We’re swamped with conflicting advice about food. Eat only plants? Cut dairy? Meat’s fine. Meat’s the enemy. What should we believe? Dr Pamela Mason has a reputation for common sense, and as the scientist who co-authored the book Sustainable Diets with Professor Tim Lang, she’s hugely respected in the field of food, nutrition and sustainability. If anyone can find a way through, it’s her.
When I speak to her, she’s at home in South Wales, a bean and vegetable stew simmering in the slow cooker. “It only took five minutes to make – it’s beans and peas from Hodmedod’s and carrots and onions from my local veg box,” she says.
Mason has her feet on the ground. She’s a public health nutritionist, who originally trained as a pharmacist and worked first as a community chemist in north Wales before a long career in writing and teaching pharmacy and nutrition, at the Centre for Alternative Technology and Cardiff University. Her science is firmly based in the real world where people work long hours, have small budgets, and their families have strong feelings about the food on the table.
“At the Welsh Real Food and Farming conference last week I was asked for pointers on a sustainable diet. I decided not to talk about fat, meat or vegetables. In the UK where many of us are overweight or obese, as a population we need first and foremost to eat less. That has really significant positive environmental impacts and will help reduce the healthcare bill. So that’s a win-win.”
She goes on: “Second, we also need to be wasting less. A lot of food waste in the UK lies at the door of the consumer. And thirdly, nutritionists have long said to eat a varied diet. What I’m saying is to eat a biodiverse diet. We’ve a lot more to learn about the effect of dietary variety on the gut microbiome but it seems to me that eating a biodiverse diet is potentially good for us.”
So what does she think about the calls for us all to turn vegan? “I get a bit distressed about meat versus veganism. I look for the similarities. It can be a very angry debate and it sets people against people. In the food system that’s not right. We all eat, and we all need to eat good food. I’ve great respect for people who eat vegan or vegetarian, and for people who eat meat. We all need to be eating good food, whatever we’re doing.”
If you’re looking for official guidance, Mason suggests that the NHS’ Eatwell Guide are a good place to start, and that if we all moved towards them it would not only be good for our health but also for the planet.
Livestock farming is another contentious issue at the moment, with a report by the Committee on Climate Change’s (CCC) stating the UK needs to reduce sheep and cattle by between a fifth and a half, something rejected by the National Farmers’ Union (NFU)’s own plan to achieve net zero emissions.
Mason is thoughtful. The UK, she notes, has a great climate and land for growing grass. “What bothers me is very intensive grain-fed meat, of which you see a lot in the United States, and intensive dairy, and we’re beginning to see intensive dairy in Bri