A host of musicians, actors and sporting stars have joined a campaign encouraging people to try a vegan diet next month to help combat climate change and prevent future pandemics.
A joint letter, signed by celebrities including Sir Paul McCartney, Ricky Gervais and Lily Cole as well as Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace, called on people to change their diet for “Veganuary” next month by avoiding meat, fish, dairy products and eggs.
The letter said there was a “very clear connection between climate change, global pandemics and our consumption of animal products,” with animal agriculture estimated to be “responsible for 14.5 per cent of all human-generated greenhouse gas emissions.”
‘Overcrowded, squalid conditions’
“We cannot tackle climate change while we farm and eat animals on an industrial scale,” the letter continued, adding that “overcrowded, squalid conditions, factory farms – especially chicken farms – are breeding grounds for the next global pandemic.”
Scientists have previously linked outbreaks of both swine flu and avian flu to chicken farms.
The letter also said that meat-eating contributed to deforestation around the world, stating that “in recent years, more than 80 per cent of deforestation in Brazil was to graze farmed animals, and still more forests are destroyed to make way to grow crops to feed animals on farms around the world.
“Deforestation is serious for lots of reasons. It pushes wild species to extinction. It displaces indigenous peoples. It drives climate change. And it brings us in ever closer contact with wild animals and any viruses they may harbour, raising the risk of another pandemic.”
The wildlife presenter and Veganuary ambassador Chris Packham said: “Trashing the planet does none of us any good, as the pandemic shows all too clearly. But we can emerge from this stronger and wiser, with a renewed commitment to protecting the environment, its inhabitants and our own futures. Being vegan is a great way to support the natural world and to live sustainably.”
Other signatories to the letter included Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr, cricketer Jason Gillespie, and the comedians John Bishop, Sara Pascoe and Jon Richardson.
Next year is set to be the biggest Veganuary campaign yet, with more than 260,000 people already signed-up, double the number as at the same time last year.
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