Press

News: VON Statement on the Foresight Report: The Future of Food and Farming (2011)

The report can be seen at
http://www.bis.gov.uk/assets/bispartners/foresight/docs/food-and-farming/11-546-future-of-food-and-farming-report

The comments below were sent to the Government Office for Science, with copies to the APPG for Agroecology, the Secretary of State for EFRA and the Secretary of State for International Development.

The Vegan-Organic Network (VON) welcomes this Report but with very substantial reservations.

The Report rightly emphasises the interconnectedness of food security and the environment and states that much can be done in farming to limit environmental damage.  We applaud its emphasis on the needs of poor countries and the crucial importance of biodiversity.  However, we deplore the myth of ‘sustainable intensification’ which the Report presents.

Our biggest reservation is the underlying proposition that technology will save the day, and particularly the Report’s strong inclination towards GM technology.  It suggests that objections to genetic modification derive from ‘ethics, values and politics’ – which amounts to a crass dismissal of the careful scientific case made by those who oppose GM.  And it welcomes, for instance, the continuing experiments in GM cattle fodder which aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from dairy and beef cattle.  VON considers this a waste of research resources and would like to see the unnatural and environmentally harmful practice of feeding grain to animals phased out altogether.  Neither does VON share Sir John Beddington’s enthusiasm for the use of cloned livestock.  As for increasing the supply of grain for human consumption, we are sceptical when we read, for instance, that the world class agri-business Syngenta, in partnership with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre, will ultimately benefit the poorest in the poor countries.

It is disappointing that a Government Report should hold to the perspective of the economic status quo, talking of ‘maximising the benefits of globalisation’ and seeing no need to limit the growth of huge food corporations (provided that competition is not threatened). VON’s unambiguous position, by contrast, is to welcome local markets and to encourage co-operatives, thereby increasing sustainability and equity.

The Report states that livestock products require considerably more resources than other foods – but talks of ‘the importance of a balanced diet and the role of a moderate intake of livestock products’, as if the health, environmental and animal welfare benefits of a vegan diet were not widely acknowledged. It states that ‘increases in the consumption of meat … will have major implications for resource competition and sustainability’ and even goes as far as to suggest a possible tax on livestock produce – in other words, meat in the future will be available only to the rich.  VON’s recommendations for closed-system, stockfree farming would benefit everyone’s health and the environment at the same time.

We profoundly regret that the Report does nothing at all to encourage responsible organisations and individuals who are already taking action through their activities and food choices to limit food’s environmental impact and benefit health.  We look forward to a future Report which recommends a healthy diet of pulses, grains, fruits and vegetables which can be grown locally in most climates, without the need for animal inputs.  Such a Report would point towards the healthiest, most sustainable and environmentally beneficial of all options currently open to us for tackling the most formidable challenges of our time.

Press Release: New Scientist Article Provokes Massive Response

Individuals and groups representing vegetarians and vegans up and down the country have been responding to a recent article in New Scientist magazine.

VON (Vegan-Organic Network) welcomes Bob Holmes’ article “Veggieworld: Why Eating Greens Won’t Save The Planet” (issue 2769 14 July 2010) as part of the increasing debate about the future of food but was disappointed by its muddled logic and several omissions.

Holmes gives figures for  the greenhouse gas emissions of beef, chicken and pork but omits plant protein from his comparison. He quotes a 21% reduction in land use if the world went vegan, yet later talks about marginal land as if it could not be re-forested, used for energy crops etc. He omits to mention the environmental damage caused by the tanning of leather, avoiding the comparison with a pair of shoes made from a renewable crop such as hemp.

He posits that the wealth=meat scenario will continue, with intensive rearing of animals being the least environmentally damaging solution. However, if the U.S. and Europe were to go vegan, given that the rest of the world frequently follows the West’s lead, particularly in dietary matters, a reversal of the paradigm could happen very easily.

“And that says nothing of animal welfare issues”  says Holmes. In our more enlightened times, when evidence of animals’ intelligence and sensitivity is piling up and healthy vegans abound, animal welfare can and should no longer be ignored. Vegans commonly do not suggest that the world should go vegan overnight, but point out that there is a wealth of difference between the careful rearing of one or two “family” animals in a third world country and the cruelty of the industrialised model.

