“The Future of Rural Land Use” conference to be held in London on 4 June 2009 is a chance to discuss the changes which need to take place in the countryside if catastrophic climate change is to be avoided. The Vegan-Organic Network has a rational and sustainable solution.
The Vegan-Organic Network is a registered charity working to promote stockfree organic agriculture throughout the world. Its members and supporters are farmers, market gardeners, growers and gardeners, not all of whom are vegans or even vegetarians. However, they are united in recognising the need for a fundamental restructuring of food production methods and land use and their importance for human well-being and social justice, for animal welfare and biodiversity and in the battle for environmental sustainability.
Already a third of the world’s cultivable land is used to grow cereal and soya to feed livestock, and 70% is used for actual grazing – figures that are constantly growing.’ (i) In the UK, livestock accounts for approximately 8% of UK greenhouse gas emissions and in the EU, about 13.5% of emissions are related to the consumption of livestock products’. (ii)
Contrast these statistics with the carbon footprint of Tolhurst Organics, a producer of stockfree organic vegetable boxes for 400 families in Berkshire and the first farm in the world to be awarded the Stockfree Organic Symbol. The farm’s annual carbon emissions have been calculated at around 8 tonnes (iii), which is the same as an average household in the UK. 45% of this is from electricity used in the production and distribution of the vegetables.
Using a closed system with no animal inputs on land considered ‘marginal’ by many, the farm ensures fertility through the use of careful rotation and green manures: a beacon of sustainability and optimum land use.
It is frequently stated that uplands and marginal land are only good for grazing and that if animals were taken out of the equation, jobs would disappear. Peter White, a trustee of the charity, thinks otherwise:
“People often don’t allow for human resourcefulness or creative thinking about what could happen. Upland animal farmers are struggling, but there are many future possiblities for ungrazed uplands (there are many sorts of 'upland' each with different possibilities). All these need people to live and work there. These possibilities include berries and nuts, standing and coppiced wood for building, biofuel and biochar. A common negative theme is that ungrazed lands will turn to scrub, become inaccessible to visitors etc. We don’t believe that such lands are going to turn into the Welsh equivalent of the Himalayas. The high tops, for example, may initially ‘turn to scrub’ but would then develop into visitor-friendly biodiverse permanent high forest.”
The Network is calling on the government to take sustainability seriously and to make funding available to support farmers and growers converting to stockfree organics.
For further information, see: www.veganorganic.net www.stockfreeorganic.net
-ENDS-
Notes to Editor
(1) Founded in 1996, the Vegan-Organic Network is an ambitious charity with an international network of active supporters. It aims to research and promote vegan-organic (stockfree) methods of agriculture and horticulture so that clean, green, cruelty-free food becomes widely available.
It publishes a magazine “Growing Green International” and advice leaflets. There is also a free advice service for members of the public, home growers, smallholders and farmers. The Network organises farm walks, allotment and garden visits and volunteer placements on stockfree holdings.
(2) VON’s stockfree organic standards inspected by the Soil Association are available for farmers and growers who wish to grow produce in the most ethical and environmentally-friendly way. The stockfree organic symbol is the consumer’s guarantee of “organic plus” food.
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Sally Ford – Press Officer
01584 872224
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3 June 2009 ref. S1013
Registered charity number 1080847
i. Ref. Global Warning: Climate change and Farm Animal Welfare, CIWF 2007 – and – Steinfield F et al., Livestock’s Long Shadow …. Rome 2006
ii. Refs. Meat and Dairy Production & consumption, Food Climate Research Centre, May 2006. Environmental Impact of Products, EIPRO report, EU Joint Research Centre, May 2006
iii. University of Surrey audit
