Hungry for more

IT has become fashionable in recent years to sneer at the notion of red meat. Derided by vegetarians and with its benefits continually questioned even by carnivores as they run off in the direction of the latest food fad, it has sometimes appeared as if meats such as beef and lamb are having to fight for their space on the nation’s plates.

Yet, far from being forced on to the defensive, the red meat industry is actually thriving, making an annual £1.67bn contribution to the British economy, directly employing 96,000 people and indirectly supporting almost 800,000 other jobs. And with almost all those working for the industry being employed in rural areas, its economic value to Britain’s countryside is clearly incalculable.

However, despite this contribution – contained in the most authoritative examination yet of the industry, by analysts Matrix Evidence – there remains the potential for it to grow further, such is the growing global demand for protein.

In fact, given this insatiable appetite for red meat – and a Government which lives up to its word as a champion of British agriculture – the livestock industry’s future looks more appetising than it has done for a very long time.