Wednesday, 04 March 2020 13:21

Don’t take away our livelihoods

Written by  Milking It

US actor Joaquin Phoenix is being accused of taking away UK farmers’ livelihoods.

Phoenix, who has been a vegan since he was three, had a go at farmers in his acceptance speech for the best actor award at the recent Oscars.

“I think we’ve become very disconnected from the natural world,” he said. “We go into the natural world and we plunder it for its resources. We feel entitled to artificially inseminate a cow and steal her baby, even though her cries of anguish are unmistakeable. Then we take her milk that’s intended for her calf and we put it in our coffee and our cereal”.

National Farmers’ Union (NFU) president, Minette Batters claims he and other celebrity campaigners for veganism had played a part in demonising the UK’s meat producers and doing “enormous damage” to their wellbeing.

Batters said farmers fearing the imminent loss of their livelihoods and family holdings were in a state of stress and anxiety.

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