OMNI
VEGETARIAN
ACTION NEWSLETTER #32, November 9, 2016
Edited
by Dick Bennett for a Culture of Peace, Justice, and Ecology
(#4 Feb. 12, 2014; #5 March 12, 2014;
#6 April 9, 2014; #7 May 14, 2014; #8, June 11, 2014; #9 July 9, 2014; #10,
August 11, 2014; #11 September 10, 2014; #12 October 8, 2014; #13, November 12,
2014; #14, December 10, 2014; #15, January 14, 2015; #16, Feb. 11, 2015; #17,
March 11, 2015; #18, April 8, 2015; #19, June 10, 2015; #20, August 12, 2015;
#21, September 9, 2015; #22, Oct. 14, 2015; #23, Nov. ; # 24,
Dec. 9, 2015; #25, Jan. 13, 2016; #26, Feb. 10, 2016; #27, April 13, 2016; #28,
May 11, 2016; #29 June 8, 2016; #30 Sept. 14, 2016, #31 Oct. 9,
2016). 1576 total OMNI Newsletter posts as of Apr 12, 2016. Thank you Marc.
All previous numbers of Vegetarian
Action are available on the Blog http://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/
Contents: Vegetarian
Action #32
Vegetarian
and Vegan Magazines
Vegetarian
Journal
VegNews
Media Review
Two New
Vegan Books
The
Vegan Way by Jackie Day
Health,
Nutrition
Fran Alexander, “What We Eat,” about John Ikerd’s Visit
11-2-16
Zaraska, Meathooked
Anderson and Kuhn,
What the Health!
Greger, How Not to
Die
Respect,
Protection of Animals, Empathy, Compassion
Five Farm Animals More Intelligent Than Your Pet Dog
Climate
Catastrophe: Mitigation, Adaptation
Center for Eco-Literacy
Climate
Catastrophe: Population Growth and
Consumption
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VEGNEWS MEDIA
REVIEWS
This magazine has several pages on media in each
number. The Nov./Dec. 2016 number has 3
pages on books, films, and online sources.
Books:
Taymer Mason, Caribbean
Vegan: Meat-Free, Egg-Free, Dairy-Free.
Authentic Island cuisine for every occasion.
Robin
Raven. Illustrated by Kara Schunk. Santa’s First Vegan Christmas. Picture
book for children in rhyme. After
embracing vegan, Santa “extends kindness to all animals.”
Elspeth Probyn. Eating the Ocean. The disastrous consequences of
commodification of our oceans.
MORE NEW VEGAN BOOKS
Greger (see Health)
Macmillan Launches The Vegan Way By Jackie Day Into Bookstores Nationwide by Jackie Day on October
29, 2016 in healthy, vegan, vegan cheese, vegan clothes
Seizing the opportunity to capture the ever
growing interest in all things vegan, St. Martin’s Press at Macmillan has
published The Vegan Way: 21 Days to a Happier, Healthier, Plant-Based
Lifestyle That Will Transform Your Home, Your Diet and You by Jackie Day (oh, hey! that’s me!).
This week’s launch follows the success of
Macmillan’s plant-based “How Not To Die” by Dr. Michael Greger – an instant New York
Times Best Seller.
As Jackie Day explains, the surge in interest
to publish vegan books is markedly evident across the book industry.
“There were so many wonderful publishers that
were anxious to have The Vegan Way that it went to auction! I’d love to assume
this is just a testament to my impeccable research and writing skills (heehee…)
but the truth is, I think the book industry is abundantly aware that people are
eager to learn how to live a happy, healthy life without harming themselves, or
others. Everyone is going vegan and publishers want to enjoy
the beautiful – unstoppable – wave.
Fresh out the gate, the book has already been
met with favorable reviews. Dr. Neal Barnard, President of Physicians
Committee for Responsible Medicine, says The Vegan Way is “the perfect starting
point” for those who want “to get on the path to long-lasting health and
wellness.”
Publishers
Weekly says The Vegan Way is “playful and upbeat” and “marvelously succeeds.” Even
those who have been vegan for years are writing that they’re still learning so
much more from the book. *toot* *toot* lol
And I hope you’ll enjoy it too!
Whether you’re vegan-curious for your health,
the animals, the environment, or a combo of all three – there’s something for
everyone in The Vegan Way.
From tips on cooking, cruelty-free fashion,
cleaners and cosmetics, to deciphering those lengthy ingredients lists… AND
from kicking that pesky dairy cheese habit to finding vegan booze, fast food,
and fun: The Vegan Way has it ALL.