Holmes seems to accept that an increase in meat production would be environmentally disastrous without any mention of the alternative: stockfree organic agriculture, a proven, clean, green, efficient and cruelty-free method of food production.

Manure may be less important to farmers due to the current availability of artificial fertilisers, but Holmes does not look forward to the fast-approaching post-oil era where green manures, mulching, composting and crop rotation will be the norm.

Farmers, growers and gardeners all around the world are turning to stockfree organic methods: food grown for local consumption without animal inputs. The time has come to stop quibbling over which animal foods are least harmful, to accept that eating animals is not sustainable and instead to grow and eat the plants directly ourselves.

For information about stockfree organic farming, see www.stockfreeorganic.net and www.veganorganic.net

Press Release: Growing Green Going Strong

The Vegan-Organic Network (VON) marks the 25th edition of its fascinating magazine Growing Green International with a bumper issue full of encouragement and sustenance for vegan-organic (stockfree organic) growers everywhere.

From Arizona to the French Pyrenees, from Cheshire to Florida, from Essex to New Mexico, from Sri Lanka to Cornwall: all around the world, vegan-organic growers are sowing the seeds of progressive agriculture and finding the time to write about them for the vegan-organic movement’s most enduring publication. The history of the movement is given prominence in an interview with pioneer Mary Bryniak, a member of the Dalziel O’Brien family, who established one of the first vegan-organic (and indeed one of the first organic) market gardens in Leicester during the 1940s and 50s.

Others look to the future with articles by Susan Morris, David Stringer and John Walker about growing your own healthy food, community food production and the use of plastic in gardening. Student Jane Fanshaw reports on her Organic Horticulture & Project Management FdSc course at Glyndŵr University, where stockfree organic standards and principles are integral to her studies.

Amongst technical issues covered is the vital topic of excess nitrogen through agriculture. The magazine also features nutritional information, seasonal recipes, book reviews and even a crossword: something for everyone,whether you’re a commercial grower, an allotment holder, a gardener or just interested in the future of food.

Press Release: Go Stockfree Organic to avoid Aminopyralid

Crop losses caused by aminopyralid [a] contaminated manure have hit the headlines once more as the Vegan-Organic Network (VON) urges growers to adopt its climate-friendly stockfree methods.

VON, an international educational charity promoting the benefits of vegan-organic (stockfree organic) horticulture and agriculture, wants to dispel the myth that animal inputs are necessary in order to grow healthy crops in an environmentally sustainable and economically profitable way. Manure does not have to come from animals!

Stockfree organic growers maintain fertility by means of crop rotation, green manures, mulching and composting. Numerous farmers, growers and gardeners have shown the efficacy of these methods over many years. Avoidance of animal manure and slaughterhouse by-products popular with conventional organic growers lessens the chances of pathogens finding their way into food.

“There are still so many dangerous chemicals getting into the food chain” said trustee Peter White. “Going stockfree organic means that growers have far more control over the quality of the crops they produce as, in virtually all cases, fertility is generated on the holding, rather than being brought in from outside. It’s time for growers to look at the viability and many benefits of stockfree organic alternatives.”

Information about the VON standards and the support and advice the charity offers can be found at www.veganorganic.net  and a wealth of information about commercial stockfree organic growing at www.stockfreeorganic.net  For more information about aminopyralid, see http://tinyurl.com/aminopyralid

[a] Aminopyralid is the active ingredient in a broadleaf herbicide used to control weeds.

Press Release: Vegan-Organic – The New Paradigm

“Animal products, both meat and dairy, in general require more resources and cause higher emissions than plant-based alternatives” states a report by the United Nations Environment Programme which has hit the early June headlines. *

The report provides further evidence of the huge environmental impact of meat and dairy products, a fact which has already led to initiatives such as meat-free Mondays and a big increase in the consumption of vegetarian and vegan alternatives.

VON (Vegan Organic Network – an international network of farmers, growers, gardeners and anyone interested in food, growing food and the future of food) has a particular interest in the report.

