It’s a mad, mad world

It’s a mad, mad world, and it’s getter madder by the day. Protesting French farmers block the roads with enormous shiny tractors, complain about how poor they are and angrily demand more financial support, forcing the French government to capitulate within days. Reporters didn’t ask the farmers about the massive EU subsidies they receive, or the unsustainability of meat and dairy production.

BBC Radio 4’s The Bottom Line (1/2/2024) examined “concerns about reduced meat consumption” with three guests: two livestock farmers and the head of Corporate Social Responsibility at ABP Food Group. Unsurprisingly, they all claimed that they observe the highest welfare standards and how much they care about the animals they kill and process. Presenter Evan Davis failed to ask any difficult questions and the topic of meat production and climate change was dismissed by the ABP spokesperson as “misinformation.” After shouting at the radio throughout the broadcast, I sent Evan Davis a detailed email suggesting that he does his homework on meat production. I am awaiting a reply.

The river Wye is now so polluted with chicken waste that it has turned green. River Action estimate that there are 25 million intensively-farmed chickens within the Wye catchment area. Any attempt to clean up the Wye would require a drastic reduction in the numbers of poultry, but the number of US-style ‘mega farms’ is increasing across Britain. A mega-farm is defined as one holding over 125,000 broiler chickens, or 82,000 plus laying hens, or more than 2,500 pigs. The UK National Pig Association argues that: “Farms with 2,500 pigs are moderate in size today, and … larger scale farms actually facilitate good animal welfare.” Who could argue with their impeccable logic?

Meanwhile, BBC Radio 4’s Inside Science (8/2/2024) included the latest disturbing information that the bird flu virus has spread to the remotest parts of the planet. Avian flu has killed hundreds of penguin chicks in the Falkland Islands, and “huge numbers” of elephant seal pups in Argentina. The virus has also been found in a polar bear in northern Alaska, confirming the insidious spread of the virus from birds to mammals, and the dreaded prospect of mammal-to-mammal infection. The official scientific explanation is that mammals are ingesting the virus when scavenging flu-infected birds. The UK poultry industry denies any responsibility for the outbreak and spread of avian flu, although some chicken farmers have pointed the finger at a goose farm in Guangdong Province, China, where the highly-pathogenic H5N1 strain of the virus first appeared in 1996.

I recall hearing the notion that a definition of insanity means you think everybody is completely bonkers except yourself. On that level I must be destined for the mad house, but the examples above suggest that the real lunatics can be easily identified.

Paul Freestone

Net zero plus zero doesn’t add up to much

Politicians can easily be criticised for failing to deliver election promises, but revoking a proposal that never existed is especially cunning. The Prime Minister’s incoherent approach to achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions has included a ragbag of swerves and reversals, and this bizarre statement at the Conservative Party conference: “I’m scrapping the proposal to make you change your diet, and harm British farmers, by taxing meat.”

Subsequently, the PM announced a plan to raise the smoking age by one year, every year. If enacted it would mean that someone aged 14 or under now will never legally be sold a cigarette, but enforcing the proposed legislation would be virtually impossible. Perhaps the PM doesn’t understand how effective methods to change unhealthy habits work? The tax on sugary drinks was introduced in 2018, and soft drink companies reformulated their products to contain less sugar. After five years there is clear evidence that the sugar tax is working, but governments dislike so-called “sin taxes.” Many of the companies affected were vehemently opposed to the tax to begin with, complaining that it restricted consumers’ freedom of choice, but raising the price of harmful products by taxation is the most effective way to reduce consumption.

Everybody knows that smoking is incredibly unhealthy, and that the overconsumption of refined sugar is directly linked to the catastrophic increase in obesity and diabetes incidence. Animal farming is harmful to the environment and human health, and a meat tax would be one way to reduce the consumption of animal products. Unsurprisingly, the meat and dairy industries are horrified at the idea, and neither the Conservatives nor Labour have any plans to introduce a meat tax. (Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer is a pescatarian and does not eat meat, but I doubt that he will mention this voluntarily during the next general election campaign.) A vision to radically reform British farming would include policies to drastically reduce livestock numbers and promote plant-based diets by taxing all animal foods (and removing the subsidies to produce them). However, the vested interests would use every means possible to ensure it never happens. Legislation in favour of a healthier population that helps to save the planet! Whoever heard of anyone voting for that?

Paul Freestone

The sycamore gap tree highlights human hypocrisy about nature

An appalling act of vandalism has generated a media frenzy, but the loss of a single famous tree highlights human hypocrisy about nature. The sycamore gap tree was located in a photogenic spot along Hadrian’s Wall, but it stood alone owing to the fact that all the other trees that used to be there were cut down long ago. In the distant past Britain was heavily forested, but a steady decline started in the Middle Ages and the early 20^th century marked the onset of extensive tree felling. There was a huge demand for timber in World War One, and by 1919 national woodland cover was at an all time low of only 5%. In 1919 the Forestry Commission was created, at a time when most of England’s current woodlands didn’t even exist. By the 1930s the massive new forests were being criticised for blocking public access and replacing wild areas with unsightly managed landscapes. England’s forest cover is now 13%, compared with 39% of the total land area of the European Union.

