Heres a red-hot take on red meat: Going vegan wont save the environment.

Livestock farmers are being unfairly demonized by vegans and environmental advocates, experts from the University of Edinburgh and Scotlands Rural College told their peers at a panel in London, the Telegraph reports.

The shocking stance comes despite the urging of hoards of climate scientists who say eating a plant-based diet is one of the best ways to curtail our current environmental crisis.

According to the Scottish scientists, meat production isnt the culprit of global warming in fact, breeders are producing cattle that are less harmful to the environment. Also, they argue, meat is critical for the development of children worldwide, and fewer livestock farms wouldnt necessarily mean more sustainable land use.

Often the argument is made that going vegan would minimize land use, and the modeling studies that have been done demonstrate that thats not the case, said Geoff Simm, director of Global Academy Agriculture and Food Security at Edinburgh. We feel that while livestock production has a range of economic, social and environmental costs and benefits, the costs have perhaps been receiving far more attention recently than some of the benefits.

A primary benefit of livestock production, according to Simm, is that even small amounts of animal-sourced food have a really important effect on the [cognitive and physical] development of children, thanks to the high concentration of protein and bioavailable micronutrients in meat.

Mike Coffey of Rural College slammed veganism as completely unnecessary.

If everybody went vegan, it would be devastating for the UK environment, he said. Animals bred for food help boost biodiversity.

Coffey points to research being done to develop genetically modified cows that would grow faster and eat less, and emit 30 percent less methane than conventional cows.

According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, the cultivation of animals such as cattle produces almost 1/3 of [all] emissions from the agriculture economic sector, which is responsible for 9% of the planets overall greenhouse gas output. Furthermore, they add that manure management on these farms accounts for nearly a fifth of the farm sectors greenhouse gas footprint.

Coffey hopes that farmers in the UK and around the world will soon have the option to invest in more efficient cattle.

By next year farmers will be able to select bulls whose [offspring] consume less feed for the amount of milk they produce, said Coffey. Where we go next is can we actually measure methane emissions from groups of animals?

Edinburgh University professor Andrea Wilson added that the environmental impact of veganism has not been scrutinized to the same degree.

We know a lot about the livestock sector because people have looked at it. We actually know very little about the vegan sector, she said. The danger is we demonize one and jump too quickly to the other.

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Veganism won't save the world from environmental ruin, researchers warn - New York Post