Meat Should Not Be a Dinner Table Staple, Should Only Be A Treat-Mps

According to Skynews, Families should only eat meat as an occasional treat because the surge in global demand is unsustainable, according to a committee of MPs.
The international committee also declared businesses should be penalised for wasting food.

Its controversial Global Food Security report suggested the UK was "never more than a few days away" from a significant food shortage.

MPs called for farmers to rear more animals on grass instead of grain and people not to view meat as an every day staple.

The committee also urged the Government to redouble its efforts to slash the amount of discarded produce - estimated to be around 30% globally.

And it called on the UK to look at whether nations should stockpile food to protect themselves from price spikes.

Sir Malcolm Bruce, chairman of the International Development Committee, said: "With the UK never more than a few days away from a significant food shortage, UK consumers should also be encouraged over time to reduce how often they eat meat.

"Meanwhile, as a nation we should place a stronger focus on more sustainable extensive systems of meat production, such as pasture-fed cattle, rather than on highly intensive grain-fed livestock units."

The report suggests more livestock should be reared on grass

The committee wants ministers to set producers and retailers targets for food waste reduction, with sanctions imposed when they are not met.

It also wants the Government to pursue proposals aimed at persuading households to cut the amount they throw out and promote schemes about redistributing unwanted food.

Its report suggested the moves should be part of a wider food security strategy with the UK doing more to help smallholders in developing countries.

MPs warned that the rising world population, which is expected to rise from 7.1bn today to 9.3bn by 2050, will continue to heap pressure on food security.

They also warned that some biofuels are driving up prices and making them more volatile and, in some cases, could be even more damaging to the environment than fossil fuels.

The committee called for EU targets requiring 10% of transport energy to be drawn from renewable sources by 2020 to exclude agriculturally-produced forms to the fuel.

The report comes as the UK plans to host an event, Nutrition for Growth: Beating Hunger Through Nutrition And Science, under the umbrella of its G8 presidency.

But it prompted anger from the farming community, with unions calling it "naive" and "dangerous" and warning it risked further damaging a struggling industry.

Charles Sercombe from the NFU told the Daily Mail: "With many farmers having been dealing with some of the most difficult conditions in years, to encourage the public not to eat meat is unhelpful to say the least."

A spokesman for the Department of International Development said: "We are leading the way in making nutrition a global priority and by 2015 our nutrition programmes will help a total of 20 million pregnant women and young children across Africa and Asia.

"At the Nutrition for Growth Summit this weekend, we will set out our future nutrition commitments and look to agree a radical new approach with business and the scientific community to improve millions of lives, with the ultimate aim of eradicating under nutrition globally."