Stay tuned for a variety of awesome book
launch festivities right here including super easy and tasty vegan recipes… and
a huge VeganEgg giveaway announcement to kick-off World Vegan Month on November
1st!
It doesn’t take a lot of money to become
vegan; it just takes the will to be kind. How awesome is that?
Health, Nutrition
Fran Alexander. “What We Eat. Healthy Eating Means
Knowing Where It Comes From.” NDAG (11-1-16). Fran invites readers to attend a lecture
(Nov. 2, 2016) by John Ikerd titled “Why Bigger Is Not Better,” a critical
analysis of the food industry. He is
author of Sustainable Capitalism: A
Matter of Common Sense, Essentials of Economic Sustainability, Crisis and
Opportunity, and Small Farms Are Real
Farms.
Meathooked: The
History and Science of Our 2.5-Million-Year Obsession with Meat. By Marta
Zaraska Basic Books, 2016.
Review from Perseus Academic.
One of the great
science and health revelations of our time is the danger posed by meat-eating. Every day, it seems, we are warned
about the harm producing and consuming meat can do to the environment and our
bodies. Many of us have tried to limit how much meat we consume, and many of us
have tried to give it up altogether. But it is not easy to resist the smoky,
cured, barbequed, and fried delights that tempt us. What makes us crave animal
protein, and what makes it so hard to give up? And if consuming meat is truly
unhealthy for human beings, why didn’t evolution turn us all into vegetarians
in the first place?
In Meathooked, science writer Marta Zaraska explores what she calls the “meat puzzle”: our love of meat, despite its harmful effects. Zaraska takes us on a witty tour of meat cultures around the world, stopping in India’s unusual steakhouses, animal sacrifices at temples in Benin, and labs in the Netherlands that grow meat in petri dishes. From the power of evolution to the influence of the meat lobby, and from our genetic makeup to the traditions of our foremothers, she reveals the interplay of forces that keep us hooked on animal protein.
A book for everyone from the diehard carnivore to the committed vegan, Meathooked illuminates one of the most enduring features of human civilization, ultimately shedding light on why meat-eating will continue to shape our bodies—and our world—into the foreseeable future.
In Meathooked, science writer Marta Zaraska explores what she calls the “meat puzzle”: our love of meat, despite its harmful effects. Zaraska takes us on a witty tour of meat cultures around the world, stopping in India’s unusual steakhouses, animal sacrifices at temples in Benin, and labs in the Netherlands that grow meat in petri dishes. From the power of evolution to the influence of the meat lobby, and from our genetic makeup to the traditions of our foremothers, she reveals the interplay of forces that keep us hooked on animal protein.
A book for everyone from the diehard carnivore to the committed vegan, Meathooked illuminates one of the most enduring features of human civilization, ultimately shedding light on why meat-eating will continue to shape our bodies—and our world—into the foreseeable future.
Marta Zaraska is a Polish-Canadian journalist whose
science writing has appeared in The Washington Post, Newsweek, Los Angeles Times, Scientific American, and New Scientist, among others. Zaraska divides her time
between France and the United States.
Meathooked
Google Search, 10-27-16
www.theglobeandmail.com
› ... › Books › Book Reviews The
Globe and Mail
Feb 19, 2016 - Title Meathooked:
The History and Science of Our 2.5-Million-Year ... The Polish-Canadian
journalist Marta Zaraska's case against eating meat ...
https://www.newscientist.com/.../2075985-meathooked-ho...
New Scientist
Feb 3, 2016 - In Meathooked, Marta Zaraska takes on the task of unpicking why so many people – in the
West, especially – seem to be addicted to meat.
https://www.kirkusreviews.com/.../marta-zaraska/meathoo...Kirkus Reviews
Oct 28, 2015 - With an open mind, a vegetarian journalist
examines our “love affair with meat.” Zaraska cites
evidence that vegetarians live longer and familiar ...
May 19, 2016 - In Meathooked:
The History and Science of Our 2.5-Million-Year Obsession with Meat, science
writer Marta Zaraska does a great job of ...
Cowspiracy Film Makers Announce NEW film: What the Health!
Kip Anderson and Keegan Kuhn,
the talented and passionate men behind the groundbreaking documentary Cowspiracy have just announced their
next film: What the Health! They’ve been working on it for the past year, and have
finally announced the project on indiegogo and surpassed their initial funding goals in less
than 24 hours! THAT’s how much folks want informative films such as this to
be made.
