Letters to the editor - October 8

Residents in these areas are unable to receive commercial television news, current affairs, sporting events and advertising with SA content.

With Channel 7 and 10 switching their news broadcasts to Melbourne, Channel 9's 5.00pm news service is the only 100 per cent locally broadcast early news.

West Coasters receive their daily commercial news services from Brisbane on Channel 7, on Channel 9 from Sydney and our Channel 10 coverage is sourced from Melbourne, leaving only the ABC to provide minimal SA-based content in their nightly news service.

With the digital technology available today, residents have the right to know why in 2020, they are still missing out.

I am a meat eater and meat producer, so declare my conflict of interest.

I have read several articles lately on alternative meat, attended the NSW Farmers Alternative Meat Forum in Sydney earlier in the year and now happily read that "Lab meat has few Gen Z fans" (Stock Journal, September 10, 2020).

Alternative meat (both meat grown in a lab and plant-based 'meat') is a sham.

The producers sell these products on health and environmental claims that they cannot support.

For instance, they don't disclose where the soy in their product comes from, which would almost certainly come from overseas.

Not only is this not supporting Australian industry, the emissions from shipping soy aren't counted in the LCA (the life cycle analysis) on which they base their environmental claims. This was admitted in the forum, but it is completely contrary to their advertising and marketing.

The nutritionists at the forum were very doubtful about any health claims.

The ingredients put into plant-based meat are so heavily processed they can't claim the same health benefits as the original ingredient and the promoters simply haven't done studies on their own products.

Does chickpea extract have the same qualities as an actual chickpea? I suspect not.

I read Thomas King's "Meat Re-Imagined" study. All 50 or so pages of it.

The panel of reviewers should be embarrassed to have their names on it.

Mr King selectively compares third-world production systems and the farming of the 1950s to his own system in 2020 to make it look better. He selectively chose not to look at current industry statistics in first world systems (such as the low level emissions from modern intensive pork production).

The most entertaining statistic uselessly paraded is that grazing takes up 87 per cent of Australia's agricultural land.

As if we can grow crops on all of it!

Nick Hazell of v2 Foods tried to fool us at the forum. One slide in his presentation said the inputs were 100pc Australian. A few slides later he noted the product was largely soy-based. When asked about this, he said the soy was imported.

When asked how that could be if they were 100pc Australian, he said "Well, our goal is to be 100pc Australian". When asked if this was misleading and deceptive, he said he wasn't advertising. It was awkward.

I am glad Gen Z are not completely gullible and look forward to continuing to see these products discounted in the supermarkets as the expiry date approaches.

I wonder if they count the stuff the supermarkets throw out in their life cycle analysis and environmental claims?