Mr Vince, the boss of Ecotricity, the green energy firm, is a vegan. He said tobacco-style regulation should control bacon sales, after warnings by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in 2015 that “processed meats” were a group-one carcinogen. Scientists said there was “sufficient” evidence that the foods caused cancer, in particular colon cancer. “The medical science is very clear that eating more plants and less animals is better for our health,” Mr Vince said. “Also we know, for example, bacon is a carcinogen and it is classed by the WHO as a class one carcinogen alongside tobacco. “Now look what we do with tobacco. We hide it behind roller shutter doors, we stick it in unbranded packages with pictures of diseased organs on the front. That’s how we deal with tobacco.
Previously,
Mr Vince, who owns the vegan football club Forest Green Rovers, called for the introduction of a red meat tax to help slow climate change.
He said red meat was “destructive” to the planet and human health, with the comments coming after Mr Sunak had promised in his Tory conference speech never to introduce new taxes to discourage meat-eating. https://readwise.io/reader/shared/01jd1pzzjhrattmh3sr71mbbgh
How is this the same, or different than what RFK Jr wants to implement in the US? In both cases, it seems that a few people are leveraging their wealth and influence to dictate other people's behaviour?
RFK has made the bold claim that he could significantly improve Americans' health within 2 years. Here, I wonder what the impact would be of introducing a meat tax and labeling bacon in the UK, how it would translate into consumer behaviour, and overall public health and environmental outcomes.
EDIT:
Reading this related article: https://readwise.io/reader/shared/01jd1kwssp0ba2bjys3p2rswby, this seems to be another example how solid science is being misused to pursue personal ideological goals. The article makes it clear that the issue is with processed foods. Mr Vince selectively puts focus on "(processed) meat", and he makes it clear he will not stop at your bacon, but also your meat. Then why not your eggs as well?