“Once again we see official acknowledgement of the problems caused by livestock farming” says representative Sally Ford. “One look at the picture on page 80 of the report should be enough to convince most people that we need a new paradigm. We don’t claim to have all the answers, but growing vegan-organically is clearly the way forward for a world where abundant animal manure is soon going to be a thing of the past. Vegan-organic growers (or stockfree organic as they are known in the trade) have been successfully producing food all around the world for many years, with zero animal inputs. Fertility is built up and maintained by careful crop rotation, use of green manures, composting and mulching. These techniques can be used anywhere from gardens to field-scale production. Global sustainable food production is our goal and we hope that the UN and other major organisations will soon be promoting vegan-organic techniques worldwide.”

One of the pioneers of stockfree organic produce is Iain Tolhurst whose award-winning Oxfordshire farm produces healthy food for 400 local families each week. His was the first UK farm to be awarded the VON Stockfree Organic certification. See www.tolhurstorganic.co.uk

Information about the VON standards and the support and advice the charity offers can be found at www.veganorganic.net  and a wealth of information about commercial stockfree organic growing at www.stockfreeorganic.net

* “Assessing the Environmental Impacts of Consumption & Production – Priority Products & Materials.” is available online at: http://www.unep.org/resourcepanel/documents/pdf/PriorityProductsAndMaterials_Report_Full.pdf

Press Release: Visit a Stockfree Organic Farm – more than a day out in the country

If you’re curious about how farmers and growers around the UK are producing “organic plus” food, now’s your chance to find out more.

Stockfree organic is the term used to describe vegan-organic methods for commercial growing purposes. Commercial stockfree farms have been feeding people for many years and have often found that, along with the environmental and ethical benefits, these methods provide a better finanical return for growers than conventional farming.

The Vegan-Organic Network (VON) is organising a series of unmissable opportunities to visit commercial growers, enjoy a farm walk, ask questions and discuss with others the ins and outs of growing stockfree organic food. Advance booking is essential. Details will be on opur site or contact us!

Press Release: Growing the Growers – Educational Opportunities

Despite gloomy forecasts, the organic sector is still vibrant in the UK and more and more people are getting interested in stockfree organics. On 5 June there will be an opportunity to find out more and to consider a career in the field.

This animal-free, eco-friendly growing method offers opportunities for new growers to get a foothold in a market which will surely continue to grow in the coming years as the need for sustainabililty becomes a central concern in farming and food production. Five UK growers are already certified as stockfree organic.

Fruit and vegetables produced by stockfree organic growers have been dubbed “organic plus”: all the advantages of organic production without the reliance on animal products such as manure, blood, feathers, bone or fish meal. Soil fertility is maintained by using green manures, mulches, composts and careful crop rotation.

Commercial stockfree farms have been feeding people for years and it is often found that these methods provide a better financial return for growers than conventional farming.

People who would like to get into organic horticulture can study for an FdSc foundation degree in organic horticulture at Glyndŵr University. Stockfree organic production systems and standards are a strong element of the programme and link in to the stockfree organic production unit at the Flintshire campus. In suitable circumstances, the Vegan-Organic Network (VON) is able to award bursaries to students on this course.

There’s a great opportunity to find out more at Glyndŵr’s Open Day on Saturday 5 June, 10am-3pm See http://www.glyndwr.ac.uk/en/ for details. Course tutors will be available for discussion, contactrichard.lewis@glyndwr.ac.uk

The Vegan Society has announced the winners of its 2009 awards, decided as always by ballot of the Society’s members. The award for Best Vegan Project or Campaign goes to the Vegan-Organic Network, voted to be outstanding amongst a growing number of contenders.

In announcing the award, Amanda Baker, Vegan Society Media Officer, said ‘Congratulations – it’s great to see VON getting the wider recognition which you deserve.’

VON is doubly pleased because this is the second time they have received the award, suggesting that their message of ‘clean, green and cruelty free’ food is really spreading. VON exists to promote organic stockfree methods of growing food, which means avoiding manufactured chemicals, animal manures and slaughterhouse by-products. Since VON published the Stockfree Organic Standards in 2004, 40 stockfree farms have been added to VON’s directory, all successful and some very highly respected in the organic fraternity.

