and nuts and 3 daily servings a day of milk,
yogurt and cheese, recommending up to 5 servings of dairy per day for anyone
between the age of 9 and 18.
Nevertheless, recent
studies have stressed that in order to avoid dangerous levels of climate
change, a substantial reduction in meat-eating is imperative.
A landmark Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report released last
October states that eating less meat and dairy was a necessary step for
populations to take in order to reduce global warming.
A further study published in Nature last year recommended a 90 per cent
drop in Western beef consumption to be replaced by a fivefold increase in beans
and pulses in order to limit the environmental impact of the current Western food
system.
Additionally, the 2018 Eat Lancet report found that global consumption of fruits, vegetables, nuts
and legumes should double in order to ensure a sustainable diet for both humans
and the planet.
Reacting on Twitter
today, environmental policy fellow at UCD Dr Cara Augustenborg said that it was
“very sad” that the Young Fine Gael statement “doesn’t understand [IPCC]
scientific advice to reduce meat consumption.”
“This isn’t ‘dietary
advice’, folks. This is part of what we need to change so the human race can
continue to thrive & avoid catastrophic climate change,” Dr Augustenborg
said.
In a tweet this morning, environmental campaigner and member of An Taisce’s climate committee John Gibbons said that “nothing remotely” like a severe limit of meat and dairy consumption appears in the climate action resource, “which is NOT about ‘dietary advice’”.
Beth Doherty from School Strikes for Climate told The Green News that while protein is an important element in young people’s diets, An Taisce is “correct in suggesting reducing beef consumption”.
“Ireland is the most carbon-intensive beef producer in Europe and the rearing of cattle contributes more to emissions than the entire transport system,” the 15-year-old said.
“A balance needs to be found where we can ensure livelihoods of farmers and correct nutrition for young people through various protein sources, while avoiding greenwashing and still reducing our emissions.
“We’re lagging behind and need to address the fact that the beef and dairy industry is a massive factor in this.”
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