A Tory council campaign to get people to swap cow's milk for vegan alternatives such as oat or almond has prompted backlash from rural campaigners.
Gloucestershire Council, which oversees a population of over half a million people, launched the ‘Swaps in Seconds’ campaign which it claims could help reduce people's carbon footprints.
The campaign’s chief proposer, Councillor David Gray, cabinet member for environment, said it was about making small changes.
He said: "Dairy is one of the big producers of methane so our suggestion is every so often instead of having milk with your coffee, you have oat milk or soy."
Mr Gray added that this would make "a small difference in the overall impact of your lifestyle on the environment".
Other suggestions include swapping a new item to something second hand, turning electrical devices in your home off or on standby, switching to black coffee or tea or reducing sugar.
According to the council’s own website, Gloucestershire is a ‘predominantly agricultural county’ with the Vale of Gloucester ‘traditionally associated with dairy farming with pasture for beef plus orchards’.
The Countryside Alliance, which campaigns for rural businesses and farmers, described the move as an attack on freedom of choice and urged the council to drop the demand.
Tim Bonner, chief executive of the group, said it was 'astonishing' that the council would choose to prioritise a 'milk-snatching campaign' at a time when farmers felt pressure from inheritance tax changes.
"It is of no business of the council whatsoever what the public choose to consume and councils should get on with fixing the basics, not normalise anti-livestock farming tropes.
"I hope the council opt to engage with local dairy farmers and ditch this campaign as quickly as possible."
Local farmers have also expressed anger, with local dairy farmer, Jacob James, describing it as 'extremely frustrating'.
Speaking to the local BBC, he said: "Unfortunately emissions are a given no matter what route we go down, and we should be looking at getting the best bang for our buck in terms of the nutrients produced from those emissions.
"I think if we could look at thinking for ourselves, we can see that we have a plentiful supply of water here and also land that is best at growing grass.
"Grass is the primary driver of high-quality milk production and the cows actually fertilise their own land."
The row comes after 11 other local authorities including Cornwall, Portsmouth City, Suffolk and North Northamptonshire all rejected pushes towards compulsory veganism.
Instead, they backed a motion to support farmers by ensuring local authorities proactively source local, seasonal produce - explicitly including meat and dairy - at council events.
This motion, backed by the Countryside Alliance, also encourages residents to ‘shop locally’ and urges them to take advantage of ‘home-grown, affordable, nutritious food’, irrespective of dietary preference.
The campaign was launched after several other councils voted to ban meat and dairy from their menus, including Oxfordshire County Council, Cambridge City Council and Enfield Borough Council.