The
film makers describe it as: “a
combination of Cowspiracy and Forks Over
Knives on steroids.”
It’s a “ground breaking feature length documentary that
follows the exciting journey of an intrepid filmmaker, Kip Andersen, as he
uncovers the impacts of highly processed industrial animal foods on our
personal health and greater community, and explores why leading
health organizations continue to promote the industry despite countless
medical studies and research showing deleterious effects of these
products.”
I’m so excited to see this film! It’s about time the general
public knows what’s going on behind the closed doors of a health industry that
profits from disease, and prefers to push pills rather than promote a healthy
diet.
I’ll be sure to update everyone with more information on the
new film as I get it. (Be sure to sign up for the My Vegan Journal Newsletter.) In the meantime, if you haven’t seen Cowspiracy yet, you’re in luck – because it’s super easy to view.
With Leonardo DiCaprio on board as an executive producer, it’s now streaming on Netflix. Start the popcorn, grab a blankie, and cue it on up!
Hurray
for great films that inspire folks into action to create a better world for
all!
ANDERSON AND KUHN, WHAT THE HEALTH!, Google Search, 10-27-16
directory.trihealth.com/.../brian-kuhn-general_surgery-vascular_surgery-...
Motivated by the immediate results vascular
surgeries offer, Dr. Kuhn works ... is to help each patient also
get the most out of life through improved vascular health. ... MD practices Vascular Surgery and General Surgery in Anderson, Hillsboro, ...
kimberlysnyder.com/.../what-the-health-with-keegan-kuhn-oral-health-1...
Feb 29, 2016 - What The Health! with Keegan Kuhn & Oral Health 101 [BIO Podcast: ... who worked with Kip Anderson, a guest we have had previously on our ...
www.nationalobserver.com/.../dicaprio-backed-cowspiracy-directors-fin...
Feb 8, 2016 - Kip Andersen and Keegan Kuhn's film, Cowspiracy, could have ended ... next film, which
will look at the health consequences of eating meat.
vegnews.com/articles/page.do?pageId=7490&catId=1
Feb 15, 2016 - Cowspiracy filmmakers Kip Andersen and Keegan Kuhn rose $132,608
via crowd-funding platform Indiegogo (246 percent more than their ...
https://meatonomics.com/.../an-exclusive-interview-with-cowspiracy-film...
Oct 2, 2014 - An Exclusive Interview With “Cowspiracy” Filmmakers Kip Andersen .... inhabitants of the ocean, nor the overall health of the ocean it seems.
https://newint.org/.../cowspiracy-documentary-vegan...
1.
New Internationalist
Sep 24, 2015 - Cowspiracy's unique selling point is Anderson himself. .... Because Andersen and Kuhn create false villains in the fight
against climate change. ... Is it possible that we subordinate
environmental health to our own selfish ...
responsibleeatingandliving.com/.../keegan-kuhn-kip-andersen-cowspirac...
All we want to do is make this world a
beautiful delicious place with healthy,
... We're going to now talk to Keegan Kuhn and Kip Andersen, the co-directors of a ...
Also see VegNews
interview of Kuhn in the Nov./Dec. 2016 number p. 81. Kuhn: This film “reveals how damaging
animal-based diets can be to our health and why some of the largest health
organizations are failing to address it.”
HOW NOT TO DIE,
an instant New York Times Best Seller
by
Michael Greger, MD.
The
vast majority of premature deaths can be prevented through simple changes in
diet and lifestyle. In How Not to Die, Dr. Michael Greger, the
internationally-recognized lecturer, physician, and founder of
NutritionFacts.org, examines the fifteen top causes of death in America—heart
disease, various cancers, diabetes, Parkinson’s, high blood pressure, and
more—and explains how nutritional and lifestyle interventions can sometimes
trump prescription pills and other pharmaceutical and surgical approaches,
freeing us to live healthier lives.
The
simple truth is that most doctors are good at treating acute illnesses but bad
at preventing chronic disease. The 15 leading causes of death claim the lives
of 1.6 million Americans annually. This doesn’t have to be the case. By
following Dr. Greger’s advice, all of it backed up by peer-reviewed scientific
evidence, you will learn which foods to eat and which lifestyle changes to make
to live longer.
History
of prostate cancer in your family? Put down that glass of milk and add flaxseed
to your diet. Have high blood pressure? Hibiscus tea can work better than a
leading hypertensive drug—and without the side effects. What about liver
disease? Drinking coffee can reduce liver inflammation. Battling breast cancer?