Press Release: VON Handbook Success

After selling out the first edition, the Vegan-Organic Network has now revised and reprinted the highly praised Stockfree Organic handbook Growing Green: Organic Techniques for a Sustainable Future by Jenny Hall and Iain Tolhurst. The book is an essential guide to stockfree-organic growing and is perfect for absolute beginners as well as experienced professionals. It introduces the concept of stockfree-organic food production and shows, through case studies, that when growers abandon the use of slaughterhouse by-products and animal manures they can be rewarded with healthier crops and fewer weeds, pests and diseases.

In an age where dreams of self-sufficiency seem unattainable, Growing Green shows that making a living from growing organic vegetables can be achieved by anyone who is willing to rent land. Until the publication of Growing Green there were no comprehensive guidelines on how to follow the stockfree organic standards at the different scales of vegetable production using tractors, small machinery and hand tools.

Press Release: New Database for Animal Free Agriculture – Over 1700 References

The Vegan-Organic Network, in collaboration with Vegatopia, are pleased to announce a new database of over 1700 scholarly references related to the science, practice and benefits of animal free agriculture:

http://www.vegatopia.org/bibliography.html

The database will be immensely useful for those with a research or practitioner interest in animal free agriculture, including growers, government, NGOs, academics and students. The database includes full academic references for every entry. Most entries are also annotated with summary notes and key quotations.

Quotes & Statistics for Media Use

This collection of quotes, statistics and reports is provided for use by journalists, researchers et al.

POLLUTION

The livestock sector emerges as one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global.
Livestock’s long shadow: Environmental issues and options
United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation  2008

The livestock sector accounts for 18% of global greenhouse gas emissions – more than transport, which emits 13.5%.
Livestock’s long shadow: Environmental issues and options
United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation  2008

LAND USE

Grain fed to animals worldwide:

The world output of grain for animal feed is 614,000,000 tonnes
(International Feed Industry Federation website November 2009)
This represents 90kg of grain for every one of the 6,787,900,000 people in the world.

Soya Imports

2,600,000 tonnes of soya were imported into UK in 2008 (and this figure is rising).
(Royal Society / Guardian 16.10.09)
90+% of this is  used as animal feed.
(Environmental Sciency & Policy Feb 09)

Land needed to grow potatoes as opposed to producing beef

Beef = 8173 m2 land per person per year
Potatoes = 274 m2 land per person per year
Prof. V. Smil:  Feeding the World:  A challenge for the 21st Century (London 2000)

Comparative areas of land needed to grow 1 kg of food products

Beef = 20.9 sq m
Pork = 8.9 sq m
Eggs = 3.55 sq m
Vegetables = 0.3 sq m
(The Times, 27 October 2009)

Livestock take up 26% of Earth’s ice-free land and animal feed occupies one-third of global cropland.

Livestock’s long shadow: Environmental issues and options
United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation  2008

Successful Stockfree Farming

Iain Tolhurst of Tolhurst Organics in Berkshire supplies 400 boxes of stockfree organic produce a week to local customers, with a carbon footprint of just 8 tonnes a year, equivalent to that of an average household.
Vegan-Organic Network Press Release 6 April 2009

Changing landscape in upland areas of UK:

“What we now have is a cultural landscape created by the interplay of terrain, wildlife, and human use over the centuries.  Would it be a disaster if, following the sad loss of many hefted flocks, farmers decided not to re-stock?  The ecosystems .. would slowly begin to reclaim their ancient realm… it is customary to attack such embryonic woodland as ‘scrub’, but it is nonetheless rich in birds and insects and is high forest in the making.”
Sir Martin Holdgate, former UK government chief scientist, Director of the World Conservation Union.

HEALTH

Policies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions could also substantially reduce obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, road deaths and injuries, and air pollution.
BMJ  2008;336:165-166 (26 January), doi:10.1136/bmj.39468.596262.80

VEGETARIANS ARE LESS LIKELY TO DEVELOP CANCER THAN MEAT EATERS
“Cancer incidence in British vegetarians.” Key et al. (2009) British Journal of Cancer. 2009. Volume 101 Issue 1

Vegetarians are 12 per cent less likely to develop cancer than meat eaters, according to new research published in the British Journal of Cancer* in July 2009.

