I’m a bit of a hero: I have volunteered to go without meat for a whole week. It’s something called Meat Free Week, and it runs March 23-29. The event will raise money for three charities, including World Land Trust, and I’m a council member so I have to set an example.
Meat Free Week is an idea that began in Australia. It makes rather a parade about not being a vegetarian thing. That’s not something that worries me too deeply, because I’ve been a veggie since my first trip to India in 1976, but the idea of vegetarianism does tend to alienate people.
It’s not a campaign against carnivores. The target is the cheap meat industry and the notion that eating meat two or three times a day is a basic human right. Three good reasons for cutting down on meat-intake: your own health, the welfare of farm animals and the enormous environmental consequences of farming for meat.
So the three charities that will benefit are Compassion in World Farming, Beating Bowel Cancer and WLT. WLT will spend the money acquiring land threatened with deforestation by livestock farming: because cattle-ranching and the growth of cereal crops to feed cattle are continuing to destroy the world’s forests.
It’s become a bit of a weird issue. People assume that I’m a veggie because I’m (a) squeamish and (b) sentimental. The three charities chosen for Meat Free Week show there is another side to the argument: but you can’t really talk about it because people who have made other choices feel got at. So I never try.
John Burton, CEO of WLT, also a carnivore, suggests that people should eat less meat of greater quality, and acquire it from local sources: meat as a treat rather than a right. There’s another, more simple answer of course: just find another couple of planets.
Anyway, I present Meat Free Week as something you may like to think about. Tonight I’m going to cook curry: motor paneer and brinjal bhaji. I hope your supper is as good.
Here’s a link: http://www.worldlandtrust.org/news/2015/02/go-meat-free-for-week-raise-funds-wlt
Peter Farren says
22 March 2015 at 12:32 pmdoes bacon count?
Mark says
22 March 2015 at 4:50 pmI really like the idea of meat-as-a-treat — something anyone can do — but paying more for high quality meats … and paying more for fair-trade coffee … and paying more for organically grown veggies … and paying more at locally-run stores … it sure does add up. I can afford to keep up, but most good-hearted people can’t.
I know there are sacrifices that working people could make, but virtue shouldn’t be easier for the rich. Isn’t there some way to make it less expensive?
Simon Barnes says
23 May 2015 at 1:16 pmYou’re right. One of the problems is that we are stuck on the notion that two meat centered a day should be a basic human right.
stuart says
19 September 2015 at 1:16 amThank you for responding to me roughly 5 years ago while working at The Times. I was at university doing journalism and politics and you kindly read a complete amateurish story what I wrote about you. Rubbish university, poor student…and so on. I did my dissertation on: Is Liberalism compatible with Democracy? I wanted it to be on animal welfare, which was political, but because the academics did not have a clue about animals then one must follow the wheels of capitalism to the end. I still think I’m due a refund of £24,700.
Around this time, July 19th to be precise, I stopped eating all animals. I’ve gone from Vegan to vegetarian, back again…and then back some more.
I try not to say much about this at work and other places but I always fall into the trap when people talk about how sad they get when a Lion gets murdered but then they will eat a mischievous, fun loving Pig for dinner.
After all this waffle, and I do believe that you were too good for The Times (I actually stopped buying it but I did go into the supermarket every Monday and Friday just to read what you had to say) – Oh, yes – I’m back again – free range meat. It absolutely drives me up the wall. That people can love their animals for years but when the times comes, they will kill that animal and they will shout – I eat free range meat; its good for the animals and at least I know where the meat comes from. I feel it’s barbaric. I will never understand this practise. An animal is either going to live or die – treating it with kindness and then killing it is just the same as factory farming, although I know I’m wrong in saying that but I’m still saying it.
Meat free week should be every week and I’ve always wondered why our doctors and governments do not promote being veggie. I will never vote Labour but having a vegan in government, who will have dealings with the farmers – I think that could turn out to be genius.
Best
Stuart
Simon Barnes says
8 December 2015 at 7:14 pmThanks for your interesting message Stuart. Not eating animals is one of those personal frontiers, it changes an awful lot of things for those of use who make the decision. The problem is that it’s hard to explain it to the rest without sounding sentimental.