Great Green Questions podcast asks if being vegan helps save the planet

In this week’s episode of Great Green Questions, host Juliet Davenport is joined by Dr Tara Garnett, Director of Table, Marcus Brigstocke, comedian, actor and satirist, and Guy Singh-Watson, British farmer and founder of Riverford Organics to tackle the question ‘Is being vegan the only way to save the planet?’

Juliet kicks off the discussion by outlining: “Veganism is an essential topic to quite a lot of debates on sustainable food. There are many issues of moral and practical concern related to our food system affecting both humans and the environment. Over the years, veganism has either been lauded, but it’s also been villainized, and it’s become more mainstream as days gone on, but right to the fundamentals, let’s get back to why could veganism save the planet?”

“I think the discussions about food are based very largely on, what do people want? If you can make stuff that’s plant-based that people want, then you’ve done it. Is it nicer than meat? Is it as affordable as meat, cheese or milk,” says Marcus, speaking on the strong link that consumerism has to play with choosing to be vegan. “At the moment, vegetables are much more expensive than they need to be, they’re harder to get, and they come from all over the world at times of the year when it makes no sense, and they’re priced as if they’ve just been picked up on the road,” he says.

Speaking on the danger of food taboos and highlighting that there are other things we can do to save the planet, in addition to veganism, Tara says: “I don’t think it’s an either or world where you say right, we shall never have these foods. I think it creates hostility, and it’s unrealistic. I think it’s about putting food and certain types of food back in their place in time, so that we have them and we kind of get rid of these false dichotomies and polarizations – that’s at the heart of the veganism debate.”

Great Green Questions is available on Apple, Spotify and all major podcast platforms.