Meat industry roasts BBC for ‘fake news’ vegan propaganda claiming that we’re eating less turkeys
- Outrage over BBC claim in cartoon film that consumption of turkeys has fallen
- The film even shows a cartoon turkey wearing a T-shirt with ‘I love vegans’ on
- Turkeys cheer when it is announced that ‘less of us have been gobbled this year’
- Association representing more than 200 meat companies complains to Ofcom
Meat industry chiefs have accused the BBC of including vegan propaganda in a short film – including a ‘baseless’ claim that turkey consumption has fallen.
The Association of Independent Meat Suppliers (AIMS) has complained to the broadcasting regulator Ofcom about the festive film, which depicts cartoon turkeys in T-shirts bearing the slogan ‘I love vegans’.
The #XmasLife film, fronted by chat show host Graham Norton, also shows animated turkeys cheering when it is announced that ‘less of us have been gobbled this year’.
The complaint comes as farmers, the meat industry and rural groups fight back against what they perceive to be a demonisation of meat eating and livestock farming by environmentalists and some parts of the media. A cartoon turkey is pictured wearing an ‘I love vegan’ T-shirt
But in a letter to BBC chief Lord Hall, AIMS chairman John Thorley wrote: ‘It is completely baseless for the BBC to be making a reported claim that less turkeys have been gobbled this year.’
Citing official figures from Defra and the Office for National Statistics, he said 14.8 million turkeys were slaughtered in 2018, up 3.5 per cent on the previous year. Figures for 2019 have not yet been compiled.
The minute-long film, being shown on BBC TV and online, also features a middle-aged man carving a nut roast.
A young woman at the festive gathering looks at her phone screen featuring messages such as #nutroastyum, #veganxmas and #soytotheworld.
Mr Thorley, whose organisation represents 250 abattoirs and meat companies, said: ‘The BBC always has a duty to be unbiased and the use of the #veganxmas to promote vegan messages fails to be impartial.’
AIMS spokesman Tony Goodger added the association was not opposed to veganism, but ‘was very concerned about the disproportionate amount of broadcast and media time devoted to pro-vegan stories without any balance’.
The complaint comes as farmers, the meat industry and rural groups fight back against what they perceive to be a demonisation of meat eating and livestock farming by environmentalists and some parts of the media.
Many are especially angry about the recent BBC1 documentary Meat: A Threat To Our Planet? which focused on intensive farming methods in South America without, they say, any distinction from the practices used in the UK.
The BBC said the ‘playful’ turkeys were in keeping with the spirit of the film, rather than an endorsement of a vegan lifestyle.
The Association of Independent Meat Suppliers (AIMS) has complained to the broadcasting regulator Ofcom about the festive film, which depicts cartoon turkeys in T-shirts bearing the slogan ‘I love vegans’. Turkeys are pictured on a farm above in a file photo