Consuming soy is associated with prolonged survival. Worried about heart
disease (our #1 killer)? Switch to a whole-food, plant-based diet, which has
been repeatedly shown not just to help prevent the disease, but arrest and even
reverse it.
In
addition to showing what to eat to help prevent the top 15 causes of
death, How Not to Die includes Dr. Greger’s Daily Dozen—a
checklist of the foods we should try to consume every day. Full of practical,
actionable advice and surprising, cutting edge nutritional science, these
doctor’s orders are just what we need to live longer, healthier lives.
All
proceeds Dr. Greger receives from all book sales are donated to the 501c3 nonprofit charity NutritionFacts.org.
Respecting, Protecting Animals, Empathy, Compassion
for Animals
FIVE FARM ANIMALS THAT ARE PROBABLY SMARTER
THAN YOUR DOG by Anna Vallery
http://www.onegreenplanet.org/animalsandnature/farm-animals-that-are-probably-smarter-than-your-dog/
If you knew that
farm animals were as intelligent as your children or pets, would
you stop eating meat? If you answered “yes,” then
it might be time to do so.
From pigs to cows, sheep to chickens, farm animals are all much
smarter than we’ve ever given them credit for. Pigs learn their names and can
do tricks like a dog. Cows, goats, and chickens all have incredibly complex
social constructs, and they have best friends just like we do.
These are all amazing, sentient beings, yet, because we think of
them as commodities, they are never afforded the respect or care that they
deserve. Thinking that farm animals are in some way different than our cats and
dogs is a cultural construction that allows us to rationalize mass-producing
and slaughtering these animals for food. However, when we take a step back and
learn how intelligent these creatures really are, suddenly we can begin to
break down our preconceptions and see farm animals as someones not somethings.
1. Pigs
More and more, people are waking up to the fact that pigs are highly intelligent. These
lovable animals are one of only a few species that can recognize
themselves in a mirror. The mirror recognition test measures how
self-aware an animal can be. Typically, this test is done by
letting an animal look at the mirror. You then put a red dot or some other
marker on the animal’s face that was not there before. If they try to remove
the dot after looking in the mirror, you can be sure they know it is them
looking back from that devilishly handsome reflection. Human children don’t pass this test until
around age two! Dogs and cats have yet to
pass the test.
Researchers at the University of Cambridge found that not only
do pigs recognize themselves, but they also show an understanding of how mirrors work, and
can use the reflections to find food.
As if that wasn’t enough to convince you that
pigs are incredible intelligent, they are also known
to play games (in exchange for a delicious treat). Pigs like to play with
toys, such a balls, and are prone to getting bored if they aren’t provided with
enough stimulation.
2. Cows
Cows have extremely good memories. It has been found that they not
only recognize faces, but they will remember faces even after a long period of
time. Cows also remember where to find the best grazing spots and directions to
their favorite watering hole.
Perhaps it is this great memory that makes them the
ideal best friend. Cows form strong bond and friendships with other cows and
will even select a “cow clique,” and hang out with only their best friends.
And as if the cow cliques weren’t enough, cows even have a social hierarchy among
the members of their herd. There is typically one cow who is the “boss” and
dictates the behavior of her followers. If a cow doesn’t want to listen to this
head cow, they are isolated from the herd (just like high school). And when a
new cow is introduced to the herd, she has to network and build
relationships with other members of the herd before she is fully accepted.
3. Chickens
Chickens have proven that they aren’t necessarily
“bird-brained.” Like pigs, chickens can learn to do puzzles and play games.
While we might not think of chickens as being especially
affectionate animals, this is far from true. Chickens are amazing mothersand take care of their babies
long before they have hatched. It has been found that they “talk” and “purr” to
the eggs during incubation. When the chicks hatch, hens are even more loving.
They defend their babies form predators, show empathy for their chicks, and teach
their young everything they need to know.
All the clucking and purring mom did to the eggs was actually
the beginning of her lessons. When chicks are hatched, moms continue to teach
them all the ways of the chicken. They teach them what is safe to eat and what
to avoid. They also teach them about the social hierarchy, or pecking order.
Baby chicks are pretty brilliant right from the beginning. They
are known to show object permanence, the ability to understand
an object exists, even when they can’t see it. Chicks develop this ability when
they are around two days old, while it take human babies six months to learn
this skill.