The gentry has a history of planting trees from all over the world, but wealthy landowners established woodlands for the specific purpose of rearing pheasants for shooting – a glaring example of humans impacting the health and shape of the British countryside. The current furore about the HS2 railway concentrates on the staggering cost, but the worst part is the destruction of irreplaceable ancient woodland. HS2 has claimed that: “Seven million new trees and shrubs will be planted, and new native woodlands will cover over nine square kilometres.” We have so few ancient trees left that cutting down just one is unforgivable. The idea that a magnificent, centuries-old oak tree can been replaced with a few dismal saplings is disgusting. In May 2019 it was reported that thousands of newly planted ‘HS2 trees’ had died owing to the previous year’s hot dry summer, but HS2 countered that it was “more cost effective to replace the trees than watering them,” exemplifying the incompetence and inefficiency of the £100 billion fiasco. Every ancient tree is priceless, and many were cut down during preparations for the Birmingham to Manchester section of HS2, which itself has now been axed. Perhaps an exhibition centre showing what has been lost could be built at the end of the HS2 line. As the Joni Mitchell song goes: “They took all the trees put ‘em in a tree museum, and charged the people a dollar and a half just to see ‘em.”

Paul Freestone

Artificial Intelligence or just a ‘no brainer’

The recent surge in news items about the imminent dominance of AI (Artificial Intelligence) left me bemused. Apart from the ridiculous idea that infallible super robots will take over the world, I’d like to see some strong evidence for any signs of intelligence within the human species. This year the harsh reality of the climate crisis has been highlighted by heat waves and wildfires. It’s difficult to ignore what this represents, and yet these massive warning signs are being dismissed by some as “just the weather” or simply ignored (very easy to do if you aren’t directly affected). However, ignoring anything inconvenient is a typically human trait and a very stupid one.

The booming coastal metropolis of Miami is actually a doomed city. It was a virtually uninhabited swampland until the late 1800s, and then the developers miraculously transformed it into an air conditioned nightmare of high rise hotels, hideous urban sprawl, beaches, greed and criminal drug gangs. Nature had been removed from the equation, but this is the classic human delusion. Rising sea levels mean that Miami is one of the most “at risk” places on the planet, but all that is mostly irrelevant to the local politicians, tourist board and real estate investors. If AI machines were making all the crucial decisions in Miami the results would be dramatically different.  

You might imagine that the Covid pandemic would instigate some genuine insight and alter basic human thinking. You know, using collective brain power to ensure that another zoonotic disease disaster is prevented. Instead, all I ever hear is: “We will be better prepared for the next one”. In fact, the next one is already here and it’s decimating wild birds. Poultry farmers complain about the threat to their livelihood, but fail to grasp they are inextricably linked to the creation and spread of avian flu. And again, if AI machines were loaded up with all the essential info about zoonoses and the devastating environmental impact of intensive animal farming, the recommended action would be decisive and radical (and the meat and dairy industries wouldn’t like it).

The human brain is an extraordinary lump of grey matter which offers us the ability to solve most of the world’s problems. Clear indicators of intelligence include learning from your mistakes, and critical thinking about where our attitudes, prejudices and beliefs come from. Unfortunately, we keep repeating the same horrendous mistakes and I seriously doubt whether most people have the slightest interest in any sort of “why do I think that” process. In the UK, meat eaters consume cows, sheep, pigs and chickens without a second thought, but they are generally appalled at the idea of eating horses or dogs, despite the obvious contradiction.

Currently I’m not too worried about the perceived threat of AI technology, it’s the unfolding doomsday scenario of a burning planet that bothers me. Meanwhile, the tragic aftermath of wildfires on Maui is of no apparent concern to the rich tourists on the beaches of the other Hawaiian islands. The Titanic has hit the iceberg and is slowly sinking, but in the ballroom the party is in full swing.

Paul Freestone

Channel 4 spoof raises viewers’ hackles

On 24 July Channel 4 broadcast a 30-minute documentary unveiling the latest ‘lab meat’. The British Miracle Meat was presented by Gregg Wallace, who visited the Good Harvest factory where it was revealed that the meat was “engineered human meat,” with packaging proclaiming: “Made by humans from humans.” Impoverished donors were paid to provide samples of their flesh, which were then lab-grown into cuts of meat. Wallace then completed a rigorous taste test of three portions with the chef Michael Roux Jr, including a “succulent” prime cut derived from the flesh of children.

Obviously, this was a mockumentary and a very clever one. Using the ubiquitous Wallace was a master stroke as he sent himself up, and acted the role with aplomb. However, Ofcom received hundreds of complaints from viewers who didn’t get the joke, and the backlash on social media was overwhelming. Some MPs complained that the programme was “in bad taste” and that Channel 4 should have informed viewers beforehand. In fact, the end credits acknowledged the programme makers’ “thanks to Jonathan Swift.” The celebrated satirist’s 1729 essay A Modest Proposal suggested that the impoverished Irish might ease their problems by selling their children as food for the rich, since when the phrase “a modest proposal” has been used to refer to this kind of straight-faced satire.

Ironically, a genuine TV documentary about lab meat grown from animal stem cells would be unlikely to generate any fuss, and many would support the idea. The fact that the entire lab meat venture is both immoral and a staggering waste of time, money and resources is hardly worthy of comment, and this bloated juggernaut will probably stagger on for the foreseeable future. The British Miracle Meat was controversial because it suggested that cannibalism (in the form of human-derived lab meat) could be a solution to rising food prices, whilst offering the desperately poor the opportunity to earn a pittance as donors. It certainly made me laugh, and there was further amusement when all the complaints rolled in.

Paul Freestone