Vegan group promises £1million to charity… if Sunak goes plant-based
Vegan group promises £1million donation to charity… if Rishi Sunak takes up plant-based diet for a month
- Generation Vegan (GenV) has urged the PM to ‘consider’ UK-wide sustainability
- Stunt coincides with ‘Veganuary’, in which people give up meat and dairy
- GenV boss Naomi Hallum said some leaders have pledged to cut down on meat
A vegan group has challenged Rishi Sunak to go on a plant-based diet for a month – and said it will donate £1million to charity if he accepts.
Generation Vegan (GenV) has urged the Prime Minister to ‘consider our sincere offer and lead the UK towards a more sustainable and promising future’.
The stunt coincides with ‘Veganuary’, when many people give up meat and dairy during January for the sake of animal welfare or to help curb climate change.
Appearing on LBC, GenV boss Naomi Hallum said some world leaders have already pledged to cut down on meat and dairy.
Generation Vegan (GenV) has urged the Prime Minister to ‘consider our sincere offer and lead the UK towards a more sustainable and promising future’
Mr Sunak was yet to indicate whether he would take up the challenge last night.
She told presenter Rachel Johnson, the sister of former Prime Minister Boris Johnson: ‘It’s important to hold our world leaders accountable for the promises they’re making.’
Food production accounts for around 20 per cent of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions.
Beef and dairy are two of the biggest contributors to global warming as cows produce methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, when they burp.
Farm machinery and transportation cause CO2 to be released, while crop fertilisers emit nitrous oxide.
In many countries forests, which absorb carbon dioxide, are being cut down to make way for cattle herds or to produce animal feed for the beef and dairy industry.
Ms Hallum said 1.1 billion land animals and over 6 billion sea animals are killed every year.
She added: ‘These are not food products that we need, it’s just the food that we enjoy.’
Mr Sunak did not comment on GenV’s challenge. But during the Tory leadership race last year he tweeted: ‘My constituency [Richmond in North Yorkshire] is home to hundreds of beef and lamb farmers and I am committed to supporting the fantastic industry they represent.
‘People’s food choices are their own. I would lead a government that champions our livestock farmers at home and abroad.’
The tweet attracted controversy in India as Mr Sunak is a Hindu and cows are considered sacred in the religion and are not to be eaten.
The Climate Change Committee, an official body which advises the Government, has recommended a 20 per cent reduction in meat and dairy by 2030 and 35 per cent reduction for meat by 2050, eating better meat and plant-based alternatives.
GenV was formerly known as Million Dollar Vegan. The group challenged Pope Francis in 2019 to go vegan for Lent in return for a cash payment to charity, as well as issuing a similar challenge to President Donald Trump in 2020, which the charity called ‘Make America Healthy Again’. Neither the pope nor the president took up the offer.
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