Vegan Sustainability Magazine - Spring 2017
A free, online, quarterly magazine for vegans and non-vegans worldwide who are interested in the Environment and Sustainability.
A free, online, quarterly magazine for vegans and non-vegans worldwide who are interested in the Environment and Sustainability.
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Issue 8 <strong>Spring</strong> <strong>2017</strong><br />
<strong>Vegan</strong><br />
<strong>Sustainability</strong><br />
<strong>Magazine</strong><br />
What Happens to our<br />
Waste?<br />
Moving to a <strong>Vegan</strong> Agriculture<br />
System for Australia<br />
Dr. Michael Greger:<br />
Diet and Climate Change:<br />
Cooking up a Storm<br />
Matthieu Ricard:<br />
‘On Keeping a <strong>Vegan</strong> or<br />
Vegetarian Diet’<br />
The Nonhuman Rights<br />
Project
Welcome to the 8th edition of <strong>Vegan</strong> <strong>Sustainability</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong>.<br />
I was recently reading the story of Harold Brown a fifth-generation cattle farmer in the US,<br />
who went vegan for health reasons but gradually noticed other changes. The most significant<br />
change he encountered was beginning to understand animals as individuals. “I realised<br />
they have familial bonds; they crave safety, experience joy and happiness.” Reflecting<br />
on this he observed that “It is odd how we as humans have profound capabilities to avert<br />
our eyes from the obvious that is in plain sight.” In this issue we hear about the work of two<br />
organisations, the Kimmela Center for Animal Advocacy and the Non-human Rights Project<br />
who are working through scientific research and the legal system to transform our relationships<br />
with other animals from exploitation to mutual respect.<br />
We feature an article and a books review from both Dr. Michael Greger and Dr. Richard Oppenlander.<br />
Both highlight the single simple solution to the different crises occurring globally<br />
at this time. We have increases in chronic illnesses and obesity with health care systems being<br />
over-stretched by increased demands, rising costs and falling budgets. We have continuing<br />
poverty, hunger, and malnourishment from Europe and the US to sub-Saharan Africa.<br />
And we have ecosystems destruction with the associated biodiversity loss together with climate<br />
change, which according to the respected Lancet medical journal, represents the<br />
biggest global health threat of the 21 st century. It turns out that the foods with by far the lowest<br />
ecological impact are also the foods with the lowest green house gas emissions. These<br />
foods also happen to be the least expensive and the most effective in counteracting many<br />
of our most common chronic diseases. As Mathieu Ricard says, “It just takes one second to<br />
decide to stop. It doesn't create any huge chaotic changes in our life. It's just that we eat<br />
something else. It's so simple. A small effort can bring a very big result for animals, for the disadvantaged,<br />
for the planet, for our own health. A sensible mind can see this is not an extreme<br />
perspective. This is a most reasonable, ethical, and compassionate point of view.”<br />
We look at the benefits of this transition in the article Moving to a <strong>Vegan</strong> Agriculture System<br />
for Australia which outlines the steps to a national vegan agricultural system. We also review<br />
a book on vegan permaculture which has lots of great ideas. We highlight some vegan sustainability<br />
stories in the news from around the world and the efforts being made to transition<br />
to a zero waste society.<br />
If we are sincere about not continuing to drastically compromise the ability of present and<br />
future generations of all species to meet their needs then the ethical transition to vegan living<br />
is becoming a necessity. It seems that at the same time as millions of people are waking<br />
up and making this transition the old order are trying to divide and sow fear. But if each of us<br />
are devoted, compassionate, energetic and well informed then the movement to a peaceful,<br />
ethical vegan human society that is in harmony with all living beings will continue to<br />
grow.<br />
<strong>Vegan</strong> <strong>Sustainability</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong><br />
Website: www.vegansustainability.com<br />
E-mail: info@vegansustainability.com<br />
Find us on Facebook.
3 The World According to Intelligent and<br />
Emotional Chickens<br />
by Marc Bekoff<br />
6 The <strong>Vegan</strong> Book of Permaculture<br />
(book review)<br />
by Bronwyn Slater<br />
7 Animal Agriculture, Hunger, and How<br />
to Feed a Growing Global Population by Richard Oppenlander<br />
10 Natural and Homemade Personal Care<br />
and Cleaning Products<br />
by Bronwyn Slater<br />
11 What Happens to our Waste by Bronwyn Slater<br />
16 Food Choice and <strong>Sustainability</strong> by Richard Oppenlander<br />
17 Diet and Climate Change: Cooking<br />
up a Storm<br />
by Dr. Michael Greger<br />
19 Moving to a <strong>Vegan</strong> Agriculture<br />
System for Australia<br />
by Greg McFarlane<br />
24 The Kimmela Centre for Animal<br />
Advocacy<br />
James O’Donovan (ed.)<br />
25 The Nonhuman Rights Project<br />
27 How not to Die (book review) by Michael Greger MD<br />
30 <strong>Vegan</strong> <strong>Sustainability</strong> in the News by Bronwyn Slater<br />
31 On Keeping a <strong>Vegan</strong> or a Vegetarian<br />
Diet<br />
by Matthieu Ricard<br />
2
The World According to Intelligent and Emo<br />
Report Review and article by Marc Bekoff<br />
Chickens are birds. I know most, if not all of you, already know this. However,<br />
on more than one occasion, I've mentioned to someone who's<br />
munching on a chicken sandwich, that they're eating a smart and emotional<br />
bird. Often, they look at me thinking something like, "I am? But I'm<br />
eating chicken." Regardless, we've known for a while that chickens are very<br />
intelligent and feeling bird beings. And, so too, are many other birds. The<br />
excellent essays written for Psychology Today by bird experts John Marzluff<br />
and Tony Angell in their column called "Avian Einsteins" amply demonstrate<br />
this, and recently, I've written two essays about birds that also show<br />
just how smart, adaptive, and emotional they truly are (please see "Bird<br />
Brain: An Exploration of Avian Intelligence" and "Bird Minds: An Outstanding<br />
Book About Australian Natives"). The books these essays cover<br />
are outstanding.<br />
“If you torture a single chicken and are caught, you’re likely to be arrested. If you scald thousands of<br />
chickens alive, you’re an industrialist who will be lauded for your acumen. ... Workers grab the birds<br />
and shove their legs upside down into metal shackles on a conveyor belt. The chickens are then carried<br />
upside down to an electrified bath that is meant to knock them unconscious. The conveyor belt then<br />
carries them — at a pace of more than two chickens per second — to a circular saw that cuts open<br />
their necks so that they bleed to death before they are scalded in hot water and their feathers<br />
plucked.” (Nicholas Kristof, To Kill a Chicken)<br />
The way in which chickens are treated on their<br />
way to human mouths is not at all a pleasant<br />
journey. I don't want to go into the gory details.<br />
The facts are simple and utterly sickening: "More<br />
than 9 billion chickens, along with half a billion<br />
turkeys, are slaughtered for food in the United<br />
States each year. This number represents more<br />
than 95 percent of the land animals killed for<br />
food in the country. Worldwide, more than 50<br />
billion chickens are raised and slaughtered annually."<br />
Mr. Kristof concludes, "Think about that. If a<br />
naughty boy pulls feathers out of a single chicken,<br />
he’s punished. But scald hundreds of thousands<br />
of chickens alive each year? That’s a business model."<br />
Thinking chickens: a review of cognition, emotion, and behavior in the domestic chicken, by Dr. Lori<br />
Marino.<br />
But, there's good news and let's hope that it's used on behalf of chickens and other birds who are<br />
served up as meals. Dr. Lori Marino, founder of the Kimmela Center for Animal Advocacy Inc., has recently<br />
published a review article called "Thinking chickens: a review of cognition, emotion, and behavior<br />
in the domestic chicken." It appeared in the journal Animal Cognition and is available online. The<br />
abstract for Dr. Marino's review reads:<br />
3
tional Chickens<br />
Chickens are as cognitively, emotionally,<br />
and socially complex as many mammals.<br />
Domestic chickens are members of an order, Aves, which has been the focus of a revolution in our understanding<br />
of neuroanatomical, cognitive, and social complexity. At least some birds are now known to be on<br />
par with many mammals in terms of their level of intelligence, emotional sophistication, and social interaction.<br />