4. Sheep
Sheep have gained he reputation of being followers who don’t ask
questions. They are considered one of the less intelligent species in the farm
world. This, however, is just not true!
One example of their amazing intelligence is that sheep
are capable of recognizing all kinds of faces.
They recognize sheep in their flock and are aware when these sheep are missing.
They can recognize “bully” sheep, and get distressed when they come around.
These sheep can even recognize the person who cares for them and the sheepdog
that herds them! If the appearance of another individual is altered, the sheep
have no problem still identifying who it is, and they can keep track of
over 50 different sheep faces!
If you make a sheep mad, chances are they are going to remember
you and that event for over two years! Talk about a grudge.
5. Goats
Finally, we have our goats. Goats never cease to make us smile
with their sheer enthusiasm for life. It turns out that goats aren’t only
adorable, but they are incredibly good at problem solving. Researchers from
Queen Mary University of London and the Institute of Agricultural Science in Switzerland
always suspected that there was more to goats than meets the eye and found
that goats are excellent at puzzles.
These researchers presented goats with a puzzle, originally
intended for primates, and placed food inside a box that can only be reached by
solving the puzzle. The goats had to use their teeth to pull on a rope to activate a lever, and then
lift the lever up with their muzzle. If they were able to do this correctly,
out came a glorious snack. When the goats were given the challenge again ten
months later, they did even better!
They’re determination plus aptitude for challenges allows them
to apply these problem solving skills to help them get to food other animals
wouldn’t be able to reach. Goats in Morocco, for example, are known to climb
trees to reach the tastiest branches.
Reconsidering How We Think About Farm Animals
People love their dogs and cats, most want to treat their pets
with the kindness and respect they truly deserve. Farm animals, unfortunately,
rarely get treated in this manner. Though they have proven to be just as smart,
adorable and loving as their dog and cat counterparts, they are still
categorized as a “commodity.” The more we learn about these farm animals and
how similar they are to the animals we bring into our homes, the more we want
to change the situation we place them in.
Once we acknowledge how amazing these animals truly are, it
becomes harder to justify the ways we abuse them. While it might be
uncomfortable to challenge the idea that farm animals are food, when we know
what we do about their intelligence and abilities, don’t we owe it them to
share the truth?
Climate Catastrophe: Mitigation, Adaptation
INDUSTRIAL
AGRICULTURE, AGROECOLOGY, AND CLIMATE CHANGE https://www.ecoliteracy.org/article/industrial-agriculture-agroecology-and-climate-change
Contrasting practices that exacerbate climate disruption with
those that build resilience and support health.
Today it is becoming more and more evident
that the major problems of our time — energy, the environment, climate change,
food security, financial security — cannot be understood in isolation.
They are systemic problems, which means that
they are all interconnected and interdependent, and they require corresponding
systemic solutions. To put it in another way, systemic problems have harmful
consequences in several different areas, while systemic solutions solve
problems in several of those areas. In this essay, I shall illustrate this
important insight with the example of food systems and their
causal connections with climate change.
Climate science is now an established
scientific field, and its basic findings are well known. When sunlight warms
the surface of the Earth, a large portion of the reflected thermal radiation is
absorbed by greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. In the early history of the
planet, this "greenhouse effect" created the protective envelope in
which life was able to unfold, but since the Industrial Revolution, human
activities have generated excessive greenhouse gas emissions. Thus, excessive
amounts of heat have been trapped by the greenhouse effect, resulting in the
global warming of the Earth's atmosphere beyond safe levels. Warmer air means
that there is more energy and more moisture in the atmosphere, which can lead
to a wide variety of consequences — floods, tornados, and hurricanes; but also
draughts, heat waves, and wildfires. All of these consequences are threats to
global food security.
Industrial agriculture
The links between industrial agriculture and
climate change are twofold. On the one hand, industrially produced food systems
are energy-intensive and fossil-fuel based, and thus contribute significantly
to climate change. On the other hand, the crops grown in the genetically
homogeneous monocultures that are typical of chemical farming are not resilient
to the climate extremes that are becoming more frequent and more violent.
Industrial agriculture originated in the 1960s
when petrochemical companies introduced new methods of intense chemical
farming. For the farmers the immediate effect was a spectacular improvement in
agricultural production, and the new era was hailed as the "Green
Revolution." But a few decades later, the dark side of chemical
agriculture became painfully evident.
