Harper Adams University has a beef with the latest trends on meat
The university, in Edgmond near Newport, said it would not be banning beef from its campus menus, despite new messages from Hollywood celebrities and activists.
Beef has become the latest food to be questioned because of its impact on the environment and the way it is farmed.
Now Harper Adams, which specialises in farming, has defended the meat industry – and attacked “knee-jerk” reactions that have no substance to back them up.
A spokeswoman for the university said: “Our purpose since the old college first opened in 1901 has been to further agricultural knowledge and to support the farming community. Rather than permitting knee-jerk reactions to broaden our appeal, we are putting our focus on what matters: developing a sustainable food chain while minimising the impact on our natural resources.
“In recent years, and even more so in recent months, it seems that everyone has become an expert in food and farming. Hollywood celebrities are telling us how we should eat to save the planet. Menus are changing throughout the world to meet the latest trends – whether driven by science or not. And leading centres of education and research – UK Universities – are banning practices and products based, in some cases, on popular opinion rather than proven facts.
“That’s why we are researching, for example, how changes to dairy cattle diets can reduce herd methane emissions. Why we are progressing urban farming techniques including aquaponics and vertical growing. Why teams from across the university are working on our Hands Free Farm – a bid to embrace technology to make farming both more efficient and less damaging to land and air.”
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