Having spent December in an orgy of consumption of food, drink and consumerism, we suddenly find ourselves in the first days of a new year and decade. Where once it was all about giving up cigarettes, the resolve to be better is now focused almost entirely on the food we eat.

Meanwhile, in the UK, a man will claim in court on Thursday that his ethical veganism is a philosophy that should have equal standing to religious belief.

Jordi Casamitjana was dismissed by his employers for saying that the company pension scheme was investing in companies that carry out animal testing. The employer, by the way, was not a petrochemical company or hedge fund but the League Against Cruel Sports.

Go Vegan World Campaign

Perhaps it is better for farming to recognise that the campaign to end the keeping of animals for food production is a moral absolute for its advocates. They will not stop until they have achieved their aim.

The overlap between that more extreme belief and the wider view that farming must work harder to minimise its carbon footprint is one across which farming advocates need to tread carefully.

There can be no doubt any more that we are locked in a battle to protect the planet’s ecosystem. The defining image over the Christmas period was surely the heartbreaking photograph of a firefighter and a koala bear standing helplessly watching an Australian wildfire sweep all in its path.

The house is literally on fire, and there is little point in standing around working out who is to blame for this state of affairs. Everyone needs to roll their sleeves up and do everything they can to combat climate change.

Incremental improvement is the proper path to take. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are on board with that

Does this mean throwing Ireland’s grass-based system of food production out the window? Of course not. However, saying our carbon footprint is effectively static since 1990 won’t get us a free pass. As we reported last week, Glanbia’s plan for a €140m cheese plant in Ballyragget is being objected to by An Taisce and Friends of the Irish Environment, due to the associated dairy herd carbon emissions.

Incremental improvement is the proper path to take. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are on board with that.

In an election year, that point is not unimportant. A pre-election pledge that neither will trade farming’s future away in a coalition agreement might be worth looking for.