Yet, views of chickens have largely remained unrevised by this new evidence. In this paper, I examine<br />
the peer-reviewed scientific data on the leading edge of cognition, emotions, personality, and sociality in<br />
chickens, exploring such areas as self-awareness, cognitive bias, social learning and self control, and comparing<br />
their abilities in these areas with other birds and other vertebrates, particularly mammals. My overall<br />
conclusion is that chickens are just as cognitively, emotionally and socially complex as most other birds<br />
and mammals in many areas, and that there is a need for further noninvasive comparative behavioral research<br />
with chickens as well as a re-framing of current views about their intelligence.<br />
In her essay Dr. Marino covers a number of different areas of research including Sensory abilities, Visual<br />
cognition and spatial orientation, Recognizing partly occluded objects, Numerical abilities, Time perception/<br />
anticipation of future events, Episodic memory, Reasoning and logical inference, Self-awareness, different<br />
forms of communication, social cognition and complexity, social learning, fear, emotional contagion and<br />
empathy, personality, and much more. She concludes:<br />
1. Chickens possess a number of visual and spatial capacities, arguably dependent upon mental representation,<br />
such as some aspects of Stage four object permanence and illusory contours, on a par with other<br />
birds and mammals.<br />
2. Chickens possess some understanding of numerosity and share some very basic arithmetic capacities<br />
with other animals.<br />
3. Chickens can demonstrate self-control and self-assessment, and these capacities may indicate selfawareness.<br />
4. Chickens communicate in complex ways, including through referential communication, which may depend<br />
upon some level of self-awareness and the ability to take the perspective of another animal. This<br />
capacity, if present in chickens, would be shared with other highly intelligent and social species, including<br />
primates.<br />
5. Chickens have the capacity to reason and make logical inferences. For example, chickens are capable of<br />
simple forms of transitive inference, a capability that humans develop at approximately the age of<br />
seven.<br />
6. Chickens perceive time intervals and may be able to anticipate future events.<br />
7. Chickens are behaviorally sophisticated, discriminating among individuals, exhibiting Machiavellian-like<br />
social interactions, and learning socially in complex ways that are similar to humans.<br />
8. Chickens have complex negative and positive emotions, as well as a shared psychology with humans and<br />
other ethologically complex animals. They exhibit emotional contagion and some evidence for empathy.<br />
9. Chickens have distinct personalities, just like all animals who are cognitively, emotionally, and behaviorally<br />
complex individuals.<br />
There are numerous reviews of Dr. Marino's essay and I encourage you to read some of them. Her essay is<br />
an incredibly important one because it shows just how much we know about chickens (and other birds)<br />
from detailed comparative research, and it's not being "touchy/feely" or sentimental to argue that chickens<br />
experience enduring deep suffering on their way to human mouths.<br />
4
Would you do it to a dog? Bridging the empathy gap<br />
Often, when I’m discussing some aspect of nonhuman animal (animal) abuse, I ask people, “Would you do it<br />
to your dog?” Across the board people are incredulous when I ask this question, and I simply explain to them<br />
that dogs aren’t more sentient than food animals such as cows, pigs, or chickens, laboratory animals such as<br />
mice and rats, or entertainment animals such as elephants or orcas.<br />
In another essay by Mr. Kristof called "Do You Care More About a Dog Than a Refugee?" in his conclusion he<br />
asks, "If we can rally on behalf of a frightened dog in Orlando, can’t we also muster concern for billions of<br />
farm animals — as well as the humans struggling to raise them?" I wrote about his essay in a piece called<br />
"Valuing Dogs More Than War Victims: Bridging the Empathy Gap" in which I argued that we can and should<br />
use dogs to bridge the empathy gap we conveniently construct between ourselves and other animals and<br />
among the animals themselves.<br />
I bring up these discussions to discuss the idea of using dogs to connect us to other animals. Using dogs in this<br />
way asks people to recognize that we're often extremely inconsistent in how we view and treat other nonhuman<br />
animals in comparison to how we view and treat our canine, feline, and numerous other household companions.<br />
We also view and treat our companions with much more compassion and empathy than we do some<br />
groups of humans.<br />
This also is a point that Jessica Pierce and I make in The Animals'<br />
Agenda: Freedom, Compassion, and Coexistence in the<br />
Human Age, namely that dogs can indeed bridge the empathy<br />
gap if we're open to this possibility. At the very least it's essential<br />
to ask difficult questions and come to an understanding of<br />
why we hold the attitudes we do and how we can use our feelings<br />
about companion animals and extend compassion and empathy<br />
to other nonhumans and humans who truly need all the<br />
help that they can get. Dr. Pierce and I also argue that we simply<br />
must use what we know on the animals' behalf, because<br />
there is a huge division we call the "knowledge gap" between<br />
what we know and how we use it to protect other animals<br />
Egg Incubator<br />
(please see, for example, "The Animal Welfare Act Claims Rats<br />
and Mice Are Not Animals" and "Homo Denialus: Mice Aren't Animals, Climate Change Is Real" and links<br />
therein).<br />
I hope Dr. Marino's essay or at least the popular reviews receive the global attention they deserve, and that<br />
people do something with this knowledge. Chickens are sentient beings and we should stop torturing them by<br />
the billions for our meal plans. Providing them with "good welfare" is not good enough, and even if they receive<br />
what's called "a better life," it hardly borders on "a good life" or what we offer dogs and other animals.<br />
Note: Here are two added tidbits along the lines of this essay: Please also see Paul Shapiro's "We are seeing<br />
animals in a different light" and "Walruses Found Using Birds as Toys for First Time."<br />
Marc Bekoff's latest books are Jasper's Story: Saving Moon Bears (with Jill Robinson), Ignoring Nature No<br />
More: The Case for Compassionate Conservation, Why Dogs Hump and Bees Get Depressed: The Fascinating<br />
Science of Animal Intelligence, Emotions, Friendship, and Conservation, Rewilding Our Hearts: Building<br />
Pathways of Compassion and Coexistence, and The Jane Effect: Celebrating Jane Goodall (edited with Dale<br />
Peterson). The Animals' Agenda: Freedom, Compassion, and Coexistence in the Human Age (with Jessica<br />
Pierce) will be published in April <strong>2017</strong> and Canine Confidential: An Insider’s Guide to the Best Lives For Dogs<br />
and You will be published in early 2018.<br />
5
Book Review:<br />
The <strong>Vegan</strong> Book of Permaculture<br />
By Graham Burnett<br />
Very few books have been written about <strong>Vegan</strong> Permaculture, so this book came as a welcome addition to<br />
an already sparse collection when it was published in 2014. The book's author is Graham Burnett who runs<br />
vegan permaculture courses in the UK and elsewhere. His 'Spiralseed' website is well worth a look.<br />
Some of the topics covered in the book include:<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
An introduction to Permaculture<br />
Designing your garden or permaculture system<br />
<strong>Vegan</strong>ic growing<br />
Soil types and soil quality, whether to dig or not to dig<br />
Making your own fertiliser, green manures and compost<br />
Crop rotation<br />
Companion planting<br />
Insects – beneficial insects and how to encourage these as they<br />
control ‘pests’<br />
Controlling and removing weeds<br />
When and how to plant<br />
Water, soil and fertility requirements<br />
When to save seed<br />
Woodlands, orchards and how to design a forest garden<br />
Tips on reducing your ecological footprint in your home and<br />
your life<br />
Ethical shopping, fair-trade and eco-friendly living<br />
Reconnecting with nature<br />
Eating with the seasons<br />
Health, nutrition and a list of nutrients provided by each plant<br />
Windowsill herbs and indoor plants<br />
This is as much a cookbook as it is a gardening book, and at least half the book is devoted to plant-based<br />
whole food recipes, most of the ingredients coming from your own garden. Each recipe is simple, with the<br />
minimum of ingredients, and the reader is encouraged to experiment and modify the recipes to his or her<br />
