A Well-Fed World / Plants4Hunger

"Veganic growing may be the most important step to ensure that we break the chain of animal agriculture in our farming system. Soil life can flourish by minimizing tillage, not using toxic manure, and eliminating the spraying of harmful herbicides or insecticides. When spraying of toxic chemicals is eliminated, predatory insects will corral crop-damaging insects, and plants will build immunity and defense mechanisms. It is what happens in the wild grasslands and forests and will occur in our gardens and farms if this process is allowed to take place in these spaces. By using plant-based composts, cover crops (green manures), and keeping the ground covered with plant material and living roots holding the soil, the Earth will constantly regenerate. Species determined to be threatened can thrive in our garden and farm spaces, specifically insects, bees, butterflies, birds, and small mammals. In the quest to understand how to grow our food best, it is imperative that we seek to cultivate as much as possible in the least amount of space. Based on my experience of running a farm, I have already analyzed that veganic farming can be 3 percent and 41 percent more productive than conventional and organic agriculture, respectively. But even more compelling is the fact that the veganic way is more than 4,000 percent more productive than raising animals acre per acre." https://lnkd.in/e3wWVXBH

"In the chart here we compare milks across a number of environmental metrics: land use, greenhouse gas emissions, water use, and eutrophication – the pollution of ecosystems with excess nutrients. Cow’s milk has significantly higher impacts than the plant-based alternatives across all metrics. It causes around three times as much greenhouse gas emissions; uses around ten times as much land; two to twenty times as much freshwater; and creates much higher levels of eutrophication." Dairy harms animals, ecosystems, climate and environment, and human health. Learn more about plant-based milks and how to eat for the planet at our Climate Food Guide! --> climatefoodguide.org

A final nail in the coffin for "regenerative grazing" attempts to greenwash meat and dairy. "A recent study has found it is currently 'not feasible' for the global livestock industry to sequester enough carbon to cancel out its planet-warming emissions — and that policy efforts geared toward that goal may be deeply misguided. The study, which was published in the journal Nature Communications, shows that 135 gigatons — or 135 billion metric tons — of carbon would need to be returned to soils to balance out the amount of methane emitted annually by ruminants like cattle, sheep, bison, and goats. That would be an unthinkable task, said Peter Smith, a co-author of the study and Chair of Plant and Soil Science at the University of Aberdeen in the United Kingdom. 135 gigatons is roughly equal to all the carbon lost due to agriculture over the past 12,000 years. We could completely rewild much of the planet and still not quite get there. 'It’s a nail in the coffin for the suggestion that carbon sequestration can offset the methane emissions' of livestock, Smith said." https://lnkd.in/eU7ci6PE

"The researchers found that, when only vegan dishes were presented to college students – with a separate sign informing them that they could order a meat-based one instead – there was a significant uptick in the adoption of plant-based foods, a decrease in meat consumption, and an improved climate footprint." https://lnkd.in/eGYjFV4Y

Who wants to be a millionaire? The beef industry's shelling out big bucks to climate greenwash burgers. https://lnkd.in/epyU3Nda

A new study suggests that fermentation, not fire, was the crucial factor in our ancestors’ increasing cranial capacity... https://lnkd.in/ee9MfgZB

"The primary catalyst behind global deforestation is beef production, with the conversion of land for cattle grazing and feed production accounting for approximately 41% of deforestation, equivalent to about 2.1 million hectares annually. This equates to over 16.4 million trees lost each day as a result of animal agriculture." [...] "Beef is an incredibly inefficient food source. It takes over 2,500 gallons of water (9,463 litres), 12 pounds (5,4kg) of grain, 35 pounds (15,8kg) of topsoil and the energy equivalent of one gallon (3,8 litres) of gasoline to produce one pound (0,45kg) of feedlot beef. Soy production, which is also one of the leading causes of global forestation, is closely tied to beef production – remarkably, 80% of soy produced globally is fed to livestock, leaving only 20% for human consumption. Because of this inefficiency, large expanses of land are needed to produce food for the billions of animals slaughtered each year, much of which were previously lush forest landscapes teeming with life." [...] "On an individual level, the best thing you can do to prevent deforestation is to eliminate or reduce the amount of beef, dairy, and other animal products in your diet. Beef is the leading driver of deforestation, and the global demand for meat is projected to continue to grow in the coming decades. According to Joseph Poore, who led a recent deforestation study at the University of Oxford, 'a vegan diet is probably the single biggest way to reduce your impact on planet Earth, not just greenhouse gases, but global acidification, eutrophication, land use, and water use.'" https://lnkd.in/eSv_ReyJ

Replacing animal-based foods with plant-based alternatives "would free up huge amounts of land and water, since there would be less need for fields full of cows, chickens or pigs, or for crops grown to feed them. In our research, we estimated that fully replacing animal-sourced products would release more than 60% of the world’s agricultural land. Other researchers think as much as 75% might be released." https://lnkd.in/gm_SVxDs

"Today, meat is no longer a luxury product. On the contrary, a cutlet is sometimes cheaper than a sack of potatoes. However, its production consumes many times more resources. Some 77 percent of the world's arable land is used for meat and milk production, even though animal products provide only about 18 percent of the world's calorie needs. Even if there were an evolutionary link between meat consumption and becoming human, we should be able to emancipate ourselves from it today. Moreover, numerous paleoanthropological studies now cast doubt on, or refute, the 'meat made us human' theory." Fascinating article! Though we strongly disagree with the assertion that eating vegan is challenging. https://lnkd.in/eSk3b3dD

“'A lot of archaeological frameworks on hunter-gatherers, or foragers, centre on hunting and meat-heavy diets – but we are finding that early hunter-gatherers in the Andes were mostly eating plant foods like wild tubers.' The researchers said their work shows, for the first time, that ancient human economies were plant based – in at least one part of the world. [...] “'Archaeology and related sciences have long been dominated by male practitioners. In western culture, hunting is the purview of males, which has likely led to an over-emphasis on hunting in the interpretation of early human economies. The convergence of these various factors has misled us to overestimate the role of meat in early Andean diets.'” https://lnkd.in/eCr34JxW