Like any book, this project has had many beginnings, but its real origin was perhaps the Campaign Against Climate Change demonstration in London in late 2008.
The national climate change marches, timed to coincide every year with the international climate change talks, had been held since 2005. Whatever the official focus of the demonstration they always showed a wide mix of placards, with people advocating every green position from direct action to beekeeping. I wouldn’t have expected the 2008 demonstration to be an exception, but what did strike me, looking around the protestors gathered in Parliament Square, was the prevalence of placards about food; in particular about meat and its contribution to climate change.
I hadn’t considered food’s role in climate change since I was first in the movement and argued with older activists about the greenness or otherwise of eating chips at the bus stop on the way home from meetings. I felt a little blindsided, as if I had missed a memo. I also felt that there was a disconnect somewhere in using such a collective statement of people power as a national demo to call for an action like giving up meat, which could only be done by individuals at home.
Sitting on one of the handy walls around the edge of the square, I got into conversation about the day with the woman next to me. Despite the decent turnout, she was in a pessimistic mood. People just weren’t prepared to change their behaviour, she told me. We would never persuade them to give up their cars, and all the campaigning in the world for better public transport wouldn’t change that. However, she added, brightening up, what we could do was persuade everyone to give up eating meat. That was much more realistically achievable and would be the best thing we could do for the climate. I didn’t think I agreed, but couldn’t muster any more coherent arguments than that I personally found the idea of changing my travel habits easier and less intrusive than my eating patterns. As she pressed a Vegan Society leaflet on me, I came to two decisions: that I would wait until I was in the tube to eat the pork pie I had in my packed lunch, and that this food argument needed looking into. This book, after many changes of direction along the way, is the result.
Thanks are due to many people: to everyone who took time out of their day to let me come and ask them questions; to Charlotte Cooper for posting about the project on her site and finding me more people to pester; to my comrades in Counterfire for support, engagement and political argument. I am particularly indebted to Chris Nineham for perceptive comments on an early draft and to Feyzi Ismail for encouragement and friendship. Angela Graham-Leigh generously put aside our political differences for long enough to proof-read and was glutton enough for punishment to offer to do it twice. Lastly, without Dominic Alexander’s insights, support and belief in the project this book would never have been started, let alone finished. In gratitude for his love and comradeship, it is dedicated to him.