own taste. All of the recipes include a high proportion of vegetables, greens, fruits, nuts and legumes. Making<br />
your own jams, chutneys, preserves and fermentation are also covered. The book is worth the price for<br />
the recipes alone, and they will inspire you to want to grow your own produce. It is amazing to see the diversity<br />
of dishes that can be prepared from a single garden.<br />
This is a good book for beginners and experienced gardeners alike. Highly recommended, and you can purchase<br />
it on Amazon or at Graham's Spiralseed website.<br />
Review by Bronwyn Slater<br />
6
Animal Agriculture, Hunger, and How<br />
by Richard Oppen<br />
In part one, we explored how eating animals affects hunger and the<br />
world’s agricultural resources. In this article Dr. Oppenlander outlines<br />
current and future hunger and food security solutions.<br />
IT’S TIME TO CONCEIVE NEW SOLUTIONS<br />
Most researchers and organizations involved in the plight of nations suffering from hunger believe that efforts<br />
and dollars should be spent on improved information technologies, increasing intensified livestock<br />
operations, and fostering the continuation of cultural practices while supplying them with conventional<br />
food-basket relief. I disagree. Since 75% of their work force is engaged in agriculture and more than half of<br />
their population illiterate, I suggest that these developing countries should emphasize three measures:<br />
1. Education.<br />
2. Redefinition of the word “yield” beyond short-term consumptive gain.<br />
3. Implementation of fully organic plant-based agricultural systems.<br />
These measures could thus build a sustainability umbrella and form the key link between ecology, human<br />
health, and equity for current and future generations. They would effectively improve soil fertility and provide<br />
the most nutritious food for the least environmental cost, while opening doors to economic opportunities.<br />
Citizens could essentially “feed themselves” while creating a food, economic, and environmental<br />
security net, despite what repressive forces they may encounter.<br />
Even many desertified areas, including those in semi-arid regions, would be much healthier and more productive<br />
if restored with resource-efficient, earth-regenerative fully plant-based measures rather than with<br />
livestock. These measures might include the re-introduction of indigenous drought-resistant plants, agroforestry,<br />
implementing conservation techniques such as terracing and other plant based organic methods,<br />
or plant-generated microbiological procedures.<br />
82% of starving children live in countries where food is fed to animals, and the animals<br />
are eaten by western countries.<br />
DIRECT AID OR CAPITAL INVESTMENT: BOTH INEFFECTIVE<br />
The majority of efforts to bring aid to those afflicted in developing countries can be categorized in two<br />
ways: direct supply of food, and investment in commercial agricultural development by various multinational<br />
entities. Supplying food relief to these countries may offer a temporary, diminutive patching of the<br />
much larger problem. The overriding reason there has been little improvement in the number affected and<br />
severity of hunger and poverty in African countries is that food supply has always been separated from the<br />
multitude of layered factors.<br />
7
to Feed a Growing Global Population<br />
lander<br />
In the past twenty years, foreign investors have established lease arrangements with many African governments<br />
under the guise of helping to eliminate poverty and hunger. However, evidence shows that many are<br />
simply using the land as an investment for shareholders or private sector investors (pension funds and private<br />
equity groups) or to establish commercial agricultural operations that will bring them a return.<br />
Some argue that these lease arrangements will eventually create a trickle-down effect that improves the<br />
economic status of the people of these developing countries. Most observers, though, have referred to<br />
them as simply “land grabbing’—acquiring land by making unfulfilled promises to reimburse the locals for<br />
use of their land and crops.<br />
To date, foreign investors have procured 400 million acres in developing countries. Much of this has been in<br />
African countries, where large businesses set up timber, mining, and agricultural operations. The latter are<br />
predominantly meat-based—pork, beef, poultry, dairy, and crops to feed them. Long-term strategic alliances<br />
are currently being made by G8 countries and multinational corporations to provide funding for various<br />
agricultural projects within certain African countries under the façade of economic assistance. However,<br />
nearly all projects thus far (ProSavana, Land O’ Lakes, AGRA, ISFM, and efforts by the UN, NGOs, various<br />
think tanks, and others) are merely vehicles that perpetuate resource depletion and further the hungerpoverty<br />
cycle by way of continued livestock predominance.<br />
The short- and long-term solution to the hunger and poverty cycle appear to lie in connecting most of the<br />
dots—creating a path of optimal relative sustainability—for the people themselves. All efforts for global assistance,<br />
whether from a humanitarian or agricultural perspective, should be first directed at creating the<br />
most efficient and nourishing food production systems possible. These systems should build and conserve<br />
topsoil and soil fertility, while using the least amount of land, water, and other resources. These goals can<br />
best be accomplished by devoting all agricultural efforts toward purely plant-based systems—no livestock,<br />
no dairy, and no chickens.<br />
WHY NOTHING IS CHANGING<br />
So far this has not been accomplished. If anything, most organizations design their projects to enhance livestock<br />
production, attempting to remedy feed issues, cure or prevent diseases with vaccinations for livestock,<br />
and train villagers or farmers to use animal husbandry techniques that are thought to improve food<br />
security.<br />
There are two reasons for this:<br />
1. Culture is complex and interwoven into many aspects of life, so it is something more easily left alone<br />
than improved upon or evolved from.<br />
2. Eating meat is part of the culture and belief system of the researchers and organizations themselves.<br />
How could researchers and advisors conceive of another approach to solving hunger and poverty if their<br />
own food choices include eating animals?<br />
Affected indigenous people who rely solely on the food relief efforts of outside agencies and subsistence<br />
farming find themselves cemented in perpetual poverty. Establishing for-profit agricultural protocols<br />
(“commercial farming”) for smallholder farmers will need to be an integral part of any successful program in<br />
the developing countries of Africa—but not with the use of livestock or as a subordinated appendage of<br />
multinational corporations associated with the meat and dairy industries.<br />
8
HOW WILL WE FEED THE RISING GLOBAL POPULATION?<br />
In 2009, world leaders gathered for the Summit on Food Security in Rome to discuss what many consider to<br />
be the most pressing concern we will face this century—how to feed all of us. Focusing its attention on this<br />
topic, the G8 Summit in May of 2012 committed funding to eradicate hunger by way of an alliance between<br />
the G8 nations, multinational businesses, and certain countries in Africa. This, in turn, has fostered initiatives<br />
that support animal agriculture without addressing the issue of food choice change.<br />
Our human population is expected to reach over 9 billion by the year 2050—34 percent higher than it is today.<br />
This, combined with rising food prices, our dwindling supply of land and other natural resources, and changing<br />
climate, makes it ieasy to see why food security is such a concern. However, despite all the rhetoric and projected<br />
G8 funding, our imminent and projected food security crises are unlikely to be solved using the resource-intensive<br />
agricultural systems currently in place, which are driven by our demand to eat animals and<br />
animal products.<br />
Most of the predicted population and livestock production increase will occur in developing countries. Many<br />
researchers feel that in order to feed that many people, the world will have to increase annual meat production<br />
by over 200 million tons (to reach an estimated 517 million tons), which will stress the already-stretched<br />
ecosystem services necessary to produce it. Demand for livestock products will likely double in sub-Saharan<br />
Africa and South Asia by 2050.<br />
Globally, livestock production has responded to increased demand by changing from extensive, small-scale,<br />
subsistence livestock production to more intensive, large-scale, commercially oriented production. Whether<br />
