Around a hundred people including mainly local farmers but also some climate change activists attended the recent North Devon Council meeting at Petroc College where a motion to encourage plant-based meals in preference to meat and dairy products was thrown out after a heated debate.

Cllr Ricky Knight (Green; Heanton Punchardon) had asked the council to turn to local producers for plant-based ingredients. Cllr Knight also wanted to ban advertising of meat and dairy products in spaces the council controls or influences, as these “promote harmful ways of eating.”

North Devon Councillors recently committed to supporting agriculture and the part it plays in the economy of North Devon at a special policy development committee meeting.

Cllr Knight said meat and dairy production is a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and global deforestation, and that reducing consumption of these foods is a key part of tackling the climate crisis as well as improving health. He claimed that 40 per cent of the UK’s most productive land is currently used for growing livestock feed.

As the authority’s lead member for climate and biodiversity, he said it was his remit to make sure the council reached net zero by 2030. He denied the motion was anti-farming and said it would not result in the “overnight collapse of meat and dairy farms”. Instead it was an incremental transition to sustainable healthy food production.

Supporting Cllr Knight, Cllr Mark Haworth-Booth (Landkey) said: “We all want to pass on our planet and our beloved countryside to our children in a similar or better condition but at present we are failing very badly in achieving this. What clearly feels extreme to some seems to me, given the crisis we are in, well worth discussing and perhaps adapting to suit North Devon’s rich farming culture.”

Councillors rejected moves to encourage plant-based meals after regarding it as “a slap in the face” to local farmers.