MRS L WILSON is correct, it would certainly be more beneficial if people gave up meat for more than one day a week (SA, July 21). However, I can’t believe she is justifying an industry based on the suffering and killing of millions of animals by stating that it conserves species.
Yes, switching to a plant based diet will end the suffering of animals produced for food. Yes, these selectively bred, domesticated species will cease to exist, but it means there will be more room for natural habitats and wildlife. Currently, 70 per cent of all agricultural land in Britain is used as pasture and to grow crops to feed farmed animals.
Research has shown that less than a quarter of the current farmland would be needed if Britain consumed a plant-based diet. In a hungry world with limited resources, half of the world’s food harvest should not be fed to farmed animals so that people can continue to eat meat while others starve. This is certainly not the kind of world I want for our children.
KELLY SLADE Campaigns Officer Animal Aid
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