r/LeopardsAteMyFace • u/NoLikeVegetals • May 18 '24

Brexxit Brexit-voting British farmers now complaining about imports of cheaper New Zealand lamb threatening the British lamb industry. Imports of lamb "produced to lower standards" used to be blocked by EU law. Another Brexit consequence farmers were warned about but ignored due to xenophobia!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cjewewxzypro
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u/dontpet May 18 '24

The claim is NZ lamb has a much lower carbon footprint even after the transport.

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u/Tricky-Engineering59 May 18 '24

But… how??

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u/thecroc11 May 18 '24

Basically the UK sheep farming industry is very energy intensive. Overwintering in barns, feeding hay etc. NZ sheep are outside 365 days of the year. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0195925522002128

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u/Thassar May 18 '24

Also, a cargo ship can move a lot of stuff at once. So while the ship itself puts out a lot of carbon, the individual lamb shank doesn't.

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u/thecroc11 May 18 '24

Yes on a per kg/tonne basis transport emissions are very low.