In a study of more than 61,000 people, Cancer Research UK scientists from Oxford followed meat eaters and vegetarians for over 12 years, during which 3,350 of the participants were diagnosed with cancer.

They found that the risk of being diagnosed with cancers of the stomach, bladder and blood** was lower in vegetarians than in meat eaters.

The most striking difference was in cancers of the blood including leukaemia, multiple myeloma and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The risk of these diseases was 45 per cent lower in vegetarians than in meat eaters.

Professor Tim Key, study author from the Cancer Research UK Epidemiology Unit at Oxford University, said: “Our large study looking at cancer risk in vegetarians found the likelihood of people developing some cancers is lower among vegetarians than among people who eat meat. In particular vegetarians were much less likely to develop cancers of the blood which include leukaemia and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. More research is needed to substantiate these results and to look for reasons for the differences.”

The study looked at 20 different types of cancers. The differences in risks between vegetarians and meat eaters were independent of other lifestyle behaviours including smoking, alcohol intake and obesity which also affect the chance of developing cancer

Danger of diseases transferrable from livestock to humans

‘the preparedness to contain emerging zoonotic diseases amounts to about US$300 million per year over the next three years’
WORLD BANK ‘Minding the Stock’  report 2009-11-09

HEART DISEASE

Press Release: 5th Grower Awarded Stockfree Organic Certification

Tim Carey, a former student at the Welsh College of Horticulture, funded through VON’s bursary scheme, has recently become the fifth UK grower to be awarded Stockfree Organic Certification.

Press Release: New Course at Glyndwr University

Foundation Degree Organic Horticulture – Opportunity to be part of the animal free horticulture initiative

It will provide a sound understanding of crop production under the Stockfree and Soil Association standards which will allow individuals to go on to develop their knowledge and management skills in this “growing” area of production.

This course aims to develop competent managers capable of driving forward the horticultural business.  The course is ideal for those who are aiming to manage or work within the conventional organic or vegan-organic systems.
For more details about the course and the delivery options please contact Richard Lewis

01352 841000   richard.lewis@glyndwr.ac.uk

Press Release: Carbon Capture in Garden & Field

Press Release: The Future of Rural Land Use

“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.

Press Release: Food with an ethical passport attracting support as consumers look to Organic Plus

The Vegan Organic Network is celebrating the success of its Stockfree Organic Standards, with four UK growers now carrying the certification alongside their Soil Association symbol.

Food grown using stockfree methods is being dubbed “Organic Plus” because of its high quality, its healthy profile and its contribution to greater sustainability through efficient land and water use. Stockfree growers are required to avoid not only artificial chemicals and fertilisers, but also animal manures and slaughterhouse by-products.

Iain Tolhurst of Tolhurst Organics in Berkshire supplies 400 boxes of stockfree organic produce a week to local customers, with a carbon footprint of just 8 tonnes a year, equivalent to that of an average household.

Press Release: Farmed Animal Population Expanding

With Sir David Attenborough becoming a patron of the Optimum Population Trust, attention is finally being focussed on the previously taboo subject of over-population. Alongside human population, politicians should also be looking at the population of farmed animals which is growing at an alarming rate.

World meat production has quadrupled in the past 50 years and livestock now outnumber people by more than 3 to 1.1 The UN’s 2006 report “Livestock’s Long Shadow” recommended an immediate halving of the world’s livestock numbers, in order to mitigate the worst effects of climate change. A typical European omnivorous diet requires 5 times the amount of land required for a varied vegan diet.2
When UN food agencies join G8 agriculture ministers in Treviso this week, the Vegan Organic Network is calling for support for non-animal-based agriculture. The Network promotes truly sustainable ways of growing food and aims to set up a demonstration site and education centre to encourage the increasing number of farmers, growers and gardeners interested in stockfree techniques.

UK Vegan Society members have voted VON the Best Project/Campaigning Group of 2007.  The award was presented at the Christmas Without Cruelty Fair in London on 2 December.

Here are Graham and Ziggy on the VON stall at the event – framed award on the right.

