I have seen so many people getting on board with Regenuary and also a lot of people sharing posts claiming it to be false.
Firstly, Regenuary is not saying there is anything wrong with veganism. It’s simply taking about Regenerative Agriculture. Which might have caused some confusion, as it’s not a term that many people are familiar with…yet. It simply means; a conservation and rehabilitation approach to food and farming systems including both arable (vegetable, fruit and grain farming) and livestock farming. It focuses on topsoil regeneration, increasing biodiversity, improving the water cycle, enhancing ecosystem services, supporting bio-sequestration (the capture and storage of the atmospheric greenhouse gas carbon dioxide), increasing resilience to climate change, and strengthening the health and vitality of soil. So I’m not quite sure why people are sharing posts on social media claiming it to be ‘fake’. It’s simply a term used for the practice of eco-conscious farming.
I applaud anyone who is trying to do their bit to help the planet. I agree we should all be eating less meat and if for a moment I thought I would have to eat factory farmed or imported meat and animal products then I’d go vegan tomorrow. However, veganism is simply not sustainable. This is why…
Our soils are dying. The United Nations have found that we have approximately 60 harvests left. Dead soils mean mass starvation, soil erosion, detrimental flooding and desertification – that is a scientific fact, not opinion. To put this into context 95% of life on land lives under the ground. Soil creation just like most things in life/nature is part of a cycle. The only way to feed soil is either through artificial fertilisers, which cost the planet hugely as they are derived from fossil fuels (therefore not sustainable) and are spread via heavy machinery, which damages soil structure further. Or by grazing animals.
Grazing animals feed off the ground’s natural foliage, these animals then deposit on the ground. As their dung rots, the animals trample both their own muck and any uneaten grasses/foliage into the ground. Seeds from the grasses, wild flowers and herbs (depending on how diverse the pasture is) are germinated in the soil thus creating more dense fauna and subsequently increased food and habitat for all living things. Worms, beetles and other insects get to work in pulling the nutrients and carbon back into the soil as it decomposes thus creating additional, fertile soil. For a much better explanation of this please see Alan Savory’s Ted Talk (link at the end of this post).
This is a ground level photo of an American farmer's land. It show the dramatic change of the landscapes vegetation before (left) and after (right) the holistic grazing management (regenerative agriculture) was used.
Source: Allan Savoury Ted Talk
Did you know there is more carbon stored in the soil than in the atmosphere? For example here on Dartmoor, where I live, our National Park’s peat soils store an estimated 10 million tons of carbon - equivalent to an entire year of carbon dioxide emissions from UK industry. If our soils die, erode or are ploughed through unsustainable farming methods often used to grow grains, soya and vegetables then this carbon is released into the atmosphere. The only way to reverse this is vast numbers of grazing animals. (Please note I am not saying we can’t use land for arable farming – just that it can release a lot of carbon if done incorrectly).
The answer is organic holistic grazing. Mimicking nature. This has literally saved 1000s of acres in the Sahara and deserts from desertification and mass starvation.
The problem with veganism is it promotes the use of materials that are not sustainable. It is physically impossible to be an organic vegan whilst keeping soils healthy. The only way to be vegan is through the spraying of fertilisers and pesticides as the only alternative to feeding soil is through grazing animals.
Devastatingly, we have already released too much carbon emissions and greenhouse gases into our atmosphere. Yes, changing our lifestyle is crucial to stop continuing the release of carbon into the atmosphere but that is not enough anymore. Without locking the carbon we’ve already released back into the earth we may not be able save our planet. If holistic grazing was embraced worldwide it has the potential to bring carbon levels in the atmosphere back to pre-industrial levels. This is science. It has been proven.
Since the 1970s holistic grazing’s effectiveness has been documented on millions of hectares on four continents. By restoring grasslands through the use of holistic grazing animals, we have the potential to remove the excess atmospheric carbon and industrial-era greenhouse gas emissions that have been released. This method, when applied to up to 5 billion hectares of degraded grassland soils, could return 10 or more gigatons of excess atmospheric carbon to the earth annually. Thereby lowering greenhouse gas concentrations to pre-industrial levels in a matter of decades.
Before (left) and after (right) farmed grazing animals were introduced grazing holistically.
Source: Allan Savoury
Please, please, please don’t be careless and share something unless you’ve done some research. I am a first generation shepherd. My partner and I have no family heritage connected to farming. I don’t agree with most traditional farming methods. We rent all our land and farm from a rented flat in town. I live and breathe this each and every day. I have seen the amazing results of regenerative agriculture first hand and I’ve made far more money from sitting in an office job than I have through farming. We all have a duty to our planet now and it’s gone beyond who is right and who is wrong, just educate yourselves from non-biased materials. If you are even slightly interested in any of this I’d really recommend the following. However, be warned they will change your life!
Listen to the facts. I have read a lot on this. I’d really recommend:
⁃ Dirt to Soil by Gabe Brown
⁃ Wilding by Isabella Tree
⁃ Ted Talk by Alan Savory
⁃ Sacred Cow documentary
⁃ Pastoral England by James Rebanks
If you’ve read this far, thank you and I’ll let you get on with your day!
Flora