with industrialized production or simply increased units of smallholder farmers raising livestock, increasing<br />
annual meat production is not the answer. Either method eventually translates into more land use and deforestation,<br />
escalated climate change, draining of aquifers and fresh water, loss of biodiversity, more hunger, and<br />
more poverty. Methane emissions alone from African cattle, goats, and sheep will likely increase by 50 percent,<br />
to 11.1 million tons per year, by 2030.<br />
LIVESTOCK IS IMPORTANT … TO STOP RAISING<br />
According to the United Nations, “livestock production holds great importance for ensuring food security.”<br />
That’s because global demand for meat, dairy, and eggs is predicted to increase as the world’s population increases.<br />
In 2012, the world produced and consumed 290 million tons of beef, pork, sheep and goat meat and<br />
poultry, in addition to 154 million tons of fish (wild-caught and from aquaculture). This translates into a staggering<br />
number of animals unnecessarily raised and slaughtered at the expense of our planet’s health. So, yes,<br />
livestock does hold great importance: the less we raise, the more secure our food will be.<br />
DO YOUR PART, AND INSPIRE OTHERS TO DO THEIRS<br />
Most of us find it difficult to appreciate how our food choices can have such far-reaching effects. But they<br />
clearly do. We can do our part in reducing world hunger and poverty and improving<br />
our future food security by increasing awareness about the multidimensional<br />
benefits of a fully plant-based diet—and then, individually and collectively, moving<br />
the change forward.<br />
About the Author<br />
Author of the award-winning books Comfortably Unaware and Food Choice and <strong>Sustainability</strong>,<br />
Dr. Richard Oppenlander is a consultant, researcher, and lecturer on the topics of food choice<br />
and sustainability. He started an organic vegan food production company, operates an animal<br />
rescue sanctuary, and is the founder and president of Inspire Awareness Now. Dr. Oppenlander<br />
has written numerous articles and serves as an adviser for organizations, municipalities, and<br />
institutions. Visit the Comfortably Unaware website for more.<br />
9
Natural and Homemade Personal Care<br />
and Cleaning Products<br />
More tricks of the trade on making your own home<br />
made products by Bronwyn Slater<br />
Laundry Detergent:<br />
Cleaning Products<br />
Baking soda can be used as a laundry detergent. Add half to 1 cup of baking soda to<br />
your machine (depending on the size of the load) in the same way you would use<br />
detergent. I used baking soda recently to wash clothes and I was very happy with the<br />
results. Baking soda can also be used to pre-treat stains and whiten clothes. Check<br />
out this short video.<br />
Soap Nuts:<br />
These are not a home made product as such, but soap nuts are a natural laundry<br />
detergent. They are literally dried soap berries. The soap berry is a subtropical<br />
plant normally grown in India or China and it contains natural saponins. Boxes of<br />
soapnuts can be bought at your local health or whole food store, and usually<br />
come with a small drawstring cloth bag. Put 5 or 6 nuts into the bag, tie securely<br />
and add to the tub along with your clothes. I’ve used soap nuts many times in the past and found them<br />
quite good at getting the laundry clean, but it is important they don’t escape from the bag or they could<br />
stain your clothes. The nuts can be reused a few times. Check out this short video.<br />
Deoderant:<br />
Personal Care Products<br />
Coconut oil mixed with a little baking soda works well as a deodorant.<br />
Coconut oil in its solid form has a similar consistency to stick deodorant.<br />
To make it more solid you can add arrowroot powder. You can<br />
add essential oils to the mix as well, if you wish. This short video shows<br />
you how.<br />
Facial Toner:<br />
Mix one part organic raw apple cider vinegar and 2 parts distilled or filtered water. (Add a few drops of<br />
witch hazel or essential oil also if you like). Shake to combine the mixture and apply to your face as normal.<br />
10
What Happens to our Waste?<br />
Landfill:<br />
Where does our waste go?<br />
Each person in Europe currently produces about half a ton of<br />
household waste per year. Only 40% of this is reused or recycled<br />
and the remainder goes to landfill. A major disadvantage to burying<br />
rubbish in landfills is the potential to pollute the surrounding<br />
soil and groundwater with toxins and leachate. Huge amounts of<br />
carbon dioxide, methane and other harmful greenhouse gases are<br />
also produced during decomposition in landfills.<br />
Incineration:<br />
Many countries carry out waste incineration in addition to landfill and recycling. Modern incinerators can reduce<br />
the volume of the original waste by 95% and the process can also be used to generate electricity or heat<br />
(although this energy can usually only serve the equivalent of a small<br />
town). The problem with incineration is that the gases and ash produced<br />
contain toxins that can pollute the environment. Hence the ‘not in my<br />
backyard’ attitude by locals whenever incineration plants are proposed.<br />
Composting:<br />
Recycling:<br />
Germany and Sweden operate waste-to-energy incineration plants and<br />
they also import waste from other countries in order to keep their incineration<br />
plants going. Less than 1% of Sweden’s waste has been sent to<br />
landfill each year since 2011.<br />
Glass, paper, cardboard, aluminium and some plastics can all be recycled. Plastic<br />
recycling is complicated and the uses for recycled plastics are limited. Plastic,<br />
unlike glass, can only be recycled once. Some types of plastics are not recyclable<br />
and these end up as trash (see below).<br />
Every home should have a compost bin for food and garden waste. On a large scale,<br />
many countries operate anaerobic digestion plants which use agricultural waste such<br />
as manures, slurries, crops, residues and municipal waste to create biogas which in<br />
turn can be used to create heat or electricity.<br />
The Oceans:<br />
Research released a year ago found there were more than 5 trillion pieces of plastic<br />
floating in the seas. Plastic debris includes municipal waste such as bottles,<br />
bags and packaging. The plastic breaks down into successively smaller pieces and<br />
can kill fish and seabirds when ingested. An autopsy carried out on a beached<br />
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Bronwyn Slater looks at what happens to all our trash, and then outlines<br />
some of the measures we can take to reduce or eliminate it.<br />
whale in Norway recently showed the animal's stomach was empty of<br />
food and full of plastic including 30 plastic bags.<br />
Once a plastic bottle is tossed into the ocean or left on the street, it<br />
won’t fully degrade for 1,000 years. It will instead break into many<br />
tiny pieces that have the capacity to absorb harmful toxins. These microplastics<br />
are consumed by fish and plankton. The plastic never disappears,<br />
but continues to circulate in a vicious cycle.<br />
Plastics production is expected to double in the next 20 years and research<br />
suggests that, unless action is taken, there could be more plastic<br />
than fish in the sea by 2050.<br />
Other marine debris includes plastic sheets and covers, tarpaulins,<br />
crates, pallets, ropes, strapping and miscellaneous packaging, building<br />
materials, sealed drums and assorted industrial fishing nets, traps and<br />
lines.<br />
How did it all get there?<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
One of the most common ways that marine debris enters the sea is by being swept through storm<br />
drains. Small pieces of trash tossed into the street are often washed into storm drains during rain<br />
storms, which deposit the water – and the trash – into the sea.<br />
Rivers and other waterways can also wash plastics and rubbish into our oceans. In Jakarta, less than<br />
half of the city's rubbish may reach landfill and the balance heads seaward via 13 rivers. Some Indian<br />
and Pacific ocean islands have municipal dumps at one end of the island, and the monthly high tide lifts<br />
the lot and washes it out to sea.<br />
Beachgoers and picnickers also play a part by leaving plastic cups, aluminium cans, bottle caps, plastic<br />
utensils and food wrappers behind them after a day out.<br />
Extreme weather like hurricanes, tornados, tsunamis and flooding can also produce large amounts of<br />
debris which are washed into the sea.<br />
Commercial shipping, drilling platforms, and recreational boating produce about 18% of all marine debris.<br />
Rough seas can also cause ships to lose cargo or gear overboard. The International Convention for<br />
the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL) was developed primarily to address marine oil pollution,<br />