Considering that many other groups have much larger resources than us, this is indeed an accolade. VON has always been the sum of its members, our collective efforts produce the results; therefore this award belongs to every supporter.

Vegan Organic Network Statement on Climate Change

A growing solution: How Stockfree-Organic farming systems can help combat climate change

Climate change is almost universally accepted as being caused by the release, through human activities, of greenhouse gases (GHG) into the atmosphere. Only professional deniers, funded by the fossil fuel lobby, and blinkered politicians, still doubt the science and mounting evidence of the human contribution to climate change. The earth’s current period of development has been coined the ‘anthropocene’ – a time when virtually all planetary ecosystems are being affected by, and in many cases seriously degraded by human activity.

Change without borders

Human-driven global warming threatens to destabilise climate systems across the entire planet. Climate change does not respect international borders. GHG emissions in the UK are already contributing to hardship, famine and death in undeveloped nations – those least equipped to deal with rapid environmental change. The United Nations Environment Programme warns of a growing threat of wars and conflict, as natural resources dwindle. Island communities face damaging sea level rises, glaciers are retreating at unprecedented rates, and sea ice at the poles is melting rapidly.

Ecosystems which have had aeons to adapt to natural and gradual climatic change now face upheaval within a century, or perhaps only decades. Species which share the planet with us are being forced to evolve rapidly in less time than the average human life span. For some this will be impossible.

To avoid runaway catastrophic climate change industrialised nations must start making drastic cuts in their GHG emissions within the next decade. So far there is little evidence of emissions falling; in most cases they are rising, fuelled by increasing industrialisation, and by growth in transport.

Belching our way to climate chaos

Yet one human-driven activity is responsible for more global emissions of GHG than the world’s entire transport sector – livestock farming. Worldwide, livestock produce 18 per cent of the gases that cause global warming. One of these, methane, which is released when livestock such as cattle breathe out and ‘burp’, has 23 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide (CO2).

Air-polluting ammonia, a key catalyst in the formation of acid rain, and nitrous oxide, a powerful GHG with 296 times the global warming potential of CO2, are also generated through livestock production. Added to the fossil fuel used in growing and transporting feedstuffs, then moving the resultant products around the globe, the damage caused to ecosystems by livestock farming through deforestation and pollution poses a serious threat to life on earth.

The earth cannot produce enough animal products to feed its growing population at the level of the average Western diet, yet demand for animal products is rising. We need to rethink the way in which we produce food, recognise its ecological implications, and adopt a more earth-friendly approach.

Climate-friendly, carbon neutral, and kinder

Stockfree-Organic systems (SO), on a field, smallholding, or domestic scale use no animal inputs, synthetic chemical pesticides, genetically modified organisms, and minimal fossil fuels. Stockfree-Organic farming seeks to minimise reliance on ‘imported’ fertility through in situ composting of all plant wastes, by using living green manures as soil fertility builders, and by practising minimal soil disturbance or ‘reduced tillage’ cultivation.

Food grown using SO systems is eaten locally and in season, so minimising ‘food miles’, and is delivered with as little (reusable) packaging as possible. Food labelled with the Stockfree-Organic Standards Symbol (which is inspected by the Soil Association) carries the ethical assurance that it has been grown to strict organic standards without any animal inputs.

Stockfree-Organic farming is the ‘greenest’, most ecologically sustainable and ‘carbon neutral’ way of producing healthy food.

How can Stockfree-Organic systems help slow down climate change?

