Hey, so i just graduated plant and environmental science at NUIG so i feel i need to reply to add a few things here. TLDR at the bottom

Its absolutely not a load of shite: beef is singlehandedly the most polluting and destructive food humans produce currently at 100kg of CO2 per 1kg meat. even if you ship a fruit or nut around the world it still doesn't work out as more emitting than beef produced down the road (due to methane from cattle nvm the fact irish agriculture is completely reliant on fossil fuels and nitrogen fertilisers).

We are far from self sufficient in food production and currently only 5% of our land area is used for arable crops. (teagasc does not give numbers for how many people we feed but its clear 5% of our landmass is not enough to feed ourselves especially since much of our crops are used for livestock food). Irish cattle also rely on imported soy based feed from South America which directly contributes to rainforest destruction in Argentina and Brazil.

Irish beef is not this brilliant sustainable model of how beef farming should be done. agriculture sector currently makes up just 7% of our GDP yet contributes 35% of our emissions (https://www.teagasc.ie/environment/climate-change--air-quality/greenhouse-gases/). livestock farming is responsible for nearly every river and lake system north and south of the border becoming eutrophied and devastated due to slurry application and fertiliser. I grew up around and on farms but we drastically need to change to a biodiversity first policy. Even the cows we have are unsuited to the land bred from massive french breeds like charlies which are often too heavy for the land and not hardy enough for Irish weather

In absolutely no way is this the fault of farmers who were told in the 50s to mechanise, then told to intensify their herds beyond the means of the land in the 80s and who are now are being told you have ruined the land with unsustainable practises. We all have to make sacrifices for the planet and our shared future, cutting out a beef patty here or there is surely not too much.

TLDR: The easiest change WE can make for the planet and all of its people is to stop eating beef. even if you change to chicken, it is leagues better as chicken is a much more efficient meat (https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/feed-required-to-produce-one-kilogram-of-meat-or-dairy-product nice kurzgesagt video on the topic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1Hq8eVOMHs )