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Plant-based "milk" now accounts for 7% of sales in retailers, economist Ciaran Fitzgerald told the audience at Dairy Day. However, plant-based products are “twice the price and a fifth of the nutrition”.
“Milk is sold as a loss leader which devalues it,” Fitzgerald said, adding that the debate around dairy alternatives is a “huge issue” for retailers.
“What we need are pricing structures to favour the most environmentally friendly products being produced.”
Full facts
The Irish dairy sector accounts for 10% of the domestic economy, a lot more than the 0.3% in the GDP figure, which includes multinational companies trading through Ireland.
“Irish GDP is distorted by €100bn/year,” economist Ciaran Fitzgerald explained.
“Dairy growth has benefitted the economy. Dairy output value was €4.4bn last year, it accounts for €3.8bn of the overall spend in the economy and 60,000 jobs.”
Irish dairy emissions are the lowest in the EU, producing just over 1kg of carbon per kilo of milk. However, the same industry has the highest greenhouse gas emissions targets in the EU because of the size of the dairy industry in the economy and the historical industry structure.
Ireland accounts for just 4% of EU agricultural emissions.
Vegan nutrition is a myth, it is not a sustainable diet
“We never had coal and other industries that gave some countries credits when they signed up to climate change protocols. Irish grassland is a carbon sink. The energy sector is seeing a reduction in emissions based on price and a policy approach, Irish agriculture needs the same,” he said. “We must recognise that as the energy sector gets more efficient the dairy sector looks worse.”
Emissions
So what are the partial facts that need to be addressed? Fitzgerald says it is not necessarily the case that emissions are growing as production grows.
“Vegan nutrition is a myth, it is not a sustainable diet,” Fitzgerald said. “The population will grow by another 1bn by 2030 and can’t be fed without dairy.”
If the full facts are not touted in debates around the future of dairy, Fitzgerald warned that is the partial facts that will set the targets for the next decision on new targets for the industry.
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