UK farmers can save the rainforests - FoE

Friends of the Earth commissioned the Royal Agricultural College (RAC) to carry out the study, Pastures New, which says UK farmers could grow peas, beans and sunflowers to replace soy imports, which are ‘wiping out forests and wildlife in South America’.

The study found half of the animal feed currently imported – mainly for poultry, pigs and dairy – could be replaced by home-grown crops, but admitted such a move would take a fundamental shift in the market place.

To replace 50 per cent of soy animal feed the RAC calculated 8 per cent of cereal land would have to be made available and farmers would need financial incentives, through reform of the CAP, to grow protein crops and move to grass-fed livestock systems.

The study was launched alongside a Sustainable Livestock Bill in parliament today (Wednesday, July 21).

The Bill, which will be voted on by MPs this Autumn, calls on farmers to cut imported feed and on consumers to eat less meat and dairy.

But critics, including Neil Parish MP, have argued the Bill is ‘simplistic and unrealistic’.

George Lyon, Liberal Democrat MEP for Scotland, was in Europe this week, urging policy makers to make it easier to import soy into Europe.

He agreed with Friends of the Earth that it ‘would be better if European farmers could grow our own protein’ but added it was simply not financially viable.

“The reality is that imports are needed to meet European demand and that is why we must ensure the import bottleneck ends,” he said.

The Sustainable Livestock Bill follows a Friends of the Earth ‘MOOvement’ campaign launched last week to encourage consumers to eat rainforest-friendly food.

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