It is well known today that the Green
Revolution has helped neither farmers, nor the land, nor the consumers. The
massive use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides changed the whole fabric of
agriculture and farming, as the agrochemical industry persuaded farmers that
they could make more money by planting large fields with a single highly
profitable crop and by controlling weeds and pests with chemicals. This
practice of single-crop monoculture entailed high risks of large acreages being
destroyed by a single pest, and it also seriously affected the health of farm
workers and people living in agricultural areas.
With the new chemicals, farming became
mechanized and energy-intensive, favoring large corporate farmers with
sufficient capital, and forcing most of the traditional single-family farmers
to abandon their land. All over the world, large numbers of people left rural
areas and joined the masses of urban unemployed as victims of the Green
Revolution.
The long-term effects of excessive chemical
farming have been disastrous for the health of the soil and for human health,
for our social relations, and for the natural environment. As the same crops
were planted and fertilized synthetically year after year, the balance of the
ecological processes in the soil was disrupted; the amount of organic matter
diminished, and with it the soil’s ability to retain moisture. The resulting
changes in soil texture entailed a multitude of interrelated harmful
consequences — loss of humus, dry and sterile soil, wind and water erosion, and
so on.
The ecological imbalance caused by
monocultures and excessive use of chemicals also resulted in enormous increases
in pests and crop diseases, which farmers countered by spraying ever-larger
doses of pesticides in vicious cycles of depletion and destruction. The hazards
for human health increased accordingly as more and more toxic chemicals seeped
through the soil, contaminated the water table, and showed up in our food.
In recent years, the disastrous effects of
climate change have revealed another set of severe limitations of industrial
agriculture. As Miguel Altieri and his colleagues at SOCLA (the Sociedad
Cientifica Latinoamericana de Agroecologia) point out in a recent report,
the Green Revolution was launched under the assumptions that abundant water and
cheap energy from fossil fuels would always be available, and that the climate
would be stable. None of these assumptions are valid today. The key ingredients
of industrial agriculture — agrochemicals, as well as fuel-based mechanization
and irrigation — are derived entirely from dwindling and ever more expensive
fossil fuels; water tables are falling; and increasingly frequent and violent
climate catastrophes wreak havoc with the genetically homogeneous monocultures
that now cover 80 percent of global arable land. Moreover, the practices of
industrial agriculture contribute about 25 to 30 percent to global greenhouse
gas emissions, further accelerating climate change.
Our fossil-fuel based industrial agriculture
contributes to greenhouse-gas emissions in several distinct ways: directly
through the fuel burnt by agricultural machinery, during food processing, and
by transporting the average ounce of food over a thousand miles "from the
farm to the table"; indirectly in the manufacture of its synthetic inputs,
e.g. of nitrogen fertilizer from nitrogen and natural gas; and finally by
breaking down the organic matter in the soil into carbon dioxide (during
large-scale tillage and as a consequence of excessive synthetic inputs), which
is released into the atmosphere as a greenhouse gas. In addition, massive
amounts of methane (a greenhouse gas many times more potent than CO2) are
released during large-scale industrial cattle ranching.
The degrading of healthy organic soil by
chemical fertilizers and pesticides increases the soil's vulnerability to
drought by reducing its capacity to capture water and keep it available for
crops. A further devastating effect of the over-fertilization that is typical
of current chemical farming practices is the nutritional overload in our
waterways, caused by runoffs of agricultural nitrates and phosphates, which
lead to oxygen depletion in rivers and to so-called "dead zones" in
the oceans, which are no longer inhabitable by most aquatic life.
From a systemic point of view, it is evident
that a system of agriculture that is highly centralized, energy-intensive,
excessively chemical, and totally dependent on fossil fuels; a system,
moreover, that creates serious health hazards for farm workers and consumers,
and is unable to cope with increasing climate disasters; cannot be sustained in
the long run.
Agroecology: a sustainable alternative
Fortunately, there is a viable and sustainable
alternative to industrial agriculture. It consists of a variety of agricultural
techniques, often based on traditional practices, that have recently emerged
around the world, and have greatly expanded over the last two decades. With
these techniques, healthy organic food is grown in decentralized,
community-oriented, energy-efficient, and sustainable ways. The ecologically
oriented farming techniques are known variously as "organic farming,"
"permaculture," or "sustainable agriculture." In recent
years, the term "agroecology" has increasingly been used as a
unifying term, referring to both the scientific basis and the practice of an
agriculture based on ecological principles.
