Press release

Whole Food Living editor Peter Barclay has hit out at last Friday’s (28 August) Seven Sharp TV programme which purported to promote the need for iron in our diets but was really just a promotion for meat industry body NZ Beef and Lamb.

In an opinion piece published on the magazine’s website, Barclay said vegans had every right to be upset by the programme’s content.

“It was far from balanced and endeavoured to make a joke of vegan eating by suggesting that an extraordinary 4kg of spinach would need to be consumed to match a good slab of steak,” he says.

“The item was extraordinarily misleading because of its advocacy for haem iron (found in animal tissue) drew an entirely unrealistic comparison with the consumption of plant-based iron.

“The part that angers me most is that no attempt was made to consult the likes of Evidence Based Eating New Zealand or Doctors for Nutrition. Had they done so, they would have received an explanation on why plant-based eating produces healthy iron outcomes for people following a vegan diet.”

Barclay says it’s high time presenters like the “laughable” Hillary Barry and Jeremy Wells got stuck in and focused down on the fact that New Zealanders have serious dietary issues. All of which are linked to our considerable consumption of dairy, red meat, processed meats, and low levels of fibre intake.

The full text of the Whole Food Living article can be read here.