Vegetarianism (Hansard, 8 March 1995)

§ Mr. Tony Banks (Newham, North-West)
I beg to move,
That leave be given to bring in a Bill to establish a national body to promote the health advantages of vegetarianism. I declare my interests. I am the parliamentary adviser to the London Beekeepers Association, and I am a vegetarian. However, I am nobody's turnip. I came to vegetarianism fairly late in my somewhat dissolute life; it has been a journey of discovery. My decision was based partly on health grounds, and partly on animal welfare considerations.
I am, however, no food fascist. If people wish to eat meat and run the risk of dying a horrible, lingering, hormone-induced death after sprouting extra breasts and large amounts of hair, it is, of course, entirely up to them. I would not even hold such ill-advised people personally responsible for the appalling cruelty inflicted on countless millions of living creatures to satisfy the desire for meat. All I ask is that everyone should be fully aware of the consequences of their own habits and the healthy eating alternatives available.
I am just old enough to remember the second world war. Alas, I played no heroic part in that great struggle, but I note with some interest that, at the end of the war, because of rationing and constant advice from the Department of Health, the civilian population emerged healthier than ever before. "Dig for Victory" was a most apposite entreaty.
The Government campaign during the previous war should have been continued, because the greatest killer in our society is ignorance about our own bodies. Indeed, a quick look around the Chamber probably makes my point better than I can in these few words. I see overweight, under-exercised, stressed-out bodies, many of which are daily stuffed with cholesterol-rich food, nicotine and alcohol.
A Department of Health report published last week revealed that English men and women are getting fatter and smoking and drinking too much. Regrettably, in that respect we are very much in step with those we represent. Among those surveyed, it was felt that stress was adversely affecting people's health, and that many of them were clearly swallowing their anxieties in the type of food they ate. Stress, which probably affects most Members of Parliament, often leads to a poor dietary regime, which in turn leads to major health problems. The link between stress and a poor diet is undeniable.
"The Health of the Nation" urges the British population to increase their consumption of fruit, vegetables and fibre. All mention of meat products, especially red meat, is played down. Evidence from bodies such as the World Health Organisation points conclusively to the fact that a vegetarian diet closely matches healthy eating guidelines.
There is a mass of statistical evidence, especially from the United States of America, to prove that a vegetarian diet saves not only lives but vast amounts of money in fewer demands on health services. The total annual direct medical costs savings from avoiding meat and tobacco are estimated in the States to be as high as $80 billion a year.
Studies show that twice as many non-vegetarians as vegetarians have been hospitalised during the past year, and that the use of prescription drugs has also about 344 doubled. Several other studies have shown that the prevalence of hypertension among vegetarians is about a third to a half of that of non-vegetarians, even when alcohol, tobacco and caffeinated beverage use is controlled.
Cancer, as we all know, is one of the western society's greatest killers. One in three Americans develop cancer each year, more than 1 million cases are reported and diagnosed each year, and medical costs total around $35 billion each year. According to the National Research Council, 30 to 60 per cent. of cancers are attributable to diet. A study in Germany found that vegetarian men faced less than half the risk of a cancer death, and vegetarian women about a 25 per cent. lower risk compared with non-vegetarians.
It is now accepted in all quarters that vegetarians suffer 30 per cent. less heart disease, which is the biggest killer in the United Kingdom, and 40 per cent. less cancer, which is the second biggest killer. There are fewer cases of vegetarians suffering from arthritis, diabetes, osteoporosis, kidney failure and so on—the list goes on and on.