When farmers grow crops organically, they use
technologies based on ecological knowledge rather than chemistry or genetic
engineering to increase yields, control pests, and build soil fertility. They
plant a variety of crops, rotating them so that insects that are attracted to
one crop will disappear with the next. They know that it is unwise to eradicate
pests completely, because this would also eliminate the natural predators that
keep pests in balance in a healthy ecosystem. Instead of chemical fertilizers,
these farmers enrich their fields with manure and tilled-in crop residue, thus
returning organic matter to the soil to reenter the biological cycle.
Organic farming is sustainable because it
embodies ecological principles that have been tested by evolution for billions
of years. Organic farmers know that a fertile soil is a living soil containing
billions of living organisms in every cubic centimeter. It is a complex
ecosystem in which the substances that are essential to life move in cycles
from plants to animals, to manure, to soil bacteria, and back to plants. Solar
energy is the natural fuel that drives these ecological cycles, and living
organisms of all sizes are necessary to sustain the whole system and keep it in
balance.
A key principle of agroecology is the
diversification of farming systems. Mixtures of crop varieties are grown
through intercropping (growing two or more crops in proximity), agroforestry
(combining trees and shrubs with crops), and other techniques. Livestock is integrated
into farms to support the ecosystems above the ground and in the soil. All
these practices are labor-intensive and community-oriented, reducing poverty
and social exclusion. In other words, agroecology is able to raise agricultural
productivity in ways that are economically viable, environmentally benign, and
socially uplifting.
Of critical importance for the future of
agriculture is the observation that resilience to extreme climate events is
closely linked to agricultural biodiversity, which is a key characteristic of
agroecology. In recent years, several surveys conducted after major climate
disasters — e.g., Hurricane Mitch in Central America (1998) and Hurricane Ike
in Cuba (2008) — have shown that farms using agroecological practices suffered
less damage than neighboring conventionally farmed monocultures. Other studies
showed that diversified farming systems are able to adapt to and resist the
effects of severe droughts, exhibiting greater yield stability and smaller
decline of productivity than monocultures. When soil is farmed organically,
moreover, its carbon content increases, and thus organic farming contributes to
reducing the CO2 content of the atmosphere. In other words, agroecology not
only is more resistant to global warming than industrial agriculture; it also
helps stabilizing the climate, whereas industrial agriculture aggravates
climate change.
In the longest-running side-by-side comparison
of organic and chemical farming systems, the Rodale Institute found that 27
years of organic practices increased soil carbon by almost 30 percent, while
the fossil-fuel based systems showed no significant increase during the same
time period. Moreover, the Rodale trials showed that corn and soybean yields
from the organic systems matched the yields from conventional systems in normal
years and exceeded them by about 30 percent in drought years. The Rodale
Institute report concludes that its soil data "show conclusively
that...regenerative organic agricultural practices can be the most effective
currently available strategy for mitigating CO2 emissions." The report
estimates that globally organic agriculture could sequester nearly 40 percent
of current CO2 emissions. In other words, instead of being a major cause of
global warming, agriculture could be a major part of the solution.
There is now abundant evidence that
agroecology is a sound ecological alternative to the chemical and genetic
technologies of industrial agriculture. The first global assessment of
sustainable agricultural practices in the developing world was conducted by
agroecologist Jules Pretty and his colleagues in 2003. They documented clear
increases in food production over some 29 million hectares, with nearly 9
million households benefiting from increased food diversity and security. A
re-examination of the data in 2010, extending the survey to 37 million
hectares, showed that the average crop yield increase was 79 percent.
In the last two decades, the realization of
the contribution of peasant agriculture and of agroecology to food security
have gained worldwide attention. Two major international reports (by IAASTD,
the International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science, and Technology
for Development, in 2009, and by the UN Human Rights Council in 2011) state
that, in order to feed 9 billion people in 2050, we urgently need to adopt the
most efficient farming systems, and they recommend a fundamental shift toward
agroecology as a way to boost food production. Based on broad consultations
with scientists and extensive literature reviews, both reports contend that
small-scale farmers can double food production within 10 years in critical
regions by using agroecological methods already available.
From a systems point of view, it is evident
that agroecology is a systemic solution par excellence. If we changed from our
chemical, large-scale industrial agriculture to organic, community-oriented,
sustainable farming, this would contribute significantly to solving three of
our biggest problems. It would greatly reduce our energy dependence, because we
are now using one fifth of our fossil fuels to grow and process food. The
healthy, organically grown food would have a huge positive effect on public
health, because many chronic diseases — heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and so
on — are linked to our diet. And finally, organic farming would contribute
significantly to fighting climate change by drawing CO2 from the atmosphere and
locking it up in organic matter.
