15th annual veggie week, apparently the Vegetarian Society are asking political 'leaders' to give up 'dead animals' fried, battered, on toast,etc for a week.

A hiding to nothing, I suspect that Ming and the Gordon will be tucking into their steaks as usual.

Will David Cameron give up pork for 7 days, well at least hopefully he is too busy to kill Bambi's mum for a week.

In the Green Party we have no leader, but Sian and I are 'substitutes', I have been vegetarian since 1986...but Sian eats meat on occassions and is giving up for a week.

Good for her...

Alex Salmond, well a few key green votes in the lobby, might force him on to the moral high ground.

Sinn Fein, well Martin McGuinness, used to work for a butcher in Derry, so may be not.

The unionists I don't think so.

Nigel Farage of UKIP, well stranger things have happened.

I am going vegan for a week, will I fall off the wagon and have a dairylea moment, watch this space...

Well even if you cut down or go for local, organic, cruelty free slaughter...good on you.

It is green to go veggie

Farmed animals produce more greenhouse gas emissions (18%) than the world’s entire transport system (13.5%).
Nitrous oxide is almost 300 times as damaging to the climate as carbon dioxide (CO2) and 65% of the quantity generated by human activity comes from livestock (mostly their manure). The digestive systems of farmed cows and sheep are also responsible for 37% of the total methane generated by human activity; this gas has 23 times the global warming impact of CO2. The animals we rear for meat also account for 64% of all the ammonia that humans impose on our precious atmosphere, contributing significantly to acid rain.

It takes far less water to grow vegetarian food than it does to produce meat.

It takes thousands more litres of water to produce a kilo of beef than it does to grow the same quantity of grains, vegetables or pulses. Livestock production accounts for over 8% of global human water consumption. Rearing animals for meat also contributes significantly to water pollution, with animal waste and antibiotics entering the water cycle alongside chemicals from tanneries, fertilizers and the pesticides used to spray feed crops.


Farmed animal production accounts for 70% of all agricultural land use (30% of the earth’s entire land surface).

A third of the world’s land suitable for growing crops is used to produce feed for farmed animals. Livestock production is responsible for 70% of the Amazon deforestation in Latin America where the rainforest has been cleared to create new pastures. Twenty percent of the world’s grazing land has been degraded as a result of rearing animals for meat. In the UK, vegetarians need less than half the amount of land to grow their food compared to meat eaters.

The environmental arguments are strong, but many vegetarians simply believe that it is wrong to kill when we don’t need to. Others love animals and want to minimise their suffering. Some veggies are opposed to factory farming and choose vegetarianism because it sends a strong signal, guarantees you won’t be eating an animal reared in appalling conditions and, of course, avoids the distress experienced by every animal in the slaughter house.

Continuing with our environmental focus, we have two new booklets available to you in pdf format below. You can also order a hard copy, free of charge. Either call 0161 9252000 or email resources@vegsoc.org

‘Why It’s Green to go Vegetarian’ offers strong arguments that cutting out meat helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions and contributes to water and land conservation. This is a serious science-based booklet, produced by our dedicated research department, for those who want to know more before making up their own minds.