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Celebrity chef Anthony Worrall Thompson branded veganism a ‘fashionable bandwagon’ during a TV debate last week.
Worrall Thompson appeared on This Morning alongside entrepreneur and athlete Heather Mills to discuss the rise of the vegan movement during a segment titled Has Veganism Gone Too Far?
Vegan movement
While Worrall Thompson said there’s ‘absolutely nothing wrong with being a vegan’, he believes the majority of vegans will go back to eating animal products.
He also accused some vegans of ‘shoving it down [his] throat’.
“We should all be able to live on this planet, in each other’s company, doesn’t matter whether you’re a vegan or a meat eater. I know there’s this argument against cruelty to animals, nobody wants cruelty to animals, but good husbandry in farming – there is nothing wrong with.”
‘Vegan is healthier and more environmentally’
Heather Mills, who has been vegan for over 30 years, said she agreed with many of Worrall Thompson’s points, but added that switching to veganism is the best way to improve animal suffering, human health, and the environment.
Mills, who also helps Michelin Chefs struggling to create vegan dishes, said: “I don’t believe in extreme behavior that harms, or criticizes, or is cruel to anybody in any form. But you get it in non-vegans, you get it in all areas.
“Ultimately, the easiest way is to take someone’s hand, because it’s hypocritical to judge somebody when you haven’t been a vegan your whole life.”
Helping farmers
Mills also spoke about how she has been working with farmers to help them create an income from growing plant-based products like potatoes for potato starch and peas for protein on crop rotation – and save the British public billions in farming subsidies.
“I’m working with farmers, I’m very on the farmers’ side,” she said. “And farmers cost £3 billion a year to the taxpayer. The taxpayer buys a liter of milk, the farmer doesn’t get paid for it – supermarkets squeezes him down – they get 27p, we the taxpayer pay the difference. So it’s about choice.”
You can watch the clip on YouTube here
