Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Red meat sector starts fightback over Veganuary

Levy bodies will push messages to encourage the consumption of healthy, meat-based meals
Levy bodies will push messages to encourage the consumption of healthy, meat-based meals

Beef, lamb and pork-related organisations from across the UK have announced they are to launch major offensives in a bid to distract attention from the anti-meat Veganuary initiative – even before it begins next month.

Scotland’s Association of Meat Wholesalers (SAMW) has claimed “busting the myths” around red meat consumption needs to be the top priority in 2020 if the industry is to have any future.

Since 2014 the high-profile Veganuary campaign has attempted to persuade consumers to try going vegan for the month of January, but in 2020 meat levy bodies in England, Scotland and Wales will be fighting back with promotional activity, including employing social media “influencers” to encourage the consumption of healthy, meat-based meals.

Experts have been engaged by the levy bodies to give positive messages around red meat’s nutritional role, and high profile media medics will share information on the role red meat can play in combating fatigue.

The Food Advisory Board will also contribute to two advertorials in the national press in January.

SAMW chairman Andy McGowan, chief executive of Scottish Pig Producers, claimed that consumers were confused by mixed messages, and made to feel guilty about choosing to eat meat after being exposed to anti-meat propaganda.

He said the counter arguments needed to be fact-based and clearly and simply presented.

“We have a strong and positive message to deliver on behalf of the natural grass-based livestock production systems on which the quality image of Scotland’s beef and lamb output is founded, alongside the impressive efficiency of our high health status pig industry,” he said.

“We need to unite as an industry in getting behind Quality Meat Scotland to present this strong message to the nation’s increasingly confused consumers.”