Corbyn appoints vegan as secretary for environment, food and rural affairs

[T.C.]

I guess every stick has two ends...

_http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/jeremy-corbyn-appoints-a-vegan-to-deal-with-britains-farmers-10500157.html

Jeremy Corbyn has appointed a vegan to be in charge of Labour's dealings with Britain's farmers as he announced who will serve in his shadow cabinet.

 

[Kisito]

I guess every stick has two ends...

_http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/jeremy-corbyn-appoints-a-vegan-to-deal-with-britains-farmers-10500157.html

Jeremy Corbyn has appointed a vegan to be in charge of Labour's dealings with Britain's farmers as he announced who will serve in his shadow cabinet.

This could be an excellent question for Cassiopaeans?

 

[unkl brws]

He also seems opposed to Scottish independence as he stated in an interview “I don’t think another referendum would be credible and I don’t think it is particularly likely." http://www.thecourier.co.uk/news/politics/video-jeremy-corbyn-says-no-to-a-second-independence-referendum-1.894717

 

[Mark]

Jeremy Corbyn has appointed a vegan to be in charge of Labour's dealings with Britain's farmers as he announced who will serve in his shadow cabinet.

That may become a very good thing. Vegans are typically very sensitive to the treatment of animals, so abusive factory farming/ranching might come under heavy scrutiny. And I would bet there's almost zero chance that a vegan would be able to put an end to meat eating, and almost zero change of putting a significant damper on it. Meat eaters would probably put an end to the vegan first.

 

[Niall]

I guess every stick has two ends...

_http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/jeremy-corbyn-appoints-a-vegan-to-deal-with-britains-farmers-10500157.html

Jeremy Corbyn has appointed a vegan to be in charge of Labour's dealings with Britain's farmers as he announced who will serve in his shadow cabinet.

This could be an excellent question for Cassiopaeans?

What question?

A word to the wise: don't be looking to Corbyn for 'sound government'. That's never going to happen. His value to us, like Varoufakis', is as a speaker of truth (with a fairly sizeable public platform) on at least some issues.

 

[Kisito]

I guess every stick has two ends...

_http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/jeremy-corbyn-appoints-a-vegan-to-deal-with-britains-farmers-10500157.html

Jeremy Corbyn has appointed a vegan to be in charge of Labour's dealings with Britain's farmers as he announced who will serve in his shadow cabinet.

This could be an excellent question for Cassiopaeans?

What question?

A word to the wise: don't be looking to Corbyn for 'sound government'. That's never going to happen. His value to us, like Varoufakis', is as a speaker of truth (with a fairly sizeable public platform) on at least some issues.

What are the intentions of Corbyn?
The fact that he is not a vegetarian bothers me, and I think as "m", this can stoper abusive factory farming. Perhaps is it supported by the food industry ...or perhaps that his intentions are to condition us to cereal agriculture as wheat and gluten. Tsipras made us believe a lot and he probably had bad intentions.

 

[Keyhole]

The fact that he is not a vegetarian bothers me, and I think as "m", this can stoper abusive factory farming. Perhaps is it supported by the food industry ...or perhaps that his intentions are to condition us to cereal agriculture as wheat and gluten. Tsipras made us believe a lot and he probably had bad intentions.

You may be thinking too much into this Kisito.

Have you considered the possibility that perhaps Corbyn just thought she was the best person for the job?

I personally think it is unlikely that Corbyn is even aware of the detrimental effects of agricultural grains, most people aren't. So best not to operate on any assumptions like this IMO.

added:

What are the intentions of Corbyn?

Who knows at this point... it would be difficult to say this early on. My impression is that his lifestyle and his previous choices are in-line with the words that he speaks, therefore he probably has genuine intentions to make a difference. Whether this is possible or not, we will have to wait and see. I think the best thing we can do is to simply observe events taking place in the coming times ahead.

 

[Mrs.Tigersoap]

The fact that he is not a vegetarian bothers me,

Why does it bother you?
Corbyn is a vegetarian, by the way.

 

[T.C.]

I guess every stick has two ends...

