- Organic farming methods help rebuild and replace carbon in the soil.1,2 (A study presented by Professor John Crawford at the recent Carbon Farming Conference held in New South Wales, Australia)
- If all tillable land were turned into organic vegetable farmland, not only would people be fully fed, but up to 40% of all the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere could be absorbed. This is in addition to the elimination of over 50% of emissions caused by livestock raising.3 (Rodale Institute, 2008)
- Land used for meat production could also be returned to its natural state, which in turn helps quickly absorb vast quantities of CO2 from the atmosphere.4 (Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency)
- Changes in farming practices, such as greater efficiency in livestock farming methods and better manure management, are not sufficient to meet the UK’s 2030 goals for greenhouse-gas emissions. A reduction in meat and dairy production and consumption would more effectively mitigate global warming while improving public health and saving lives.5 (The Health Benefits of Tackling Climate Change.The Lancet, 2009)
- Livestock emission reduction plans, such as providing different food sources for animals and using manure for fuel, have been found to reduce emissions only by a few percent and in fact could create more food quality and ethics problems.8 (a decade-long study by New Zealand’s AgResearch) Meat and dairy consumption must be reduced to significantly minimize livestock emissions.9 (UK Food Ethics Council Executive Director Tom MacMillan)
- METHANE CAPTURE for energy an inadequate plan.
- The proposal to capture methane from livestock manure in factory farms is wholly insufficient, because:
- Most of the methane is from enteric fermentation - over three times the amount from manure.6
- The system is not often technically or cost- feasible.
- Digester systems are implemented usually on farms that collect large amounts of liquid manure daily. 7
- The many serious environmental problems caused by factory farms are still unaddressed, and more than negate any benefit from methane capture.
- Global warming / Greenhouse gas emissions
- Biodiversity loss
- Excessive water, food, antibiotic and fossil fuel use
- Air, water, soil pollution
- Unhygienic bacteria and virus breeding grounds
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- Crawford, J. (2009). Can Soil Choose To Sequester Carbon? Unpublished presentation on Carbon Farming & Expo. New South Wales, Australia, November 4-5th, 2009. Retrieved January 11, 2011 from http://www.biostim.com.au/media/conference_program1-2a.pdf
- Hough, A. (2010, Feb 3). Britain facing food crisis as world’s soil ‘vanishes in 60 years’. The Telegraph. Retrieved January 11, 2011 from
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/agriculture/farming/6828878/Britain-facing-food-crisis-as-worlds-soil-vanishes-in-60-years.html
- LaSalle, T. J. and Hepperly, P. (2008). Regenerative Organic Farming: A Solution to Global Warming. Rodale Institute. Retrieved January 11, 2011 from Rodale Institute website http://www.rodaleinstitute.org/files/Rodale_Research_Paper-07_30_08.pdf
- Stehfest, E., Bouwman, L., van Vuuren, D.P., den Elzen, M.G.J., Eickhout, B. and Kabat, P. (2009, February 4). Climate benefits of changing diet. PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency. Retrieved January 11, 2011 from http://www.pbl.nl/en/publications/2009/Climate-benefits-of-changing-diet
- The Health Benefits of Tackling Climate Change. (2009). The Lancet. Retrieved January 11, 2011 from
http://download.thelancet.com/flatcontentassets/series/health-and-climate-change.pdf
- Methane Sources and Emissions (2010, June 22). U.S. EPA. Retrieved January 11, 2011 from http://www.epa.gov/methane/sources.html
- FAQ: How do animal wastes create methane emissions? (2010, October 19). U.S. Environmental Protection Agency [EPA]. Retrieved January 11, 2011 from
http://www.epa.gov/agstar/anaerobic/faq.html#q4
- Tieman R. (2010, January 26). Livestock: Burping cow is just part of the problem. An article on a decade-long study by New Zealand’s AgResearch. Financial Times. Retrieved January 11, 2011 from http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/bdde1dec-0a00-11df-8b23-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1EWd9Zq9e
- Meat consumption trends and environmental implications (2007). U.K. Food Ethics Council. Retrieved January 11, 2011 from
http://www.foodethicscouncil.org/system/files/businessforum201107.pdf
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