A vegetarian is likely to save the national health service an average of £40,000 during a lifetime. Of all food poisoning cases, 95 per cent. occur in animal foods, and as a result, meat eaters suffer many more days off work because of food poisoning. An old joke in the east end is: "When the bottom has fallen out of your world, eat one of Harry's hamburgers and let the world fall out of your bottom". There are more than 2.5 million cases of salmonella, listeria and e-coli 157 each year. That represents an enormous real cost to what is left of British industry.
Not only do veggies live longer: they look better. Vegetarians are 10 per cent. leaner than omnivores. When omnivores kick the meat habit, they lose an average of 10 to 22 lb. Ministers should bear that in mind, given that a target has been set to reduce obesity in this country to no more than 6 per cent. in men and 8 per cent. in women by 2005.
Persuasive though the health reasons are, there are other reasons for vegetarianism, too. Meat production involves several serious environmental problems. Many of the most serious water pollution incidents reported to the National Rivers Authority every year are due to slurry and sewage from livestock, and slurry being spread on land contributes to acid rain. Moreover, livestock create the single largest source of methane emissions in the United Kingdom, adding to the greenhouse effect.
Meat production also uses far more fossil fuels than the production of fruit and vegetables. Although 85 per cent. of Britain's agricultural land is used for meat production, getting protein from meat is monstrously inefficient: 10 kg of vegetable protein fed to livestock will supply only 1 kg of meat protein, and while meat protein produced on 10 hectares of land will feed only two people, soya protein grown on the same area would feed 61 people.
Millions of people all over the world are dying of starvation, while the world feeds 38 per cent. of all crops to animals rather than to human beings, so as to produce meat, most of which is consumed in the industrialised countries. Add to that the impact of over-grazing, which produces deserts and deforestation, and the price of meat becomes too high for the world to pay. 345 The central question is: if vegetarianism is so good, how come everyone does not embrace it today? That question ignores the fact that 2,000 people a week are becoming vegetarians, with the fastest growth among teenagers—but even that increase is simply not enough. Part of the reason why it is not greater lies in the years of accumulated prejudice against vegetarianism—for example, the image of the veggie as a spotty nerd sporting a woolly hat, an anorak and socks worn under open-toed sandals—[Interruption.] How unlike myself, Madam Speaker.
Such a caricature is fast fading, but vegetarianism is still seen by those in authority as a mild form of eccentricity, to be pitied and patronised. The "real men eat meat" syndrome—[Interruption]—characterised by those on the Government Benches, is still with us. That is all part of the myth carefully fostered by the meat industry—a powerful industry heavily hacked by Government, with both resources and propaganda.
The Meat and Livestock Commission has a staff of about 600 and an annual budget of about £43 million, some £4 million of which comes direct from the Government. Compare that with the Fresh Fruit. and Vegetable Information Bureau, run as one of the accounts of a public relations consultancy, which has a budget of about £130,000 and four staff paid by the PR firm.
In other words, in terms of ability to inform, to advertise and to influence, there is no contest. One has only to think of the £10 million campaign by the MLC, "Recipe for Love", or the £14 million spent on the "Meat to Live" campaign, to realise that the dice are loaded. Massive subsidies are handed out by the taxpayer to the meat-producing industry.
We need to redress this terrible imbalance, and the purpose of my Bill is to set up a fruit and vegetable commission funded by the industry and by Government, with the Government using some of the massive savings gained by the health service when a growing proportion of the population switches to vegetarianism.
A vital part of the work of that new commission would be public education. People in this country are poisoning themselves through ignorance, and the Government in part connive at that scandalous and eminently avoidable situation. My Bill would seek to alleviate that ignorance, and to promote a healthier and a happier nation.