_http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/jeremy-corbyn-appoints-a-vegan-to-deal-with-britains-farmers-10500157.html

Jeremy Corbyn has appointed a vegan to be in charge of Labour's dealings with Britain's farmers as he announced who will serve in his shadow cabinet.

This could be an excellent question for Cassiopaeans?

What question?

A word to the wise: don't be looking to Corbyn for 'sound government'. That's never going to happen. His value to us, like Varoufakis', is as a speaker of truth (with a fairly sizeable public platform) on at least some issues.

What are the intentions of Corbyn?
The fact that he is not a vegetarian bothers me, and I think as "m", this can stoper abusive factory farming. Perhaps is it supported by the food industry ...or perhaps that his intentions are to condition us to cereal agriculture as wheat and gluten.

We've already been conditioned to cereal agriculture and dairy - irreversibly, in fact.

It just triggered a very strong negative reaction in me when I heard he's appointed a vegan to this position. Just total ignorance of health and nature. I think it's a statement.

Fair enough, there's the potential to raise awareness of CAFOs and animal welfare, etc. But after reading Lierre Keith's depictions and descriptions of vegan ideas and attitudes, a vegan in charge of UK farming is about the worst scenario you could get for the health of people, flora, fauna and the environment as a whole.

The idea of politicians being put in positions they don't have any knowledge about always infuriates me.

Tsipras made us believe a lot and he probably had bad intentions.

Based on my understanding of the Greece situation, that's not a conclusion I would have come to. What makes you think he had bad intentions? I think if he'd had bad intentions, the story of Greece would be very different right now and he'd still be in power.

 

[Peam]

What are the intentions of Corbyn?
The fact that he is not a vegetarian bothers me, and I think as "m", this can stoper abusive factory farming. Perhaps is it supported by the food industry ...or perhaps that his intentions are to condition us to cereal agriculture as wheat and gluten. Tsipras made us believe a lot and he probably had bad intentions.

As Mrs Tigersoap pointed out Corbyn is vegetarian. But lets not get carried away with this. Let's remember that Corbyn and Kerry McCarthy are in the shadow government, which means they will be in charge of nothing. Whether the labour government gets in at the 2020 election remains to be seen, but if they do get in, who knows, they could even get a bill passed to have cows eat grass instead of grains so there'd be more grains for their vegetarian friends.

It just triggered a very strong negative reaction in me when I heard he's appointed a vegan to this position. Just total ignorance of health and nature. I think it's a statement.

Fair enough, there's the potential to raise awareness of CAFOs and animal welfare, etc. But after reading Lierre Keith's depictions and descriptions of vegan ideas and attitudes, a vegan in charge of UK farming is about the worst scenario you could get for the health of people, flora, fauna and the environment as a whole.

The idea of politicians being put in positions they don't have any knowledge about always infuriates me.

As I said above, Kerry McCarthy is not in charge of UK farming. And I may be mistaken but when has any politician been put in a position that they have knowledge of. They usually get appointed to the position and then get advice and more or less get told what's best to do from the civil servants who run the departments.

 

[Kisito]

The fact that he is not a vegetarian bothers me,

Why does it bother you?
Corbyn is a vegetarian, by the way.

Ms. Tigersoap Hi, I think the translation has reversed the denial. "It does not bother me that it is vegetarian", this can slow the intensive agri-food industry.

The fact that he is not a vegetarian bothers me, and I think as "m", this can stoper abusive factory farming. Perhaps is it supported by the food industry ...or perhaps that his intentions are to condition us to cereal agriculture as wheat and gluten. Tsipras made us believe a lot and he probably had bad intentions.

You may be thinking too much into this Kisito.

Have you considered the possibility that perhaps Corbyn just thought she was the best person for the job?

I personally think it is unlikely that Corbyn is even aware of the detrimental effects of agricultural grains, most people aren't. So best not to operate on any assumptions like this IMO.

added:

What are the intentions of Corbyn?

Who knows at this point... it would be difficult to say this early on. My impression is that his lifestyle and his previous choices are in-line with the words that he speaks, therefore he probably has genuine intentions to make a difference. Whether this is possible or not, we will have to wait and see. I think the best thing we can do is to simply observe events taking place in the coming times ahead.

