Northern Ireland

Farming group complains over Translink vegan adds

A FARMING body has claimed that members are “outraged” after vegan adverts appeared on the side of Translink buses.

The Ulster Farmers' Union last night said the adverts “wrongly demonises the livestock industry to promote the vegan lifestyle”.

On one advert a picture of a cow is accompanied by the words “it’s not a personal choice when someone is killed - use plans, not animals” while another shows a cow and calf along with the words “Dairy takes babies from their mothers”.

UFU president Ivor Ferguson last night said members have been left feeling angry.

“Our members, many of whom rely on the transportation service of Translink in rural areas and whose children take their buses to school, are outraged by the vegan adverts and contacted us to express their concerns,” he said.

“A public service should be impartial on all matters but the vegan adverts on the Translink buses uses emotive language that singles out our local farmers and has the potential to do serious damage to our agriculture industry and the livelihood of our farming families.”

Mr Ferguson said locally farmed food is produced to high standards.

“Our produce is farmed to some of the highest environmental and animal welfare standards in the world so that consumers can enjoy quality food without worrying about what it contains or where it came from but Translink’s adverts dismisses the facts helping to perpetuate a negative narrative about eating meat and consuming dairy products,” he said.

The farming official added that the UFU has written to Translink about the adverts but “were unsatisfied by their response which reflected an inability to remove them”.

A spokeswoman for Translink last night said: “The contract for Translink’s on-bus advertising is operated by an external media specialist which manages third-party advertisements for our buses, bus shelters and property.

“All adverts meet Advertising Standards Authority requirements.”

The spokeswoman added: “We are very sympathetic to the pressures facing our local farming community and recognise the important role they have in our economy and rural communities.

“By carrying this advert, we are not taking a stance on the issue.

“We understand the campaign also ran on public transport in London.”