Eating

Reducing the amount of meat and other animal products such as meat, milk and eggs you consume will reduce the demand for intensive factory farming.

You can also help by purchasing animal products that are labelled as higher welfare, such as free range or organic. The more people buy higher-welfare products the more farmers and retailers will switch to delivering these products.

Whether you are thinking of introducing a meat-free meal occasionally, having a meat-free day once a week, or removingb all animal products from your diet, you will still be making a valuable contribution. You don’t have to give up the things you enjoy like burgers, sausages and mash and a tasty spag bol - they just don’t need to include meat.

Your simple food choices can benefit animals, you and the environment.

Better for animals

Nowadays we eat more animal products than ever before, resulting in hundreds of millions of animals being reared and killed each year in the UK alone. This growth in demand has been met through farming large numbers of animals in inhumane intensive factory farming systems. If we eat less animal products then fewer animals need be farmed and this can be done in more humane extensive systems such as organic or free range.

Whereas intensive systems cram large numbers of animals into small spaces and grow them as fast as possible, extensive systems better meet the animals’ basic needs and have the potential for giving them better lives.

Better for us

The current high levels of consumption of animal products in the western diet are damaging for our health. Amongst other health concerns, this over-consumption is fuelling an obesity crisis. Obesity can lead to a number of secondary health problems including cardiovascular disease, type II diabetes, several cancers and arthritis. A more plant-based diet however carries a reduced risk of bowel cancer, heart disease, hypertension, obesity, diabetes and osteoporosis.

Products from animals reared in higher welfare standards can also be healthier for human consumers, for example with less fat and more protein than products from intensively reared animals. 

Better for the environment

Over-consumption of animal products is also unsustainable. Livestock production is responsible for 18% of global greenhouse gas emissions from human activities. It is also responsible for 64% of global ammonia emissions, which contribute to air, soil and water pollution, acid rain and damage to the ozone layer. Diets high in meat and dairy products are less energy efficient and have a higher carbon footprint compared with diets high in plant-based foods.

Intensive animal production systems are particularly damaging in terms of the heavy demands placed on natural resources of land and water to grow animal feed-crops.  One third of the world’s total arable land is used for animal feed-crop production; over 90% of the world’s soya beans and 60% of maize and barley are grown for livestock feed.  Intensive animal farming is associated with overuse of antibiotics, pesticides and fertilisers for feed production, leading to drug resistance, pollution, high energy and water use, overgrazing and reduction in biodiversity. In contrast, more extensive high-welfare farming systems are more in tune with the environment and less harmful.