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Farmers and members of the public took to Twitter in a major backlash against RTÉ's What Planet Are You On?
The show is part of RTÉ's programme schedule during Climate Week. One of the most controversial parts of the three-part series aired on Wednesday 13 November, where vegan advocate Dr Mark Springmann suggested that someone should replace locally produced Irish cheese with avocados.
Members of the farm community took to social media platforms in their droves to with counter arguments against Dr Springmann's advice.
So a vegan activist with no qualifications in nutrition recommending the ditiching of Locally produced cheese on @rte - contrary to science and governmental guidelines.
— Conor Mulvihill ?? (@conormulv) November 13, 2019
And the kicker- he recommends AVOCADOS (mostly Mexican) as a suggested replacement to reduce emmissions ????? pic.twitter.com/DVMcxtFrva
The problem with your almond "milk" latte it takes 6k litres water to produce 1 litre of almond milk. 80% of almond production is in California, 4 foot or more of water is irrigated on every acre, per year, most of which is pumped from underground aquifers. #whatplanetareyouon pic.twitter.com/vrEFIF4QRo
— Tom Dinneen (@BoRuaFarmer) November 14, 2019
Springmann's work has been included in the controversial EAT Lancet report and he's a keen advocate of cutting down animal based food sources. His work has also been featured on ITV and other programmes and publications.
Dug spuds, carrots, onions and picked some stored garlic for dinner tonight. If I combine with locally caught fish can #whatplanetareyouon and @rte tell me how eating avcadaos would be more sustainable? #giy #growyourown #Sustainability #sustainablemehole pic.twitter.com/602Lg4aGnU
— Margaret Leahy (@gardenngather) November 14, 2019
"If you look at dairy, the typical Irish diet has almost three times the amount of dairy that would be recommended under a sustainable healthy diet," Springmann said during the RTÉ show.
Farmers on social media also criticised RTÉ and accused them of a lack of balance.
Disappointed with the uneducated bias on #whatplanetareyouon how can almond milk and avocados be more sustainable than Irish dairy? They cause untold damage.
— Jp McMahon (@mistereatgalway) November 13, 2019
No consideration of food as a culture experience either. We're just beginning to understand our food culture @rte
RTÉ have been contacted for a comment but have yet to respond.
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