The IFA held an animal health and calf welfare meeting in WFC Enniscorthy Mart on Tuesday evening. We asked some of the attendees if they felt the mainstream media coverage of Veganuary, Leo Varadkar’s declaration that he would cut his meat consumption, and the EAT-Lancet Commission report advocating drastically reduced meat and milk production were having a negative effect on the morale of farmers.

Paddy Dunne

“It is all starting to affect the morale of farmers. We are still producing good food, we have clean production systems and standards, so I don’t think we should worry about it too much. Some of the reports I’ve heard on the TV and radio featured people with fairly extreme views, there’s a lot of anger. I don’t think people will buy into those ones. It’s a bit fashionable at the moment, but to be honest I think it will pass. “

ADVERTISEMENT

Roisin Byrne

“The opinion of people like Leo Varadkar can carry a lot of weight. People like him should always remember how important farming is in Ireland. Livestock farming is at the very heart of life in rural Ireland. I’m in secondary school and none of my friends are going vegan. Many of us live on farms and we know how farmers care for their livestock. It’s not something we would discuss very much. I think it’s more of a Dublin thing.”

Roisin Byrne with her dad Edward at an IFA-hosted Animal Health and Calf Husbandry event at Enniscorthy Mart, Enniscorthy, Co Wexford. \ Patrick Browne

Richard Ormond

“It’s only a fad, but it’s a worrying fad, because it’s gathering momentum all the time. What the parents eat, the kids will eat. The minute people get hungry, they will be eating meat quickly enough. Some of it is lifestyle – there’s an association between vegan and slim, this idea is taking hold that to be skinny you have to go vegan. A balanced diet is more healthy. You can eat meat and be slim and that needs to be the message.”