Agriculture
Senator Debbie Stabenow: "What I’m hearing now from farmers is,
'yes...the climate crisis is real.
But we need help on what to do about it'.”
"Limiting the impact of climate change...would mean major changes for agriculture —
from how we farm, to how we eat and waste food...
[which would] require action by the more than two billion people employed in agriculture."
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Current agricultural practices harm the atmosphere. “A quarter of global emissions come from food.”
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Cattle farming underlies much of the expanded logging and burning of the Brazilian rainforest.
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Farm "animal manure...is a major polluter of both water and air.”
“Pesticides...and pollution are major...factors in the...decline of...soil organisms.”
Regenerative agriculture can be a much better choice, if possible. Here’s how:
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No till - “Minimize soil disturbance: ...farmers seed directly into the soil.
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Maintain soil cover: farmers leave crop residues after harvesting, or grow cover crops.
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Manage crop rotation: farmers change what is grown and where.”
Chemical fertilizers use methane gas to make nitrogen, which has helped produce
an agricultural bounty for the past century! However, methane and nitrous oxide
pollute air and water - increasingly more every year.
“By [replacing]...chemical fertilisers...with high-quality organic fertilisers, half...
of agricultural ghg emissions could be prevented while simultaneously building” healthy soil.
“Another major intervention point” would be to promote “pasture grazing.”
These methods “protect [the] soil, avoid emissions...sequester carbon,”
and help keep local watersheds clean.
One example: "Agroforestry is a land use management system in which trees or shrubs
are grown around or among crops or pastureland."
Also see: Agrivoltaics regarding bees and broccoli!
Regenerative farming may not work for everyone, however:
“When fields aren’t tilled, pesticides are often used to kill weeds."
Some “farmers who planted...cover crops in a given year, failed to do so in subsequent years.”
Farming isn't always easy, but anyone can eat vegan.
“What we should be scared of is double cheeseburgers.”
"Excessive meat consumption is linked to numerous health issues.”
“Industrial agriculture is associated with...habitat destruction."
“The [hog and dairy] industries...slammed efforts to promote ‘Meatless Mondays’.”
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What if a famous celebrity promoted vegetarian eating, and got sued for it?
In 1996, Oprah "Winfrey declared that the [beef safety] discussion ‘has...stopped me...from eating another burger’." This ”contributed to a drop in cattle prices.”
“Cattle industry...executives filed a lawsuit...blaming her for millions in lost business.”
Ms. Winfrey won the case.
Beef industry leaders then turned to state legislators.
"’Ag-gag’...bills are designed to [prevent] whistleblowers [from] revealing animal abuses.”
These bills are still being argued over in courts and state capitals.
While meat production expands, working conditions remain unhealthy
in slaughterhouses, meat packing plants, and in the fields.
“Toiling under difficult heat conditions, [farm] workers...gamble with their health: chronic dehydration can cause kidney damage.”
"'If slaughterhouses had glass walls, we’d all be vegetarians', Paul McCartney".
Maybe you want to stop the cruelty?
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“Undercover video...shows workers shocking, kicking and shoving debilitated cattle with forklifts.”
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“The meat industry [employs]...impoverished and exploited workers; many [are]...immigrants
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who...never complain about...working conditions or cruelty...for fear of being deported.”
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“Cattle...can have [body] parts...cut off without pain relief."
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"To watch a cow die in a rendering plant is...horror...[with] the...approval of Congress.”
For more on food-related topics, look for Let’s Ask Marion, which covers
“The politics of personal dietary choices...community food issues and...global food systems.”
"The food industry's primary job is to sell products and return profits to stockholders.”
For more on famine, see Collapse.
There's still time to change the road you're on.