Animals have always been a significant factor in human agriculture.The practice of Regenerative Farming, which includes ruminants like cows, sheep, goats, and/or pigs actually captures carbon in the soil and encourages the growth of grass, which increases oxygen emission. Joel Salatin and Michael Pollan have written books about this. Farming requires fertilizer. If sources of manure from animals are eliminated, it encourages the use of chemical fertilizers (and pesticides), which have had devastating effects on water quality, or requires human waste be used, which, unless carefully composted first, can have significant public health implications. Any meatless diet that includes dairy products like cheese ignores the reality that in order to produce milk, female animals must be bred and give birth. Half of the newborns will be males. Only one male is needed to fertilize an entire herd, and increasingly the use of artificial insemination means that farmers can impregnate their animals by way of a sperm bank rather than keep an ill-tempered bull or boar. But the male babies born to the herd or flock are superfluous. The economy of animal husbandry requires that after a reasonable amount of growth, the males need to be culled. A friend of mine who raises goats and a few pigs every year, calls the process "going off to freezer camp." And finally, a fully "plant-based" or vegan diet is completely deficient in Vitamin B12, only available in dietary form in animal products like meat, dairy, and eggs. B12 deficiency can have devastating effects on the nervous system unless avoided by careful supplementation by injection or a type of pill that dissolves under the tongue. To me, the answer is not that everyone should become a vegan, but become a more conscious omnivore, eating less meat, and supporting the growth of Regenerative agriculture by eating meat from animals raised using that type of farming. There are many such options where I live now, and I can completely avoid the meat section at the supermarket.
Brilliantly explained. I entirely agree. Only recently are we beginning to understand how important it is to return to the higher nutrient content of the soil of our grandparents' era with natural fertilising, and to value the contribution of a wide diversity of creatures, insects and flowers.
Hi Julia, great piece, and totally agree about pretend meat (although depressing news to me that making beer uses so much water - yet another pleasure blunted by ethical concerns!). I think there is a mistake in the quantities or conversion re the amount of water used to make beer, as 36 litres is not 190 pints. Fond regards. Adam
Shucks. You join regular Tabled maths editor Russell in spotting my frailty with numbers. It should be 76 US pints, which I will correct on the site. Thank you.
Animals have always been a significant factor in human agriculture.The practice of Regenerative Farming, which includes ruminants like cows, sheep, goats, and/or pigs actually captures carbon in the soil and encourages the growth of grass, which increases oxygen emission. Joel Salatin and Michael Pollan have written books about this. Farming requires fertilizer. If sources of manure from animals are eliminated, it encourages the use of chemical fertilizers (and pesticides), which have had devastating effects on water quality, or requires human waste be used, which, unless carefully composted first, can have significant public health implications. Any meatless diet that includes dairy products like cheese ignores the reality that in order to produce milk, female animals must be bred and give birth. Half of the newborns will be males. Only one male is needed to fertilize an entire herd, and increasingly the use of artificial insemination means that farmers can impregnate their animals by way of a sperm bank rather than keep an ill-tempered bull or boar. But the male babies born to the herd or flock are superfluous. The economy of animal husbandry requires that after a reasonable amount of growth, the males need to be culled. A friend of mine who raises goats and a few pigs every year, calls the process "going off to freezer camp." And finally, a fully "plant-based" or vegan diet is completely deficient in Vitamin B12, only available in dietary form in animal products like meat, dairy, and eggs. B12 deficiency can have devastating effects on the nervous system unless avoided by careful supplementation by injection or a type of pill that dissolves under the tongue. To me, the answer is not that everyone should become a vegan, but become a more conscious omnivore, eating less meat, and supporting the growth of Regenerative agriculture by eating meat from animals raised using that type of farming. There are many such options where I live now, and I can completely avoid the meat section at the supermarket.
Brilliantly explained. I entirely agree. Only recently are we beginning to understand how important it is to return to the higher nutrient content of the soil of our grandparents' era with natural fertilising, and to value the contribution of a wide diversity of creatures, insects and flowers.
Hi Julia, great piece, and totally agree about pretend meat (although depressing news to me that making beer uses so much water - yet another pleasure blunted by ethical concerns!). I think there is a mistake in the quantities or conversion re the amount of water used to make beer, as 36 litres is not 190 pints. Fond regards. Adam
Shucks. You join regular Tabled maths editor Russell in spotting my frailty with numbers. It should be 76 US pints, which I will correct on the site. Thank you.