• They don’t rely on synthetic fertilisers and weedkillers, pesticides and fungicides, all of which consume fossil fuels in manufacture, packaging and transport, releasing large quantities of CO2 and other airborne pollutants.
• No animal or fish by-products, or animal manures, are used to maintain soil fertility, which dissociates SO from all forms of livestock production, organic or otherwise. This reduces dependency on fossil fuels for importing, spreading and incorporating manures, and removes demand for livestock by-products e.g. as fertilisers. This adds ‘ethical value’ to food grown in a SO system, guaranteeing it as from a cruelty-free growing method.
• Reduced tillage systems used in conjunction with SO help to maintain potentially the greatest ‘carbon reservoir’ on earth – the soil. Exposing the soil to air, usually when it is ploughed, results in organic matter being lost to the atmosphere as CO2. Undisturbed soil, sown with a green manure, and with a thriving microbial ecosystem, ‘locks up’ CO2 from the air, helping reduce atmospheric levels. Minimal cultivation reduces fossil fuel use.
• Where organic matter is brought in to boost soil fertility it is sourced locally e.g. from a green waste scheme, to minimise transport emissions. This also utilises a valuable local resource which may otherwise be dumped in landfill, where it generates the powerful GHG methane.
• Fossil fuel usage and subsequent release of the most abundant greenhouse gas CO2 is minimised or eliminated. Renewable energy sources – human, wind, solar and water power – are used wherever possible.
• Biodiversity is encouraged, helping maintain more stable local ecosystems, which are more resilient to seasonal and other fluctuations caused by human-induced climate change.

How to find out more and help

Stockfree Organic farming helps the planet in many other ways, in its much reduced water consumption and more efficient use of land compared to animal farming for example. Animal wastes pollute the oceans and rivers and create huge health risks; Stockfree Organic farming eliminates this. Organic certification to the Stockfree Organic Standards,  operated by the Vegan-Organic Network and inspected by Soil Association Certification Ltd, is available to growers.
Traditional organic growing systems may be thought of as more environmentally friendly but are not the answer; if commercial organic production expanded to cater for a much larger market there would simply not be enough organic animal manure available because the land area required to feed the necessary animals would be so vast. Stockfree Organic farming challenges centuries of agricultural practise and perception that livestock bring ecological harmony and that it is essential to use animal manures to grow organic crops. VON’s Stockfree Organic certified farmers demonstrate this is not the case. It should be remembered that all life ultimately depends on plants, which do not have to be wastefully passed through an animal in order to be effective.
The Vegan-Organic Network (VON) is a registered charity whose members devised and administer the Stockfree  Organic Standards. VON’s work represents a way of living without violence or exploitation. Join VON and you can find out how to grow your own food in a sustainable and cruelty free way. Please contribute to our work, and join us in our visits to VON’s affiliated commercial Stockfree Organic farms, where these methods are successfully used to feed over 1000 families every week.

A growing solution:
How Stockfree-Organic farming systems can help combat climate change

Climate change is almost universally accepted as being caused by the release, through human activities, of greenhouse gases (GHG) into the atmosphere. Only professional deniers, funded by the fossil fuel lobby, and blinkered politicians, still doubt the science and mounting evidence of the human contribution to climate change. The earth’s current period of development has been coined the ‘anthropocene’ – a time when virtually all planetary ecosystems are being affected by, and in many cases seriously degraded by human activity.

Change without borders

Human-driven global warming threatens to destabilise climate systems across the entire planet. Climate change does not respect international borders. GHG emissions in the UK are already contributing to hardship, famine and death in undeveloped nations – those least equipped to deal with rapid environmental change. The United Nations Environment Programme warns of a growing threat of wars and conflict, as natural resources dwindle. Island communities face damaging sea level rises, glaciers are retreating at unprecedented rates, and sea ice at the poles is melting rapidly.

Ecosystems which have had aeons to adapt to natural and gradual climatic change now face upheaval within a century, or perhaps only decades. Species which share the planet with us are being forced to evolve rapidly in less time than the average human life span. For some this will be impossible.

To avoid runaway catastrophic climate change industrialised nations must start making drastic cuts in their GHG emissions within the next decade. So far there is little evidence of emissions falling; in most cases they are rising, fuelled by increasing industrialisation, and by growth in transport.

Belching our way to climate chaos

Yet one human-driven activity is responsible for more global emissions of GHG than the world’s entire transport sector – livestock farming. Worldwide, livestock produce 18 per cent of the gases that cause global warming. One of these, methane, which is released when livestock such as cattle breathe out and ‘burp’, has 23 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide (CO2).

Air-polluting ammonia, a key catalyst in the formation of acid rain, and nitrous oxide, a powerful GHG with 296 times the global warming potential of CO2, are also generated through livestock production. Added to the fossil fuel used in growing and transporting feedstuffs, then moving the resultant products around the globe, the damage caused to ecosystems by livestock farming through deforestation and pollution poses a serious threat to life on earth.

