I am pleased to leave January and Veganuary behind for 2022. I don’t know what I expected, but as it is my first year as Livestock and LFA Policy Manager at NFU Scotland I am a little surprised I didn’t notice Veganuary more this year. Yes, there were the inevitable incorrect tweets and messages by companies that we strove to correct, and the misleading information by influential bodies that we approached and offered to provide a balanced viewpoint for. But overall, it felt a lot quieter than I expected.

This was Veganuary’s 9th year after it launched in 2014, and it is reportedly growing in success with each year. However, I find it very hard to separate the real facts from the statistics quoted in the press. Even growing in success, it represents a small proportion (less than 1%) of the population and the majority of people are already vegan (as Professor Jude Capper pointed out, it’s just January for them). Undoubtedly this year has seen an increase in the numbers signing up, and the vegan options being offered by restaurants and take aways has grown again. Yet is this a reflection of the success of the campaign itself, or a broader reflection of the fact that veganism is an increasing trend regardless of this particular campaign?

Now I have no issue with people making an informed personal choice on how to live their own lives; be that religion, exercise, or diet. What I don’t like is the pedalling of misinformation - and I suspect that is the same for most of us. Working in this industry we know the facts about welfare and animal care. We also know what our farming practices do (and perhaps sometimes don’t do) for the environment. I don’t think anyone reading this would claim our industry is perfect and that there is not room for improvement. But I also don’t think anyone reading this would be happy with the assertion that the country eating “plant-based” would solve our climate change problems.

Veganuary itself occurs in January - one of the worst months for the UK weather wise (although this year has been a little strange on that front). We do not have a lot of seasonal produce at this time of year, and therefore the timing of Veganuary encourages participants to not eat local or even British produce. This is one of the things that confuses me about the campaign, the almost blatant disregard for a healthy diet. The products that thrive in Scotland under the mantle of Veganuary are almost all junk food – this year’s new offerings included the McPlant Burger (McDonalds), the Tu’NAH Sandwich (Starbucks), and the PepperoNAY Pizza (Dominos) to name a few. The interesting point to note is that almost all these products are a synthetic attempt to mimic real meat, rather than championing some seasonal vegetable or plant centerpiece. The production of the synthetic ingredients is hardly an environmental triumph, and the health benefits are similarly dubious. To me this highlights that as a nation we have lost touch with our food heritage and until we can turn that tide then sadly our industry, our health, and our planet are all very much under threat.

What we need to do is encourage greater thought about what we are eating and where it comes from - a proper understanding of what Scotch red meat production entails and the benefits it brings to the country. This is the approach that QMS (with ADHB and HCC) have taken. Rather than attacking Veganuary head on they produced a campaign focusing on positive messages about red meat. It tackled some of the myths and presented the facts, with a particular focus on climate change and the importance of red meat in diets (especially for young women). If you haven’t had a chance to have a look I would urge you to do so, and to share the messaging as far and wide as you can:  https://www.qmscotland.co.uk/sites/default/files/january_toolkit_2022_medium_resolution.pdf. Sadly, it sometimes feels like conveying the truth about our industry is like pushing water uphill, but that doesn’t mean we should stop!

As we head into February then, my final reflection on Veganuary is that it is not the answer it claims. Although they are well worn cliches, we come back to “locally sourced” and “in season” produce as the answer to almost every question around diet that there is, be that health, climate, welfare, or sustainability – and in Scotland our red meat ticks all those boxes. Now we just need to champion that, take pride in our industry, and continue to take steps to make it even better.