but the convention also requires ships to store and bring waste to port.<br />
Clothing:<br />
Approximately 85% of all discarded clothes are sent to landfill,<br />
which means that clothing is responsible for a high percentage of<br />
our waste. In addition, the manufacture of clothing itself requires<br />
vast amounts of water, energy and chemicals. The Water Footprint<br />
Network estimates that 10,000 tons of water are required to produced<br />
one ton of cotton. The textile industry has caused river pollution<br />
in China, India, Cambodia, and Bangladesh. Cotton is the most<br />
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widely used fabric in the clothing industry. It is grown on just 2.4% of the world’s cropland but accounts for<br />
24% of global sales of insecticides.<br />
What is the Solution?<br />
The Zero Waste Movement:<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
This new movement is gaining popularity worldwide, and it is now possible to find many zero-waste<br />
groups popping up on Facebook, for example.<br />
Zero waste supermarkets are another new idea, although it remains to be<br />
seen whether they will take off and become widespread.<br />
Bea Johnson, described by the New York Times as ‘the priestess of wastefree<br />
living’, has written a book called Zero Waste Home. The book has been<br />
translated into 12 languages. You can watch her TEDx talk here. Johnson<br />
refers to buying in bulk as one of the key areas where waste can be reduced.<br />
Trash is for Tossers is a popular blog and aims to help people reduce or<br />
eliminate waste.This Japanese town aims to produce zero trash by 2020.<br />
This article in a previous edition of <strong>Vegan</strong> <strong>Sustainability</strong> has some tips for<br />
reducing your waste.<br />
How do we clean up the Oceans:<br />
There are currently some very promising projects which aim to tackle ocean waste:<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
21-year old Boyan Slat has created an ocean cleanup array which can remove plastic from the ocean. He<br />
claims that a single array could remove half of the plastic in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch in just 10<br />
years. You can find out more about the Ocean Cleanup Project here.<br />
The team from SAS Ocean Phoenix, a maritime engineering company based in the South of France, wants<br />
to tackle the trash problem with a massive cleanup ship which would ply the polluted Pacific. The boat<br />
would suck ocean water into chambers between its parallel hulls, where a series of filters would catch<br />
first the big chunks of plastic, then successively smaller pieces. SAS Ocean Phoenix says the staggered filters<br />
would allow fish to swim between them and return to the ocean.<br />
The Environmental Cleanup Coalition is an organisation dedicated to cleaning up the oceans. Their website<br />
provides a lot of information on the current problem, as well as a variety of solutions to it.<br />
Ultimately, we need to stop debris from entering the sea in the first place. This can be done by making<br />
sure there is a suitable waste infrastructure in every country. Beaches and public amenities need to be<br />
kept clean at all times, and visitors should be made aware of the need to bring their trash home with<br />
them. Education and behaviour modification is key and people need to be made aware of where their<br />
rubbish could end up after they throw it away.<br />
13
Plastic:<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Delhi has recently passed a law which bans plastic from the city completely, and France has passed a law<br />
which will come into effect in 2020 to ensure that all plastic cups, cutlery and plates can be composted<br />
and are made of biologically-sourced materials.<br />
Biodegradable plastic is an alternative to petroleum-based plastic. However, there are problems associated<br />
with the production of these kinds of plastics also, which you can read about here.<br />
This short video explains the problem with plastic packaging and how we can help reduce or eliminate it.<br />
This video is also useful.<br />
When buying liquids you can choose glass bottles and jars instead of plastic.<br />
Refuse plastic bags when they are offered and always bring cloth bags with<br />
you when shopping.<br />
Choose paper, cardboard, or no packaging when buying produce.<br />
Buy in bulk as much as possible.<br />
Make sure your local neighbourhood does regular cleanups if litter is a problem<br />
in your area.<br />
Always bring your trash home with you after a day out.<br />
Check out this blog and book: My Plastic Free Life for some great tips on becoming plastic-free.<br />
The Circular Economy:<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
The Circular Economy is a model of production in which waste is reduced or eliminated, and all manufactured<br />
items are re-used at the end of their lifetime.<br />
At clothing company H&M, for example, the idea of circular production has really taken off. In 2013 the<br />
clothing retailer launched an in-store garment collecting initiative. You can now leave old textiles at any<br />
H&M store in the world and the company will upcycle, re-use and resell them.<br />
Clothing companies like Nike, Levi-Strauss, North Face, Zara and Patagonia are also keen to get on board<br />
the circular economy bandwagon, and have begun collecting old garments for recycling and reuse.<br />
The Sustainable Apparel Coalition – an alliance of retailers, brands, and nonprofits – has been working for<br />
about five years to measure and reduce the industry’s environmental footprint.<br />
A new app for mobiles called Stuffstr lets users know where they can donate, repair or bring back used<br />
clothing or household items.<br />
Composting:<br />
Make sure you compost food and garden waste at home, or if you generate large amounts of garden or other<br />
biological waste your local recycling service may be able to accept it.<br />
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Recycling:<br />
Not all plastics can be recycled. This video shows which types of plastics can and cannot be recycled.<br />
The book Reduce, Reuse, Recycle may also be helpful.<br />
Upcycling and Remakeries:<br />
Upcycling makes new items out of old ones. Used furniture is a great example of upcycling and items can be<br />
newly upholstered, repaired, re-varnished, etc. Remakeries take used goods and repair, upcycle and re-sell<br />
them. Check out the Edinburgh Remakery here as an example.<br />
Repair Cafés:<br />
The repair café concept was founded in Amsterdam in 2009 and<br />
there are now 1,180 repair cafés in 30 countries. You can check<br />
many of them out online here. The basic concept is that you take<br />
your broken item to the café and it will be repaired there (by a<br />
volunteer) while you wait. There is a social and local dimension to<br />
these cafés where tea and coffee are provided and people can<br />
relax and chat to others.<br />
Freecycle and Donation:<br />
Freecycling or giving away your unwanted items for free has also<br />
become very popular and you should now be able to find freecycle<br />
groups in most major towns and cities. Charity donation is also<br />
another option when giving away unwanted goods.<br />
Repair Cafe<br />
In conclusion, a lot is being done to address the problem of waste. Along with a growing awareness of the<br />
problem, new movements to address it are gaining ground. As time goes on, perhaps technology will advance<br />
to the point where waste is no longer a problem. In the meantime, there is a lot that we can do as individuals<br />
in order to reduce the amount of waste we produce.<br />
15
Book Review:<br />
Food Choice and <strong>Sustainability</strong><br />
By Richard Oppenlander<br />
Following up on his excellent Comfortably Unaware Dr. Oppenlander goes deeper into the massive environmental<br />
impacts of our current animal based agriculture system on land and in the oceans. Brian<br />
Wendel, Creator and Executive Producer of Forks Over Knives wrote that Dr. Oppenlander’s important<br />
work shows how the long-term health of our planet and its<br />
inhabitants will be determined, in large part, by our willingness<br />
to adopt a plant-based diet en masse. In reading “Food<br />
Choice and <strong>Sustainability</strong>”, one may find empowerment that<br />
such a simple and effective remedy can begin at our next<br />
meal.<br />
Julieanna Hever, Author of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to<br />
Plant-Based Nutrition commented that “Food Choice and<br />
<strong>Sustainability</strong>” intricately weaves food choice to the destruction<br />
of the planet, offering the one and only solution—the<br />
evolution to a plant-based diet.<br />
What we choose to eat is killing our planet and us, yet use of<br />
the word ‘sustainable’ is ubiquitous. Explanation of this incongruity<br />
lies in the fact that sustainability efforts are rarely<br />
