Letter to MPs

Dear MP,
I hope this letter finds you well.

I am writing today to ask that you take action in creating and supporting legislation that helps UK farmers transition away from animal agriculture. 

There are many good reasons to create and support initiatives to move away from animal farming and they include:

  1. Britons are moving away from meat and dairy consumption. One in eight are vegetarian according to a recent Sainsbury’s poll and this trend is expected to continue along with more and more becoming vegan (not using or consuming any animal products as far as possible).
  2. Animals bred for consumption and products made from their bodily secretions are a major contributor to CO2 emissions and, consequently, global warming and climate change.
  3. Humans are also directly hurt, exploited, traumatized and killed by animal agriculture. Paid low wages, constantly killing other beings and undertaking gruelling work all take a psychological and physical toll (not to mention accidents that cause injury and death). 
  4. Zoonotic diseases, like Swine flu and COVID-19, can be attributed to the conditions animals bred for consumption are kept in and their proximity to humans. Continuing to ignore the risks means these types of illnesses will recur with the potential to reach pandemic level, again and again.
  5. UK legislation recognises other animals as sentient beings with new laws that include better protections for animal welfare. This is a further step in laws that acknowledge that the exploitation of other animals is problematic and immoral.
  6. Animals have the right to live without being exploited or being made to suffer unnecessarily. The lives of the animals we consume and who we exploit for products like eggs and dairy, are considerably shorter than if they were allowed to live them out naturally and they suffer immeasurably from birth to death.
  7. Ethical Veganism is protected as an identity characteristic under UK law. In the beginning of 2020, the precedent to include Ethical Veganism as a philosophical belief was set in a court ruling that recognised it meets the criteria to be included in the protections provided by the Equality Act of 2010.

Even with the new Agriculture Bill, there is no clear plan to address some of the points above, to transition farmers away from animal agriculture, or to support innovation in farming that reflects the direction Britons are taking with their social and consumer choices.

I appreciate your taking the time to read this letter and my concerns. I hope you take them seriously and consider ways in which you can act to phase out animal agriculture in the UK. I also hope to have a response from you soon.

Kind regards,
[Name]

[Address and phone]

Resources for information contained in this letter: