Warning about nutrition gap in animal diets if WWF advice is followed
Readers were drawn to a recent piece about the AIC taking WWF to task over a report.
The NGO proposed that livestock numbers be limted and cereals and oilseeds should be elimated from animal diets, with the organizaton adding that a rethink was needed around the animal feed model in the UK.
The WWF outlined a strategy for replacing animal feeds like soy and cereals with alternatives like grass, food by-products and insect meal, saying the way in which we currently produce much of our animal source food is inherently inefficient. “Rather than consuming the products of animal agriculture fed on crops that humans can eat, it would be more efficient, in terms of land use and inputs, for people to consume those crops directly.”
James McCulloch, head of feed at the AIC, the UK agrisupply industry’s trade association, argued that producing less livestock in the UK would just lead to increased imports of meat and dairy from Europe and further afield to meet market demand.
“We, the feed industry, respond to demand from our customers, the livestock producers; they respond to demand from their customers, food processors; and retailers put the products that consumers want to buy on the shelves. I’m not saying you can’t change any of that but to suggest that it is the feed industry’s job to solve this so-called issue…I don’t think it is."
According to McCulloch, eliminating cereals from animal diets would be problematic on a number of levels, creating a nutrition gap in animal diets as well as potentially threatening food security through short-term supply shortages.
“Animals need starch and fiber in their diet - which they currently get from cereals and other crops. When you look at alternative feed sources such as carbon capture single cell organisms and microalgae, they are very high in protein but contain very little starch and fiber, so we would have to make sure we were delivering on the nutritional requirements of animals,” he said.
Photo credit: GettyImages/knaufb