positioned to include food choice in an accurate or adequate<br />
manner. This is due to a number of influencing cultural, social,<br />
and political factors that disable our food production<br />
systems and limit our base of knowledge—falsely guiding us<br />
on a path of pseudo sustainability, while we devastate the ecosystems that support us, cause mass extinctions,<br />
and generate narrowing time lines because of our global footprint that will ultimately jeopardize our<br />
very survival as a civilization. Dr. Oppenlander’s goal with this book is to increase awareness in order to<br />
effect positive change—before it is too late. This is a groundbreaking book, and given the urgency and<br />
magnitude of the problem, it's a book that anyone who cares about our future and that of other species<br />
should read —individuals, academic institutions, businesses, organizations, and policy makers. Categories<br />
of global depletion are detailed, widely held myths are debunked, critical disconnects are exposed, and<br />
unique, profound solutions are offered. This book also unveils a new model of multidimensional sustainability<br />
for developing countries to eradicate world hunger and poverty as it compels us all to become<br />
aware of the enormous effect of our food choices, make necessary changes, and then, inspire others to do<br />
the same.<br />
As another reviewer Jon Stryker, President and Founder of the Arcus Foundation, put it Dr. Oppenlander’s<br />
remarkable book clearly makes the case imperative: our food choices are degrading our climate, exhausting<br />
our natural resources and creating monumental struggles for people in developing world nations. We<br />
must raise our awareness and make ethical and moral food choices.<br />
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Diet and Climate Change: Cooking up a Storm<br />
By Michael Greger at nutritionfacts.org<br />
One of the most prestigious medical journals in the world commented<br />
that climate change represents the biggest global health threat of the<br />
21 st century, and currently, chronic diseases are, by far, the leading<br />
cause of death. Might there be a way to combat both at the same time?<br />
For example, riding our bikes instead of driving is a win-win-win for<br />
people, planet, and pocketbook. Good for us, the environment, and<br />
cheaper too. Are there similar win-win situations when it comes to diet?<br />
Dr. Michael Greger<br />
The same foods that create the most greenhouse gases appear to be the same foods that are contributing<br />
to many of our chronic diseases. Meat, fish, eggs, and dairy were found to have the greatest environmental<br />
impact, whereas grains, beans, fruits and vegetables had the least impact. And, not only did the<br />
foods with the heaviest environmental impact tend to have lower nutritional quality, but also a higher<br />
price per pound, thereby scoring that win-win-win scenario.<br />
The European Commission, the governing body of the European Union, commissioned a study on what individuals<br />
can do to help the climate. In terms of transport, if Europeans started driving electric cars, it<br />
could prevent as much as 174 million tons of carbon from getting released. We could also turn down the<br />
thermostat a bit, maybe put on a sweater. But, the most powerful thing people can do is shift to a meatfree<br />
diet. What we eat may have more of an impact on global warming than what we drive. Even just cutting<br />
out animal protein intake one day of the week could have a powerful effect. Even just Meatless Mondays<br />
could beat out working from home all week and not commuting.<br />
And, a strictly plant-based diet may be better still, responsible<br />
for only about half the greenhouse gas emissions. Overall, studies<br />
have suggested that moderate dietary changes are not<br />
enough to reduce impacts from food consumption drastically.<br />
Changes to healthier diets, without significant meat and dairy<br />
intake reductions, may result only in rather minor reductions of<br />
environmental impacts. This is because the average fossil energy<br />
input for animal protein production systems is approx. 25<br />
calories of fossil energy input for every one calorie produced—<br />
more than 11 times greater than that for grain protein production,<br />
for example, which is down around two to one.<br />
Researchers in Italy compared seven different diets to see<br />
which one was the environmentally friendliest. They compared<br />
a conventional, omnivorous diet adhering to dietary guidelines,<br />
to an organic, omnivorous diet, conventional vegetarian, organic<br />
vegetarian, conventional vegan, and organic vegan to what the average person actually eats. For<br />
each dietary pattern, they looked at carcinogens, air pollution, climate change, effects on the ozone layer,<br />
the ecosystem, acid rain, and land, mineral, and fossil fuel use. This is what they came up with. This is how<br />
many resources it took to feed people on their current diets. These are the negative effects the diet is having<br />
on the ecosystem, and the adverse effects on human health. If they were eating a healthier diet, conforming<br />
to the dietary recommendations, the environmental impact would be significantly less. An organic<br />
omnivorous diet would be better, similar to a vegetarian diet of conventional foods, beaten out by an organic<br />
vegetarian diet, conventional vegan and organic vegan diet.<br />
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The Commission report described the barriers to animal product reduction as largely, lack of knowledge,<br />
ingrained habits and culinary cultures. Proposed policy measures include meat or animal protein taxes, educational<br />
campaigns, and putting the greenhouse gas emissions info right on food labels.<br />
Climate change mitigation is expensive. A global transition to even just a low-meat diet, as recommended<br />
for health reasons, could reduce these mitigation costs. A healthier low-meat diet would cut the cost of<br />
mitigating climate change from about 1% of GDP by more than half; a no-meat diet could cut two-thirds of<br />
the cost, and a no-animal-product-diet could cut the cost 80%.<br />
But many aren’t aware of the<br />
cow in the room. It seems that<br />
very few people are aware that<br />
the livestock sector is one of the<br />
largest contributors to greenhouse<br />
gas emissions. But that’s<br />
changing.<br />
The UK’s National Health Service<br />
is taking a leading role in<br />
reducing carbon emissions. Patients,<br />
visitors, and staff can look forward to healthy low carbon menus with much less meat, dairy, and<br />
eggs, for evidence shows that as far as the climate is concerned, meat is heat.<br />
The Swedish Government recently amended their dietary recommendations to encourage citizens to eat<br />
less meat. Even if we seek only to achieve the conservative objective of avoiding further long-term increases<br />
in greenhouse gas emissions from livestock, we are still led to rather radical recommendations such<br />
as cutting current consumption levels in half in affluent countries—an unlikely outcome if there were no<br />
direct rewards to citizens for doing so. Fortunately, there are such rewards: important health benefits. By<br />
helping the planet we can help ourselves.<br />
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Moving to a <strong>Vegan</strong> Agricul<br />
In part 1 of a 2-part series Greg McFarlane of <strong>Vegan</strong> Australia outlines<br />
the steps that need to be taken to transition to a fully plant-based<br />
agricultural system.<br />
The road to an ethical Australia, which fully values the interests of all animals, may be long but we can accelerate<br />
the move towards this goal if we develop an understanding of what a vegan Australia would look like and what<br />
changes would be required. This goal is achievable and by moving towards an animal-free agricultural system, Australia<br />
can become an ethical world leader.<br />
To try to understand a future where animals are no longer exploited, <strong>Vegan</strong> Australia has explored different aspects<br />
of a vegan agricultural system for Australia. How the land use, food security, environment, the economy, employment<br />
and other areas would be affected by moving to a vegan agricultural system. The aim is to prepare a plan for<br />
this vegan agricultural transition answering questions about what Australia would look like and how this could be<br />
achieved.<br />
Justification<br />
The case for moving towards a vegan agricultural system is based on the understanding that the use of animals for<br />
food, clothing or any other purpose<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
results in suffering and exploitation of animals;<br />
is unnecessary for human health and wellbeing;<br />
is wasteful of land and food suitable for human consumption contributing to hunger and famine; Eighty percent<br />
