A Case for Animal Agriculture: How the Vegan Movement leads to animal cruelty and climate change

“Behind every dish there is death”  Alex Atala

 

I am a farmer. I grow vegetables and for more than 25 years I only ate vegetables and processed foods made from only vegetables. I wasn’t vegan, I love pizza and it just doesn’t work without cheese. I chose not to wear leather or fur and instead turned to cotton and synthetic materials believing this to protect animals.  I considered myself an animal rights activist and fought against vivisection, factory farming and the fur trade. I continue today to fight for the humane treatment of animals and that is why I am writing this paper that argues for the inclusion of animals in agricultural production and against the vegan lifestyle.

I believe that everyone should strive to live, causing the least harm possible to our fellow planetary inhabitants, to our natural and developed communities and to the planet as a whole. I love the business model demonstrated by Patagonia. It is modern, holistic, practical and mindful. I believe these are the traits that most vegans desire and believe they are achieving by maintaining an animal free diet. The reality is, however, veganism further separates humans from the food system and delivers control of what we eat to multinational petrochemical companies, International food conglomerates, tech labs  and the politicians they buy and sell.

When I was in college I thought I knew everything. I was enlightened enough to eat whole foods when possible and I argued against the use of public lands for cattle grazing. I believed that grazing cattle in certain sensitive environments like high elevation areas or arid desert landscapes was wrong, and I still do. However, I have learned that cattle play an important role in many landscapes and their removal can adversely impact the natural community and lead to the spread of invasive species and the deterioration of top soil.

Once, as a college student I attended a talk presented by the Cultural Anthropologist, Richard Nelson. He spoke of Indigenous living skills and stated that all of the meat he consumes he killed, cut and cured himself. Because I was “enlightened” and he, obviously, was not, I decided to challenge him for killing animals when the alternatives were so plentiful and obvious.

Nelson, having dealt with many college students, grinned and proceeded to ask me what my t-shirt was made of. I proudly exclaimed, “Cotton, no animals killed to clothe me.” His grin grew larger as he explained to me that cotton fields throughout the southwest were the cause of thousands of animal deaths. Deer, rabbits, fox, and many other species were terminally removed to protect the crop. And he continued, those animals did not go to feed anyone, their hides did not provide clothing and their bones made no tools. He concluded by stating that my cotton t-shirt was much more bloody than his subsistence diet.  Nelson died in 2019 after furthering our knowledge of indigenous life ways and schooling hundreds of college students like me. May he rest in the peace of knowing that he helped so many find connection to the land and to the natural communities that provide us with life.

Now some 30 years later I teach students how to grow their own food and provide food for others. I believe in doing this organically and in partnership with nature. Most of the cotton fields discussed by Nelson, not only destroy animals but they rely on chemicals to continue producing the crop that clothes us. Our food supply is no different.

I grow food in soil and I do it in partnership with animals and Nature. I have horses whom I ride for pleasure and to harvest their manure for compost and soil fertility. I raise chickens for their eggs and for their support in pest and weed control. They also provide manure as a compost and soil input. I raise rabbits as pets although I once thought I would raise enough to comb the angora hair into yarn. They also provide manure for my compost operation. Mix these animal “products” with green waste and kitchen and crop scraps and I have managed to build healthy nutritious and living soil on my farm that requires no chemical inputs.. I have increased the carbon and organic matter in my soil by nearly 5 percent over the past several years. On my front pasture that covers approximately 1/3 of an acre, I have increased organic matter immeasurably as it was once dry exposed mineral soil and now grows a mixture of forage grasses and native annuals with a 3 inch layer of soft thick organic top soil that has developed over the past decade.

In 1962 Rachel Carson published Silent Spring. This ground breaking book documented the adverse impacts of chemical based farming on wildlife including frogs, birds and fish.  Many publications and studies have since documented the impacts of chemical agriculture on our environment including the industry’s contribution to Climate Change. Not to mention the toll it has taken on the human community. I lost my Grandfather and two uncles to cancers likely caused by years of exposure to Agricultural Chemicals.

These chemicals quickly infiltrate our streams and rivers, pollute groundwater and contaminate the atmosphere. The impact of agricultural chemicals stretch well beyond the fields and orchards and into the communities in which most Americans live. Increases in autism have been shown to have connections with increases in the use of glyphosate and common agricultural chemicals.

The plant-based diet, furthers the degradation of our ecosystems and causes irreparable harm to wildlife. Diversity is strength and that goes even for our diets. Meat is healthy source of protein when it is raised the right way. It is also good for the land by providing natural amendments that build healthy soil and feed the microbes that fight disease and improve water retention. It’s true that we probably shouldn’t have bacon at breakfast, a burger for lunch and a steak for dinner seven days a week. Vegetables remain the foundation of my diet, yet protein derived from animals diversifies my nutrient intake and allows me to eat food that I know is healthy and benefits the environment.

In fact, I believe Ranching is the number one best way to preserve grasslands, one of the most threatened natural communities in California and home to many imperiled species. Managed grazing supports, and in many cases even increases biodiversity. It improves carbon sequestration by building healthy soil and increasing organic matter on the surface. It also makes for naturally happy cows, sheep, goats, chickens, turkeys and hogs. All these animals, qualitative and quantitative evidence suggests, are healthier and happier when raised on pasture or in open natural settings. Animals, that when left unmanaged, quickly damage landscapes, become unhealthy and spread disease into natural communities and wildlife.

I have spent the last 15 years around livestock producers and even raised a few head of cattle myself. I currently raise chickens and work with people who raise and care for every variety of livestock one can imagine. I believe that most Farmers and Ranchers raising livestock for food, care more about their animals than most urban dwellers care about themselves and their neighbors. I’ve seen cowboys cry at the loss or injury to a bull and a day later witness a full on brawl between city folk over a parking spot along a crowded city street. (One of the cars had a sticker that said “Love animals, Don’t Eat them”.)

If we want to protect animals, live healthy lives and improve our environment, turning our backs on animals, and separating ourselves from the food system is not the way to achieve these goals. Putting “farm” animals in “sanctuaries” is equal to the concentrated feed lots that vegans often use as examples of why we shouldn’t eat meat. If you want to improve the lives of animals, curtail climate change and be healthy, I recommend you eat a vegetable heavy diet supplemented with a diversity of meats and make sure that all of your food is produced locally and with the practices that we know are healthy and holistic! That’s how we can ensure that animal welfare and environmental protection are at the forefront of our diet.

There is death in every meal and on every plate. It is up to each of us to take responsibility for the death we cause. When we leave it to the mega-corporate machine, animals and humans suffer. The simple practice of connecting with your food and its producers can also reduce agricultural monopolies, wrestle control of our food supply away from big corporations and return it to the community where it is open to scrutiny and a relationship between consumers and nature can develop. That is better for animals and people alike.