The vegan movement is big in Hollywood with numerous celebrities promoting a plant-based way of life, including Joaquin Phoenix who caused a sensation when he delivered a lengthy speech at the Oscars about the "injustice" of the meat and dairy industry.
The actor drew widespread applause for his plight, but also attracted unique criticism from the National Farmers’ Union (NFU), which claimed that celebrities promoting veganism are doing “enormous damage” to the mental health of farmers!
NFU president, Minette Batters, said that celebrities needed to be cautious as there were "real-life consequences for others," according to The Guardian. "Small family farms" were also getting hurt by bold statements made by celebrities about the farming industry, she explained.
In his speech, Phoenix said society had grown "disconnected from the natural world." As a result, humans were plundering the earth for its resources.
"We feel entitled to artificially inseminate a cow and steal her baby, even though her cries of anguish are unmistakable. Then we take her milk that’s intended for her calf and we put it in our coffee and our cereal," he said.
Batters said the vegan movement that has been promoted by celebrities, and gained traction across cultures, was not "wrong," but the line of comparisons often drawn between animal products and the tobacco industry was far-fetched.
"I remember the interview I did with Evan Davis on PM to talk about the government’s new food strategy and he said: 'Is eating meat the new smoking?' He compared us with the tobacco industry and you think, 'whoa, just think about all of this,'" Batters said. "It’s very polarized and it’s doing enormous damage to the mental health of livestock farmers."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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