of starving children live in countries that actually have food surpluses - the children remain hungry because<br />
farmers feed the grain and legumes to animals instead of people.<br />
produces various pollutant streams (sewage, methane, anti-biotics, etc.);<br />
is a main driver of climate change;<br />
is harmful to other species and ecosystems;<br />
is the main user of fresh water globally; Fresh water is becoming a scarce resource and is excessively used for<br />
the production of animal products. The lack of fresh water is a major cause of disease transmission, especially<br />
amongst the world's poor.<br />
is responsible for 80% of deforestation. Deforestation is often in areas occupied by indigenous people and their<br />
rights and interests are often ignored.<br />
19
ture System for Australia<br />
<strong>Vegan</strong> Australia Transition Principles<br />
This study uses sound economics and agricultural and environmental science to outline the transition and<br />
the changes in land use and agriculture are guided by the following principles.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
There should be no negative effects on the availability of food (locally or for export) to provide for a<br />
healthy population. The changes will result in different food types being available, but the consumption<br />
levels for all essential macro and micro nutrients should be maintained or enhanced.<br />
The changes should maintain or improve current living standards.<br />
Costs, including monetary and externalities such as environmental costs, should not be deferred to<br />
future generations.<br />
The changes should protect the state of the environment and maintain food and water security.<br />
Any economic and employment impacts should be minimised and alternatives investigated.<br />
Where economic and employment impacts are unavoidable, the costs of these must be met by society<br />
in general and not left to landholders and workers to bear. No individual should be disadvantaged.<br />
Consumers respond to changes in social attitudes and economic conditions, reflecting cultural<br />
changes, changing attitudes to eating meat as well as price fluctuations.<br />
Rural Australians will play a crucial role in the transition to a productive, healthy, ethical, ecological<br />
land management approach and accurate valuation of ecosystem services and innovative financial<br />
incentives will be required to enable them to restore and strengthen vital ecosystem services.<br />
Shared responsibility will be crucial to ensure fairness. Moving to an animal-free agricultural system will<br />
result in significant changes to large areas of Australia, potentially impacting the lives and livelihood of a<br />
number of people. The changes will result in major benefits to the environment and climate and these<br />
benefits will be shared by all Australians. To ensure that rural Australians are not asked to shoulder this<br />
burden by themselves, the economic costs of these changes must be shared by society.<br />
Land use<br />
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This section looks at options for reusing land that is currently used for animal agriculture in Australia. It quantifies<br />
how much land is currently used for animal farming and then describes how this land could be reused<br />
for other purposes, that do not involve the use of animals.<br />
Since European settlement, the Australian continent has been extensively modified by animal agriculture,<br />
with livestock (mainly cattle, sheep and dairy) grazing native or modified pastures on 56% of the continent.<br />
About 3.5% of land is used to grow plant foods for humans.<br />
The area of the Australian continent is about 770 million hectares (Mha). Of this, 429 Mha (56%) are used to<br />
graze beef, sheep and dairy. In addition, 3 Mha are used for fodder crops to be fed to farmed animals and 4<br />
Mha are used to grow grain to be fed to farmed animals. This compares to the 20 Mha used to grow plant<br />
foods for humans (both domestic consumption and export). About 30% of feed for dairy cattle comes from<br />
crops and up to to 90% of the food given to farmed chickens and pigs are grains fit for human consumption.<br />
In agricultural analysis, Australia is often divided into intensive and extensive land-use zones. The intensive<br />
zone covers eastern Australia and south-west Western Australia. The main agricultural activities in the intensive<br />
zone are cropping, pastoral production and dairying, with an average annual value of agricultural production<br />
of about $193 per hectare. The rest of the continent makes up the extensive land-use zone. The extensive<br />
zone is arid or semi-arid and is not suitable for cropping. The main agricultural activity is grazing<br />
sheep and cattle on native vegetation, with an average annual value of agricultural production of only $3.35<br />
per hectare. In parts of Northern Australia the land is used very inefficiently by raising cattle, taking up to 50<br />
hectares to support just one animal.<br />
Animal agriculture uses over 430 Mha (well over half) of Australia's land mass, consisting of about 300 Mha<br />
in the extensive zone and 100 in the intensive zone. We estimate that about 2.9 Mha would be required to<br />
grow the extra plant foods for domestic and overseas human consumption. This would leave vast areas of<br />
land available for other uses beneficial to people and wildlife. Possible uses include the following. (Note that<br />
the suggested areas are very approximate.)<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
land currently used for both cropping and grazing should be used solely for cropping (35 Mha)<br />
extra forestry for timber logging (1-5 Mha)<br />
carbon farming (sequestering carbon dioxide) by regrowing vegetation, enriching the soil (100 Mha)<br />
would enable the land use sector to become a sink for emissions from other sectors, such as power generation<br />
and transport.<br />
biochar production from tree crops (1-5 Mha)<br />
restoration of rangelands (200 Mha)<br />
sequestering carbon dioxide in soil and vegetation<br />
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providing native habitat for endangered species<br />
increasing biodiversity<br />
reducing erosion and soil loss<br />
reducing salinisation<br />
improve water quality<br />
new irrigation schemes in Northern Australia (1.5Mha)<br />
Wooleen Case Study Western Australia<br />
One interesting example of a change in<br />
land use in line with a vegan agricultural<br />
system is the destocking and regeneration<br />
of the rangelands at Wooleen Station<br />
in Western Australia. This land had<br />
been over-grazed for over 100 years resulting<br />
in most of the prime land being in<br />
poor or very poor condition with some of<br />
it being badly eroded and degraded to<br />
the point where it was never expected to<br />
recover. The situation at Wooleen is typical<br />
of neighbouring areas and in fact of<br />
much of the Australian rangelands.<br />
In 2007, the leaseholders of the 200,000 hectare station "Wooleen" decided to completely destock the entire<br />
property for four years. The re-establishment of the vegetation "has progressed much better than expected".<br />
A multitude of plants re-appeared, including the slow growing, but sturdy, saltbush. This regrowth occurred<br />
because cattle were no longer grazing and despite a long drought. Some plants returned to areas where they<br />
were never expected to grow. Plant and animal species threatened with extinction also began to return. Perennial<br />
plants, crucial to restoring the land, were among those re-established.<br />
The image above shows the transplanting of native grasses into flowing creek lines<br />
after good rains.<br />
During the time when no farmed animals grazed, grasses were planted and infrastructure was changed to replicate<br />
the natural systems that had been lost, culminating in the Roderick River flowing clear of eroded sediment<br />
for the first time in living memory. In just four years, a red river had been turned clear by removing<br />
farmed animals from the land and restoring some of the natural systems. "Nature is bouncing back." Please<br />
see video presentation on the regeneration at Wooleen.<br />
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Monitoring Photo—Wooleen Lake Bed<br />
Before 2004 After 2009<br />
In Australia, most grazing land is owned by the state and leased to farmers. It is interesting to note that a<br />
condition of the lease is that the land must be stocked with farmed animals. The majority of income must<br />
come from grazing. Other uses, such as tourism, are not encouraged. In fact, the leaseholders of Wooleen<br />
had to wait one year for permission from the Pastoral Lands Board to remove stock from the property.<br />
These unhelpful regulations act as barriers to change and will need replacing to be more in line with present<br />
