Meat tax

[Vitamin c]

Reports in many UK newspaper's have reported that government minister George eustice has said that a meat tax would make UK farmers go green but just as quickly the government have said it will never happen well we have herd that before.

Do you think it would work are you prepared to pay more for your meat to help save humanity.

Myself I've cut right down and only eat meat twice a week filling the gap with pulses.

Could you do it
Would you do it

Discuss

[jennyjj01]

Do you think it would work are you prepared to pay more for your meat to help save humanity.

Myself I've cut right down and only eat meat twice a week filling the gap with pulses.

Could you do it
Would you do it

Discuss

I could, grudgingly. I would grudgingly. Not so much to save humanity. To hades with them.

[jansman]

Well,even as a butcher,my wife and me don’t eat that much meat. My wife is semi vegetarian anyway. I can see the way it’s heading though ,along with being told flying is bad,driving is bad,staying warm is bad - what you eat will be next.

All a tax on meat will do is increase cattle/ sheep rustling.Blokes like me who keep backyard stock will have a ready market too.Frankly, fuel and feed costs,fertiliser costs etc will push the price up anyway,so folks will start to alter their diets accordingly.

That’s my take on it anyway.

[korolev]

With this year being my 30th anniversary of going vegetarian, I'm all for it.

Actually, I'm not, not really. Whilst it sounds good, we need to discourage people from eating cheap, mass-produced, factory farmed meat; we (and by this I mean a global "we") need to stop deforestation of the rain forests for cattle grazing.
It would be far better for the planet, and for peoples' health to eat good quality meat twice a week.

Better ways to get carbon emissions down are to ban the sale of cars with engines bigger than 2 litres (reduce this to 1.5 litres in a couple of years) and introduce a levy on internal flights so you never pay less to fly than a train would cost.

[rik_uk3]

Problem with a vegetarian/vegan diet is its not a cheap option for low income families who don't have the cash to buy all the ingredients to provide a balanced and varied diet that a family will enjoy.

I think a lot of people eat less meat than they did, I certainly do. In the 70s/80s a steak meant a 1Lb slab of beef for me but these days I'm happy enough with a third of that.

[Smudge]

With this year being my 30th anniversary of going vegetarian, I'm all for it.

Actually, I'm not, not really. Whilst it sounds good, we need to discourage people from eating cheap, mass-produced, factory farmed meat; we (and by this I mean a global "we") need to stop deforestation of the rain forests for cattle grazing.
It would be far better for the planet, and for peoples' health to eat good quality meat twice a week.

Better ways to get carbon emissions down are to ban the sale of cars with engines bigger than 2 litres (reduce this to 1.5 litres in a couple of years) and introduce a levy on internal flights so you never pay less to fly than a train would cost.

You mention deforestation for grazing but we've lost huge areas to grow soya which is popular in certain circles. Basically people suck and seem he'll bent on destroying the planet.

[Vitamin c]

My twice weekly meat treat is usually chicken thighs I roast them keeping the juices I use the juice mix it in with whatever bean meal I have for a bean goodness meaty flavour meal.

[jansman]

Problem with a vegetarian/vegan diet is its not a cheap option for low income families who don't have the cash to buy all the ingredients to provide a balanced and varied diet that a family will enjoy.

I think a lot of people eat less meat than they did, I certainly do. In the 70s/80s a steak meant a 1Lb slab of beef for me but these days I'm happy enough with a third of that.

The cost of a meat free diet is an interesting point.And not just the financial cost,but also the ecological cost…Tonight we are having a home made curry. The spices are obviously imported,so too the rice. It is a vegetarian curry, and my wife has used onions, peppers( Spanish) and butter beans ( imported). Oh yes,coconut milk!A varied vegetarian diet - like an omnivorous diet- draws ingredients from around the globe.That takes energy,and a carbon footprint ( I hate that phrase! ). And it comes at a financial cost too. As energy gets scarcer,thus more expensive,so does imported food.

So,right now,protein for a vegetarian diet can come from beans for example. However,they are largely imported. If we had to shift to a meatless diet in the UK, protein * might* be an issue. Unfortunately,large parts of the North of England and Scotland,and the mountain regions of Wales are really only suited to sheep. I wouldn’t want to try to grow arable on a Northern Moor. If meat were taboo,all that land would be wasted. Also,a meatless diet in the UK would be reminiscent of mediaeval pottage. Hardly a Friday night takeaway curry!

It’s a conundrum for sure.

[grenfell]

With this year being my 30th anniversary of going vegetarian, I'm all for it.

Actually, I'm not, not really. Whilst it sounds good, we need to discourage people from eating cheap, mass-produced, factory farmed meat; we (and by this I mean a global "we") need to stop deforestation of the rain forests for cattle grazing.
It would be far better for the planet, and for peoples' health to eat good quality meat twice a week.

Better ways to get carbon emissions down are to ban the sale of cars with engines bigger than 2 litres (reduce this to 1.5 litres in a couple of years) and introduce a levy on internal flights so you never pay less to fly than a train would cost.

There's a strangeness to the quality thing at time. The eating quality twice a week is a good idea . Also making use of the whole animal as well. I quite like the occasional pig's trotter but they seem to be viewed as low quality fit only as dog food. Indeed when my wife last brought a couple she was asked if they were for her dog and got a "oh" look when she said they were for her husband.
I always think a tax is a unfair way of dealing with this sort of thing. A ration system would be much better , more uniform and wouldn't adversly affect the poorest in society. Easy then to extend to things like sugar and alcohol to target obesity , tooth decay and alcoholism.
The idea to limit engine size is good although i'd include horsepower in the equation else we'd get souped up , turbocharged , supercharged 1499 cc boy racer cars. Course if we extend that ration system....
Won't happen of course.
I seem to recall reading that something like 65% of our farmland is unsuitable for arable crops , too hilly , flooding problems and so on. It's an awful lot of food to replace with imported fair. I suppose getting rid of meat from the diet would also see the extinction or near extinction of several species of animals that would no longer be needed.

[jansman]

Well,even as a butcher,my wife and me don’t eat that much meat. My wife is semi vegetarian anyway. I can see the way it’s heading though ,along with being told flying is bad,driving is bad,staying warm is bad - what you eat will be next.

All a tax on meat will do is increase cattle/ sheep rustling.Blokes like me who keep backyard stock will have a ready market too.Frankly, fuel and feed costs,fertiliser costs etc will push the price up anyway,so folks will start to alter their diets accordingly.

That’s my take on it anyway.

I thought of a book: The Guardians by John Christopher. The Conurb vs the Country. The Conurbation is kept at bay via Bread and Circuses. A bit like our internet/ Netflix/ Amazon/ Costa Coffee fuelled society now. Our unlikely hero breaks into the ‘Country’,where the privileged live.Where they raise and eat their own meat.