Yes sometimes I think too much, but I do not affirm belief, I say I'd like to know these intentions. And maybe yes, it's good for the job. That is why I am trying to say that this is perhaps a good thing that it is vegetarian. I agree that we must learn to wait and watch, but we can not just wait and oberver! Or maybe I'm being too rushed. Sorry if I did not make myself clear :)

 

[Kisito]

Tsipras made us believe a lot and he probably had bad intentions.

Based on my understanding of the Greece situation, that's not a conclusion I would have come to. What makes you think he had bad intentions? I think if he'd had bad intentions, the story of Greece would be very different right now and he'd still be in power.

I think Tsipras was there to channel the revolt, but the real revolutionaries like Varoufakis and his Syriza party are not with Tsipras. Tsipras asked the help of the opposition party and signed with the troika. This seems to be the reason why it is no longer in power. Maybe I'm wrong, but it also seemed to play a double game with Putin. With Putin it seemed to be only for photos and the opinion of his people and his party.

 

[Jenn]

It just triggered a very strong negative reaction in me when I heard he's appointed a vegan to this position. Just total ignorance of health and nature. I think it's a statement.
[...]
The idea of politicians being put in positions they don't have any knowledge about always infuriates me.

Maybe it would be good to try and find out why you had such a negative reaction to the fact she's vegan and Corbyn is vegetarian. To me it seems like there is some black and white thinking involved, "she is a vegan, so she is an OVERALL ignorant person therefore she won't do her job properly" I think only time will tell and 'the proof is in the pudding' so to speak. I think I can understand why you might find it frustrating but it seems like you're judging a person based on one aspect of them.

Fair enough, there's the potential to raise awareness of CAFOs and animal welfare, etc. But after reading Lierre Keith's depictions and descriptions of vegan ideas and attitudes, a vegan in charge of UK farming is about the worst scenario you could get for the health of people, flora, fauna and the environment as a whole.

Worse than a psychopath who doesn't care that they are destroying the environment and the people they are supplying food too? I think if alot of vegans/vegetarians knew/searched for the truth then they would probably be horrified, as alot of vegetarians care for the environment too (not all obviously)

 

[T.C.]

Maybe it would be good to try and find out why you had such a negative reaction to the fact she's vegan and Corbyn is vegetarian.

It's not a negative reaction to the fact that two people don't eat meat. I had a negative reaction to the fact that a vegan has been put in charge of Labour's farming policies. To me, that's like putting a fundamentalist Christian in charge at a university of Archaeology.

I think I can understand why you might find it frustrating but it seems like you're judging a person based on one aspect of them.

That the aspect is the fact that they would potentially be in charge of a national department affecting 65 million people, and that their personal choices indicate a dire lack of knowledge in said department, I don't think I overreacting.

Or am I?

Fair enough, there's the potential to raise awareness of CAFOs and animal welfare, etc. But after reading Lierre Keith's depictions and descriptions of vegan ideas and attitudes, a vegan in charge of UK farming is about the worst scenario you could get for the health of people, flora, fauna and the environment as a whole.

Worse than a psychopath who doesn't care that they are destroying the environment and the people they are supplying food too?

Point taken.

 

[Jenn]

That the aspect is the fact that they would potentially be in charge of a national department affecting 65 million people, and that their personal choices indicate a dire lack of knowledge in said department, I don't think I overreacting.

Or am I?

That's a fair point which I didn't grasp the importance of until you worded it like that. I've been looking around for articles and I know the guardian can be quite a dubious source but in this article http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/sep/16/vegan-shadow-agriculture-minister-jeremy-corbyn-kerry-mccarthy she is quoted as saying-

Describing her veganism as her own personal views, she went on to say: “In terms of Labour party policy, promoting animal welfare is something we have always done as is promoting sustainable farming. I’m personally happy working with farmers.”

So to me that seems like her personal views on eating meat won't be allowed to take forefront as she is just the minority, however animal welfare may be high priority.

The article went on to say- [quote author= guardian article]Not least of these is the environment – and while the tabloid press has had a field day with screeching headlines about her belief that beef farming is unsustainable, it has overlooked one hugely important fact. Methane emissions from animal agriculture are a massive factor in global warming (19% of total global greenhouse emissions).[/quote]