Sir, – I am a vegetarian, I eat no red meat at all. This is a personal choice, and I recognise the right of others to be carnivores.
However, I cannot allow statements made by the red meat industry and in particular their spokesman, Neil Shand, (Farm leaders slam Blue Peter scheme, Courier, April 13) to pass without challenge.
Mr Shand describes an item on Blue Peter, whereby it was suggested to the audience that reducing one’s red meat intake would be beneficial to the environment, as ‘unbalanced and at worst irresponsible’.
The facts suggest otherwise.
One of the largest producers of red meat is Brazil and, to achieve this, vast areas of the Amazon rainforest are cleared leading to significant reduction in carbon capture.
Since the 1960s an area more than ten times that of Scotland has been lost in this way and 80% of the cleared land is now grassland for cattle rearing.
Before we say, ‘this is not how we do things here’ it is the case that 40% of all processed beef imports to the UK come from Brazil, and so we must be complicit to some degree.
Mr Shand refers to reducing air travel, and indeed we should, but whereas globally aircraft emissions account for 2.5% of carbon release, the figure for the meat industry is 14.5% according to the consensus of scientific opinion.
There is no doubt red meat is a good source of protein but vegetarians obtain an adequate amount via pulses and green vegetables, and I know of no medical opinion which advocates increasing red meat consumption as part of a healthy diet.
This is a global issue and the future of the planet is at stake.
I would hope vegetarians and carnivores alike would recognise that at least reducing our intake would assist in slowing our current disastrous climate change.
Ronald Oliver.
Lethnot Street, Dundee.
Council should help upkeep of the Law
Sir, – Today I walked past several allotment holders in Kinghorne Road, Dundee, who were trying to tidy up the banks adjacent to steps leading to their allotments.
This is quite a task involving cutting back of heavy growth on a slope, a job which should be done by the council using a machine designed for the purpose.
They have asked the council to provide a skip, as waste cut back cannot be left, but so far have received no help.
This area around the Law is very neglected, with “pavements” that are not fit to be called pavements.
The ground at the top of Adelaide Place has a broken wall and blossom trees planted many years ago have been cut down, with no attempt to plant even a few spring bulbs.
All while other areas around the city are glowing with colour and are a credit to Dundee.
Lots of visitors pass this area on their way up the Law, but the approach leaves a lot to be desired.
It should not be left to a few allotment holders, who would no doubt prefer to be in their own gardens, trying to make the area more presentable.
D. Coleman.
Adelaide Place, Dundee.
Biden should heed Trump on China
Sir, – Listening to what Donald Trump actually said and looking at the number of young servicemen produced by his power base, I thought the chances of wild military adventures during his presidency were pretty remote.
I don’t have the same confidence with Joe Biden who appears to be allowing “woke revolutionaries” to dictate his legislative agenda.
Biden has done better than I expected with his much speedier roll out of his vaccination programme, his $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan followed by his $2 trillion infrastructure bill.
But favouring woke’s post-modern Marxism – which casts free speech as a form of violence – and his tenuous support for the police are a worry.
It is also a matter of regret that in an ABC interview he was trapped into agreeing that Putin was a “killer” who would pay a price for what he termed “election meddling”.
It would be huge mistake to get involved in the trouble on Eastern Ukraine border.
Trump was absolutely right when he claimed that the focus should be on China as the threat to US national security.
Dr John Cameron.
Howard Place, St Andrews.