The earth cannot produce enough animal products to feed its growing population at the level of the average Western diet, yet demand for animal products is rising. We need to rethink the way in which we produce food, recognise its ecological implications, and adopt a more earth-friendly approach.

Climate-friendly, carbon neutral, and kinder
Stockfree-Organic systems (SO), on a field, smallholding, or domestic scale use no animal inputs, synthetic chemical pesticides, genetically modified organisms, and minimal fossil fuels. Stockfree-Organic farming seeks to minimise reliance on ‘imported’ fertility through in situ composting of all plant wastes, by using living green manures as soil fertility builders, and by practising minimal soil disturbance or ‘reduced tillage’ cultivation.

Food grown using SO systems is eaten locally and in season, so minimising ‘food miles’, and is delivered with as little (reusable) packaging as possible. Food labelled with the Stockfree-Organic Standards Symbol (which is inspected by the Soil Association) carries the ethical assurance that it has been grown to strict organic standards without any animal inputs.

Stockfree-Organic farming is the ‘greenest’, most ecologically sustainable and ‘carbon neutral’ way of producing healthy food.

How can Stockfree-Organic systems help slow down climate change?

They don’t rely on synthetic fertilisers and weedkillers, pesticides and fungicides, all of which consume fossil fuels in manufacture, packaging and transport, releasing large quantities of CO2 and other airborne pollutants.

No animal or fish by-products, or animal manures, are used to maintain soil fertility, which dissociates SO from all forms of livestock production, organic or otherwise. This reduces dependency on fossil fuels for importing, spreading and incorporating manures, and removes demand for livestock by-products e.g. as fertilisers. This adds ‘ethical value’ to food grown in a SO system, guaranteeing it as from a cruelty-free growing method.

Reduced tillage systems used in conjunction with SO help to maintain potentially the greatest ‘carbon reservoir’ on earth – the soil. Exposing the soil to air, usually when it is ploughed, results in organic matter being lost to the atmosphere as CO2. Undisturbed soil, sown with a green manure, and with a thriving microbial ecosystem, ‘locks up’ CO2 from the air, helping reduce atmospheric levels. Minimal cultivation reduces fossil fuel use.

Where organic matter is brought in to boost soil fertility it is sourced locally e.g. from a green waste scheme, to minimise transport emissions. This also utilises a valuable local resource which may otherwise be dumped in landfill, where it generates the powerful GHG methane.

Fossil fuel usage and subsequent release of the most abundant greenhouse gas CO2 is minimised or eliminated. Renewable energy sources – human, wind, solar and water power – are used wherever possible.

Biodiversity is encouraged, helping maintain more stable local ecosystems, which are more resilient to seasonal and other fluctuations caused by human-induced climate change.

Eating within our limits

A growing number of SO growers and farmers are now established in the UK and around the world. SO techniques are tried, proven and economically viable. More and more gardeners are now adopting this sustainable and compassionate way of growing.

The Stockfree-Organic approach offers a viable, holistic and accessible way of ensuring that present and future generations can live safely and comfortably, as well as eat abundantly, healthily and harmoniously within the earth’s finite limits.

A few quotes on the subject…………………..

“Fossil fuel use in manufacturing fertilizer may emit 41 million tonnes of carbon dioxide per year.”

Livestock’s Long Shadow. Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, 2006

“The potential benefit of a vegan diet in terms of climate impact could be very significant.”

Leaked memo from the Environment Agency to Viva!, May 2007

“Livestock-related releases from cultivated soils may total 28 million tonnes of carbon dioxide per year.”

Livestock’s Long Shadow. Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, 2006

“Plants alone are the producers of food energy and of soil humus and all animals, including humans, are net consumers.”

Growing Green: Organic Techniques for a Sustainable Future

“…the earth is getting perilously close to climate changes that could run out of control.”

James Hansen, NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies

“Each of us could make a bigger contribution to reducing emissions of greenhouse gases by becoming a vegan than by converting to an eco-friendly car.”

Jonathon Porritt, Chairman of the UK Sustainable Development Commission