Plant-based food plan in Torridge rejected

Council wants to work with farmers for better outcomes

A recommendation to serve 50 per cent of plant-based food at Torridge District Council’s catering events and promote a plant-based diet has been rejected.

One member of the council’s community resources committee described the call from the climate change working group as “really really bad timing” for the farmers.

Last week an estimated 40,000 farmers including many from North Devon travelled to Westminster to protest over the Labour government’s plans to introduce inheritance tax on farm assets over £1 million, a move which they say will spell the end of family farms.

But the recommendation to serve more plant-based food at internal and external council events was put forward because of concerns that farming practices and current patterns in the consumption of animal products were accelerating climate change.

The council is one of many in Devon who have committed to reaching net zero by 2030 although North Devon admitted recently that it would not be able to achieve it.

Cllr Peter Hames (Green, Appledore) said ten per cent of the UK’s carbon emissions were from agriculture, with 68 per cent of that from livestock and animal feed.

He said if the UK was serious about reducing its carbon footprint it needed to find a more efficient use of the land as farming it was unsustainable.

Cllr Wendy Lo-Vel (Green, Northam) said no one was suggesting there should be no meat on the menu but eating meat three times a day was not healthy anyway.

And she said it was intensive dairy farming which produced high rates of methane that was the main problem.

Council leader Ken James (Ind, Milton and Tamarside) said he was disappointed this item was even on the agenda. “Promoting this means we aren’t really understanding what this community is about.”

Cllr Anna Dart (Ind, Hartland) said it was stated in reports that there would be no measurable effect on the council’s carbon footprint given its very limited spend on catering if this proposal went ahead.

“All this does is proves that we stand against our entire countryside and the economic activity and all the business activity relating to it.”

The committee was told that more than 75 per cent of Devon farmland was grassland and its landscape was well suited to dairy, sheep and beef farming and was “low density” farming compared to the more intensive methods.

Cllr Rosemary Lock (Con, Two Rivers and Three Moors) said 60 per cent of the country’s land was not suitable for growing arable crops.

And she added the UK as a whole was responsible for just one per cent of global gas emissions with agriculture accounting for half of that.

Councillors suggested the authority should be working with the farming community as farmers were pretty “forward thinking” and a member of the NFU should be invited to talk to the council.

Cllr Teresa Tinsley (Lib Dem, Bideford North) said this was the wrong time to be implementing a policy like this.

“I just think this is really really bad timing from the farming point of view and could send a really bad message. Can you imagine “Devon council bans cream teas” – I do not want to go anywhere near that at the moment.”

Cllr Lyndon Piper (Lib Dem, Holsworthy) said there was no need to put any constraints on the food served by the council as there was already a balanced menu.

“This is a huge subject and very difficult for Torridge to get involved with. I agree that it is time we started talking to our farmers.

“If the proposal was to make Torridge buy local, seasonal food, avoid horrendous over- processed food and we had a system where we paid a fair price to our responsible and ethical producers who look after our countryside you would have unanimous support. It’s all come at the wrong angle unfortunately which is disappointing.”