“Veganic agriculture is an approach to growing plant foods that encompasses a respect for animals, the environment, and human health. Also known as “stockfree” “vegan organic” and “plant-based,” this is a form of agriculture that goes further than organic standards, by eliminating the use of products that are derived from confined animals and by encouraging the presence of wild native animals on the farmland.
Organic farmers are currently permitted to use animal products as fertilizers, such as manure, blood meal, bone meal, feather meal, and fish emulsion, but these animal products are often obtained from intensive farms and slaughterhouses. Not only does large-scale animal farming have a heavy impact on the environment, most modern farm animals are kept in highly confined conditions and are exposed to a variety of contaminants. Veganic agriculture breaks the link between livestock operations and the production of organic plant-foods by maintaining fertility using plant-based techniques.
Like organic agriculture, veganic doesn’t use the following products for growing plant foods:
– No pesticides (herbicides, insecticides, rodenticides, fungicides)
– No chemical fertilizers
– No genetically modified organisms (GMO)
In addition, veganic agriculture doesn’t use agricultural products that are derived from animals:
– No blood meal, bone meal, feather meal, fish meal, fish emulsion, shrimp compost
– No manure
Instead, veganic agriculture uses plant-based techniques for fertility:
– Vegetable compost
– Green manure
– Chipped branched wood
– Crop rotation
– And all other techniques that are sustainable and don’t rely on the exploitation of animals.
Beyond that, veganic agriculture seeks to demonstrate a more sustainable way to farm, with reduced dependence on fossil fuels. As much as possible, veganic farmers produce their sources of fertility directly on the farm. The veganic maxim is that by feeding the soil, the soil will feed the plants. By adding organic plant-based materials to the soil, this produces rich living soil that is bountiful with microorganisms, which in turn feed the plants and create long-term fertility. Veganic techniques aim to replenish biodiversity of plants and animals, and veganic growers are dedicated to the care of the wild ecology that surrounds and makes up their farmland.”
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Up until earth day 2015 I was supporting veganism as an answer to a cruelty issue, but I then came across the documentary entitled Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret. It changed the game for me, the serious impacts of animals agriculture on the environment alone is enough reason to make the switch to a plant-based diet. The prevalence of this revelation has only grown stronger as I see more and more articles coming out. More people speaking out on the devastation a meat-based diet is having on our planet.
From water usage to land usage, topsoil loss and desertification, deforestation, habitat loss and species die off, contributes to human starvation, water dead zones and climate change, with animals topping the list in greenhouse gas emissions at 51% of all emissions. There’s a lot of info out there, here’s just some of the ones I remember off the top of my head, please read through them all when you can. I strongly recommend you watch the documentary Cowspiracy, it’s a real eye opener.
Cowspiracy: Facts section of the website.
Meat tax could secure future of Swedish farms
How Factory Farms Are Negatively Affecting Every Person On The Plan
UN urges global move to meat and dairy free diet
Disturbing Aerial Photos Show What Killing Billions Of Animals For Meat Is Doing To The Environment
Drought brought to you by meat
Cheeseburgers, Climate Change and the California Drought
The problem with the Allan Savory’s grazing approach.
Why Tofu Consumption Is Not Responsible for Soy-Related Deforestation
What Paleo diets get wrong: We’re not evolved for meat, and our ancestors ate carbs
The World Hunger-Food Choice Connection: A Summary