Thomasina Miers is right to raise the important role that grazing animals have to play in the restoration of our ecologically depleted countryside (Eating meat isn’t a crime against the planet – if it’s done right, 1 September). But it does not follow that animal protein could ever make up a meaningful part of a sustainable average diet in industrialised countries like the UK. The total quantity of meat and dairy that might be produced in genuinely planet-friendly fashion would cover only a tiny proportion of our current consumption, and the vast majority of meals in the future will therefore necessarily be plant-based.
It is vital that we pursue solutions relevant to the population as a whole, and not just for the lucky few who can afford sustainably produced meat. A while ago, I calculated the productivity of my own 30-cow suckler herd, extrapolated over the entire grassland area of the UK, and compared it with the national average annual consumption of beef. I now eat a plant-based diet.
Henry Scutt
Pangbourne, Buckinghamshire