In recent years, the Rodale Institute in
Pennsylvania, Miguel Altieri's SOCLA in Latin America, and similar
organizations around the world have trained thousands of farmers, proving that
the shift from industrial agriculture to agroecological practices is not only
urgently needed, but is also practical and can be achieved without new
technologies or expensive investments. What we need now to scale up these
practices from thousands of successful local and regional projects to the
global level is political will and leadership.
Suggested further reading
Fritjof Capra and Pier Luigi Luisi, The
Systems View of Life: A Unifying Vision (Cambridge University Press,
2014); Chapter 18 ("Systemic Solutions").
Tim J. LaSalle and Paul Hepperly,
"Regenerative Organic Farming: A Solution to Global Warming," Rodale
Institute Report, 2008.
M. Altieri, C. Nicholls, F. Funes, and other
members of SOCLA, "The Scaling-up of Agroecology: Spreading the Hope for
Food Sovereignty and Resiliency," www.agroeco.org/socla, May 2012.
J.J. Pretty, J., J. Morrison and R. Hine,
"Reducing Food Poverty by Increasing Agricultural Sustainability in the
Development Countries," Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment,
95, 2003.
CLIMATE CATASTROPHE, POPULATION, CONSUMPTION, GROWTH, CARNIVORISM
Google Search, Nov. 5, 2016
https://www.theguardian.com
› Environment › Food
Mar 21, 2016 - Growing food for the world's burgeoning population is likely to send greenhouse ... Adhering to health
guidelines on meat consumption could cut global food-related ... gas
emissions, and therefore a major driver of climate change.” ..... If we keep eating meat, flying and wasting energy at current levels, then ...
https://www.theguardian.com
› Opinion › Farming
Nov 19, 2015 - If 2 billion people were wiped out by a catastrophe mid-century, the planet ... Population growth is outpaced by the growth in our consumption of ...
https://www.chathamhouse.org/.../20141203LivestockClimateChangeBail...
Dec 3, 2014 - their meat and dairy consumption for climate objectives. .... Figure 3: Top 10 countries by
forecast growth in beef, pork and chicken consumption, 2011–21. 0.0 .... with the largest livestock populations, only two – Australia and the EU .... below two degrees Celsius
and avoid catastrophic climate change.36.
e360.yale.edu/mobile/feature.msp?id=2140
Apr 13, 2009 - It's overconsumption, not population
growth, that is the
fundamental ... of our impact on climate but
also a surrogate for fossil fuel consumption.
.... flow from poor areas to rich areas will bring a disaster to our world. ...... You don't have to "live like
Ethiopians," but try living without driving a car, eating meat, ...
www.slate.com/.../meat_eating_and_climate_change_vegetarians_impact...
May 1, 2014 - As the population grows and eats more animal products, the
consequences for climate change, pollution, and land use could
be catastrophic. ... Attempts to reduce meat consumption usually focus on baby steps—Meatless ... Suppose everyone
in the world voluntarily stopped eating meat,
en masse. I know ...
https://www.scientificamerican.com/.../population-growth-climate-chang...
Dear EarthTalk: To
what extent does human population
growth impact global
... More people means more demand for oil, gas,
coal and other fuels mined or ...
www.forbes.com/.../eating-less-meat-is-worlds-best-chance-for-timely-cli...
Apr 28, 2012 - But the world's best chance for achieving
timely, disaster-averting climate change may actually be a vegetarian diet eating less meat,
... The human population is expected to grow by 35% between 2006
and 2050, while ... $100 billion — which they optimistically suggest means
there's much room for growth.
www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/population_and.../climate/
But unsustainable
human population growth can overwhelm those efforts, ... facing
us is continuing population growth and increasing global consumption of ...
Contents: OMNI Vegetarian Action Newsletter #31,
Wednesday, October 12, 2016
Health, Nutrition
Recalling
an older book: Christopher Cook. Big Business
and the Coming Food Crisis
Animal Rights and Protection,
Compassion for Sentient Creatures
The Dead Pit: Animal Deaths by Research
Farm/Food Animal Intelligence
Jainism/Ahimsa and Animal Rights
8 Million Other Animals
Alabaster, World Day for Farm
Animals
Climate Change and Industrial
Agriculture
Google Search
Google Search
Population, Climate Change, and Meat
Google Search
Chicken Industry Price Fixing
END VEGETARIAN ACTION #32, November 6, 2016
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