Ealing Friends of the Earth Supports Planet-Friendly Farming

and call on government to help stop the damage

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Friends of the Earth (FOE) visited Ealing's Farmers' Market to call on the public to support more environmentally friendly methods of food production.

Virginia Fassnidge, food campaigner for Ealing FOE said: “The way we produce food has a huge impact on the environment. [notes 1,2] Unfortunately many of our meat producers are causing wholesale environmental damage by the way they feed their animals. Rainforests are being destroyed in South America to grow soya beans for animal feed in Britain. We are asking our MPs to support the Sustainable Livestock bill [note 3], which will encourage farmers to feed animal on home grown and rainforest free crops.”

Friends of the Earth wants the government to stop subsidizing this 'environmental destruction'.

Virginia added “Even as world leaders are meeting to discuss how to stop deforestation, the UK Government is propping up damaging factory farms with millions of pounds of taxpayers' cash - leaving the public unwittingly caught in a food system that's destroying Brazilian wildlife and rainforest. The Government must support British farmers to feed their animals homegrown feed - so our Sunday roast doesn't cost the Earth.”


1. British imports of beef and soy for animal feed from Brazil last year are estimated to have caused the loss of an area of Brazilian rainforest and grassland twice the size of Greater London, according to a new report launched by Friends of the Earth on 10th October.

2. The green campaigning charity's report, From Forest to Fork, shows that increasing demand for animal feed produced in Brazil for British factory farms, along with beef imports, are estimated to have caused around 1,200 square miles of deforestation in 2009.

3. Friends of the Earth is calling on the Government to introduce a Sustainable Livestock Bill to reduce the impact of meat and dairy production and consumption in the UK which is causing wildlife, rainforest and livelihood destruction abroad. Factory farms - dependent on feeding animals soy protein grown in South America - are subsidised by UK taxpayers to the tune of £700 million a year.

October 12th 2010

 

 

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