Why our green and pleasant land is vital
EAT less meat and save the planet. So shout the latest climate change headlines – but they're wrong.
The advice should be: eat the right kind of meat and save the environment, the landscape, the regional economy, jobs and an entire way of life.
There is nothing bad or harmful about the traditional way in which meat is produced here in the Westcountry.
Far from wrecking the environment, traditional grazing creates a landscape that is beneficial in so many ways. It not only shapes the way our beautiful countryside looks, but it's been stoking the region's economy for centuries.
Added to that, grazing animals produce delicious healthy meat – not to mention dairy products for which the Westcountry is world renowned.
But listen to the bald, all-embracing claims of all too many folk leaping on the climate change bandwagon, and you'd think all livestock-based farming is helping to wreck the planet.
You could argue that cheap, industrially produced meat is. But intensively farmed meat that gains weight by eating soya protein gleaned from land which used to be rainforest is a million miles from the nutritious, planet-friendly, meat we produce in this peninsula.
It is why the Western Morning News is embarking upon a week-long series called Livestock in the Landscape.
Starting in Monday's paper we'll be explaining why grazing is good – and why everyone should be backing our vital crusade because Livestock in the Landscape is not just about farming.
It's about defending an ancient way of life and environment-friendly production system that is being brushed aside by vast market forces, by greed, by ignorance and by hyperbole.
This is a subject which goes way beyond agriculture. It is a story that involves us all.
From the air we breathe to the water we drink, from carbon capture to healthy diet, from the regional economy to the landscapes we love.
It is no exaggeration to say traditional livestock grazing reaches far, far beyond the remit of a few agrarians, butchers and cheese-eaters.
Our story in a nutshell? This region in particular is very good at growing one natural crop – in fact, apart from clouds, grass is the most common natural entity that we see in our daily lives.
It's everywhere – from sea cliffs to high moors, from motorway verges to ancient meadows. But sadly, not even the most ardent vegetarian can do a thing with it.
However, we know some animals that can. Cattle and sheep are nature's great grass conversion machines. They achieve the magical alchemy of turning the inedible into the highly edible.
Since the advent of cheap oil, we've been busy ignoring this wondrous fact. Cheap meat comes from animals that never see the sun, fattened by proteins brought in from the far corners of the Earth.
No wonder the climate change lobby loathes the resultant product. An industrial cow has a carbon footprint larger than an elephant's.
The same cannot be said for the beasts we see grazing our hills and dales.
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