Brexit may be indefinitely stalled after the EU parliament vote, but one thing moving full-speed ahead for the future British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is… a lot more tofu? That’s the news according to the Daily Mail, which is reporting that the once-proud carnivore is hurtling toward a fully vegan diet.
“For years, he’s been a rampant carnivore, admitting to indulging in late-night ‘binges of chorizo’ that have meant he has rarely weighed under 15st since his university days,” the Daily Mail reported on the Tory MP.
But Johnson’s 30-year-old girlfriend, environmentalist Carrie Symonds is possibly moving him toward a healthier and more environmentally-friendly diet. Symonds, a former communications director for the Conservative Party, has served as senior advisor to ocean conservation group Oceana.
The Daily Mail report that Johnson told a fellow MP that he is “toying with going vegan.” He explained: “I’m trying it out.”
In 2008, Johnson defended his meat-eating: “If they seriously believe that I am going to give up eating meat — in the hope of reducing the temperature of the planet — then they must be totally barmy,” he said.
A Post-Brexit Vegan Future?
Symonds’ influence appears to have changed his tune, but if Johnson does want Britain to secede from the EU, a self-sustaining diet may become more necessary than ever for the UK. And plants may hold the key to a Brexit future, according to recent research out of Harvard University.
According to the study, the UK could not only offset its CO2 emissions by some twelve years if it converted land used for raising livestock into forests, but a shift like that could also provide enough protein and calories for every person living in the UK. That could help drastically improve food security as it means fewer food imports would be necessary to sustain a post-Brexit UK. Currently, the UK imports 90 percent of its produce.
Johnson is likely finding the shift easier than ever as well as the vegan diet is on the rise in the UK. UK leading supermarket chain Tesco has not only added a successful line of vegan ready meals, but it has also begun shutting down meat, fish, and deli counters due to lack of demand.
“We’re making changes to our UK stores and head office to simplify what we do and how we do it,” Tesco chief executive Jason Tarry told Cornwall Live, “so we’re better able to meet the needs of our customers.”