§ Mr. Peter Bottomley (Eltham)
As a partial vegetarian for many more years than the hon. Member for Newham, North-West (Mr. Banks), I must tell him that we do not need an extra publicly created body. Incidentally, I do not regard any of the characteristics that the hon. Gentleman attributed to vegetarians as applicable to me. He also said that listeria came from animals, whereas I thought that in general it came from cheese.
If the hon. Gentleman wants a public body to promote fruit and vegetables, why does he not give that as an extra responsibility to the Covent Garden market authority, which already exists? He claimed that one in three Americans develops cancer each year—but that would mean 80 million people a year, and I do not believe that figure.

§ Mr. Tony Banks
During their lifetime.

§ Mr. Bottomley
That may be so, but that is not what the hon. Gentleman said.
If we imagine that, in just one part of the United Kingdom—Northern Ireland, in which there are 35,000 farmers, one third of them full-time—all farmers had to turn all their fields to set-aside, we should discover what the land could and would look like without the farmers.
As a final point, I would say to those who like the look of sheep and cows in the fields that one cannot have livestock without dead stock. I recommend that people make up their own minds about what they eat and supply, and the House ought to send the hon. Gentleman off to Covent Garden today.

Division No. 97]	[3.54 pm
AYES
Adams, Mrs Irene	Khabra, Piara S
Ainger, Nick	Lewis, Terry
Allen, Graham	Liddell, Mrs Helen
Anderson, Donald (Swansea E)	Livingstone, Ken
Banks, Tony (Newham NW)	Lynne, Ms Liz
Barnes, Harry	McAllion, John
Barron, Kevin	Mackinlay, Andrew
Battle, John	McMaster, Gordon
Bayley, Hugh	Madden, Max
Berry, Roger	Maddock, Diana
Burden, Richard	Marshall, David (Shettleston)
Byers, Stephen	Meale, Alan
Callaghan, Jim	Michie, Bill (Sheffield Heeley)
Campbell, Mrs Anne (C'bridge)	Miller, Andrew
Campbell, Ronnie (Blyth V)	Morris, Rt Hon Alfred (Wy'nshawe)
Campbell-Savours, D N	Morris, Estelle (B'ham Yardley)
Canavan, Dennis	Mullin, Chris
Chisholm, Malcolm	Oakes, Rt Hon Gordon
Clark, Dr David (South Shields)	O'Brien, William (Normanton)
Clarke, Eric (Midlothian)	O'Hara, Edward
Coffey, Ann	Pearson, Ian
Cousins, Jim	Pope, Greg
Cox, Tom	Powell, Ray (Ogmore)
Cunningham, Jim (Covy SE)	Prentice, Bridget (Lew'm E)
Dalyell, Tam	Prentice, Gordon (Pendle)
Davidson, Ian	Primarolo, Dawn
Dowd, Jim	Rendel, David
Eagle, Ms Angela	Roche, Mrs Barbara
Eastham, Ken	Rooney, Terry
Etherington, Bill	Sedgemore, Brian
Fatchett, Derek	Sheerman, Barry
Flynn, Paul	Simpson, Alan
Foster, Don (Bath)	Skinner, Dennis
Galbraith, Sam	Soley, Clive
Gapes, Mike	Spink, Dr Robert
Godman, Dr Norman A	Squire, Rachel (Dunfermline W)
Gordon, Mildered	Steinberg, Gerry
Gunnell, John	Stott, Roger
Hain, Peter	Taylor, Mrs Ann (Dewsbury)
Hall, Mike	Timms, Stephen
Hanson, David	Tipping, Paddy
Hardy, Peter	Vaz, Keith
Heppell, John	Walley, Joan
Hill, Keith (Streatham)	Williams, Alan W (Carmarthen)
Hinchliffe, David	Wray, Jimmy
Hutton, John
Jones, Lynne (B'ham S O)	Tellers for the Ayes:
Jones, Nigel (Cheltenham)	Jean Corston and
Jowell, Tessa	Mr. Jeremy Corbyn.
Keen, Alan

NOES
Ashdown, Rt Hon Paddy	Jessel, Toby
Banks, Matthew (Southport)	Johnson Smith, Sir Geoffrey
Beggs, Roy	Kellett-Bowman, Dame Elaine
Beith, Rt Hon A J	King, Rt Hon Tom
Booth, Hartley	Lamont, Rt Hon Norman
Bottomley, Peter (Eltham)	Lawrence, Sir Ivan
Boyson, Rt Hon Sir Rhodes	McLoughlin, Patrick
Bruce, Ian (Dorset)	Maitland, Lady Olga
Budgen, Nicholas	Marshall, John (Hendon S)
Butcher, John	Martin, Michael J (Springburn)
Carlile, Alexander (Montgomery)	Mitchell, Sir David (NW Hants)
Carlisle, John (Luton North)	Neubert, Sir Michael
Carrington, Matthew	Nicholson, David (Taunton)
Channon, Rt Hon Paul	Onslow, Rt Hon Sir Cranley
Davies, Bryan (Oldham C'tral)	Pawsey, James
Day, Stephen	Porter, David (Waveney)
Dicks, Terry	Riddick, Graham
Dixon, Don	Robathan, Andrew
Donohoe, Brian H	Roberts, Rt Hon Sir Wyn
Dover, Den	Ross, William (E Londonderry)
Dunn, Bob	Shaw, David (Dover)
Durant, Sir Anthony	Sims, Roger
Fishburn, Dudley	Speller, John
Fox, Sir Marcus (Shipley)	Steel, Rt Hon Sir David
Gallie, Phil	Sweeney, Walter
Gill, Christopher	Townend, John (Bridlington)
Godsiff, Roger	Townsend, Cyril D (Bexl'yh'th)
Grant, Sir A (SW Cambs)	Tracey, Richard
Greenway, Harry (Ealing N)	Twinn, Dr Ian
Greenway, John (Ryedale)	Winterton, Mrs Ann (Congleton)
Harris, David	Winterton, Nicholas (Macc'fld)
Haselhurst, Alan
Hawkins, Nick	Tellers for the Noes:
Hendry, Charles	Mr. David Wilshire and
Jenkin, Bernard	Mr. Julian Brazier.