day needs of the country. The success of this case study in such a short time suggests that it may be<br />
possible to restore land quickly and without great expense in many parts of Australia.<br />
<strong>Vegan</strong> Australia is supporting this research and are looking for funding to be able to progress this project as<br />
quickly as possible. They are also looking for other researchers to work on parts of it. If you can assist in any<br />
way, please email Greg McFarlane at greg@veganaustralia.org.au<br />
The next issue of <strong>Vegan</strong> <strong>Sustainability</strong> will feature Part 2 of this article where <strong>Vegan</strong> Australia explore the<br />
effects of transitioning to a <strong>Vegan</strong> Agriculture System from an economic, environmental, and health perspective<br />
including what steps need to be taken to make it happen.<br />
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The Kimmela Centre for<br />
Animal Advocacy<br />
The Kimmela Centre for Animal Advocacy was founded by Dr. Lori Marino who is a neuroscientist and<br />
expert in animal behavior and intelligence, formerly on the faculty of Emory University. She is internationally<br />
known for her work on the evolution of the brain and intelligence in dolphins and whales and<br />
comparisons to primates.<br />
Dr. Lori Marino<br />
Kimmela is a Native American word for butterfly, the most widely recognized symbol of transformation<br />
in nature. Kimmela are devoted to transforming our relationship with other animals from exploitation to<br />
respect by combining academic scholarship with animal advocacy.<br />
It is the only organization focusing exclusively on bridging the gap between academic research and<br />
scholarship and on-the-ground animal advocacy efforts. A “think and do tank” dedicated to moving beyond<br />
debate and theoretical discourse into real-world animal advocacy applications. It empowers animal<br />
advocacy by connecting it with science and scholarship in order to transform attitudes and behavior<br />
toward other animals.<br />
They have a great website with links to a lot of other organisations doing important work in protecting<br />
and understanding our animal kin.<br />
(article from the Kimmela website, edited by James O'Donovan)<br />
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The Nonhuman Rights Project<br />
Q&A about the Nonhuman Rights Project<br />
Q: What is the Nonhuman Rights Project?<br />
A: It is the first and only organization petitioning courts<br />
to recognize that, based on existing scientific evidence,<br />
certain nonhuman animals – specifically great apes,<br />
dolphins, and elephants – are entitled to such basic legal<br />
rights as bodily liberty and integrity.<br />
Q: What exactly is the “scientific evidence” on which<br />
you base your claims?<br />
A: Our legal claims are based on the best scientific<br />
findings on genetics, intelligence, emotions and social<br />
lives of these animals showing they are self-aware,<br />
autonomous beings. Our work is supported by an international group of the world’s most respected primatologists.<br />
Q: Who have been your plaintiffs so far?<br />
A: In December 2013, we filed lawsuits on behalf of all four chimpanzees currently imprisoned in New York<br />
State. Those cases are currently making their way through the appellate courts as we prepare our next series<br />
of suits.<br />
Q: Specifically what rights are you seeking?<br />
A: The right to bodily liberty – i.e. not to be imprisoned.<br />
Q: By bodily liberty, do you mean they should all be set free?<br />
A: We argue that our first chimpanzee plaintiffs should be freed, then transferred to a sanctuary where<br />
they can live out their days with many other chimpanzees in an environment as close to the wild as is possible<br />
in North America.<br />
Q: Your first plaintiffs are chimpanzees, and you are also talking about elephants, whales and dolphins.<br />
What’s next after that? Dogs and pigs?<br />
A: Our plaintiffs will be animals for whom there is clear scientific evidence of such complex cognitive abilities<br />
as self-awareness and autonomy. Currently that evidence exists for elephants, dolphins and whales,<br />
and all four species of great apes. So, for the foreseeable future, our plaintiffs are likely to come from these<br />
three groups.<br />
Q: Why do you talk about “nonhuman animals”?<br />
A: Humans are animals; people tend to forget that. Under current law, the only animals recognized as having<br />
legal rights are humans.<br />
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At VSM we believe that all species should be able to live out their lives free from<br />
human imprisonment, abuse, or interference.<br />
The Nonhuman Rights Project is working in the US to establish a legal precedent for<br />
these rights using the court system.<br />
Q: Don’t rights come with responsibilities? If you can’t be responsible, then you can’t have rights.<br />
A: Not true. Millions of humans have fundamental rights that are not linked to responsibilities. Children and<br />
physically or mentally impaired adults cannot bear responsibilities, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have<br />
legal rights. You can’t just lock them up or use them for entertainment (at least not anymore).<br />
Q: Surely human rights are only for humans.<br />
A: That’s right. Human rights are for humans. Chimpanzee<br />
rights are for chimpanzees. Chimpanzees do not need the<br />
right to vote, for example, but they do need the right not to<br />
be held captive in shocking conditions in laboratories or<br />
roadside zoos.<br />
Q: Haven’t other organizations tried to do this before?<br />
A: No. The Nonhuman Rights Project is the first organization to demand legal rights for a nonhuman animal<br />
in a court of law. Other organizations have sought protections for certain animals through legislation. But no<br />
one has ever used the legal system to demand a legal right for a nonhuman animal.<br />
Q: What is the distinction between animal rights and animal welfare? Which are you focused on?<br />
A: Animal welfare is about providing better conditions for animals – for example in circuses and laboratories.<br />
There are thousands of animal welfare groups doing this important work.<br />
The Nonhuman Rights Project is the only group demanding legal rights for any nonhuman animal. This is<br />
about the legal system recognizing that at least some nonhuman animals have legal rights that can be enforced<br />
on their behalf, just as human children have legal rights that their parents can enforce on their behalf.<br />
We are asking the courts to recognize, for the first time, that these cognitively sophisticated, autonomous<br />
beings are legal persons who have the basic right to not be held in captivity.<br />
Q: What do you mean by “legal person”?<br />
A: A legal person is an entity capable of having legal rights. These have included humans, fetuses, corporations,<br />
and ships. (Even, in Indian courts, idols and holy books have been granted legal personhood.) It’s society’s<br />
way of acknowledging that an entity counts in the law.<br />
Not long ago, men generally agreed that women and children could not be legal persons, but were simply<br />
the property of men. In this country we said the same thing about African-American slaves. We are asserting,<br />
based on clear scientific evidence, that it’s time to take the next step and recognize that certain nonhuman<br />
animals cannot continue to be exploited as property.<br />
Q: Why are you going to court rather than trying to pass legislation?<br />
A: Courts are where a plaintiff goes to enforce rights and obtain justice. State legislatures and the U.S. Congress<br />
enact statutes, but common law state judges make law, too, based on precedents and their sense of<br />
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what is right, good and just. (Contract and tort law are almost entirely<br />
common law.) Our argument that a chimpanzee, for example,<br />
is entitled to the basic right to bodily liberty is based on precedents<br />
and what is right, good and just.<br />
The common law is deliberately flexible. It changes and adapts as<br />
morality changes and new experiences and scientific facts come to<br />
light. Evidence is mounting every day that certain nonhuman animals<br />
are extraordinarily cognitively complex. The common law is<br />
ideally suited to recognize this.<br />
Q: How can people get involved in the Nonhuman Rights Project?<br />
A: We work with the help of volunteer lawyers, scientists, biologists, natural scientists, mathematicians and<br />
predictive analytics professionals, as well as with people who are spreading the word about our work<br />
through their social networks.<br />
Over the coming years, we will be filing as many cases as we can afford, so contributions are very important,<br />
too. We also need funds to help establish sanctuaries for the animals we’re working to free from captivity.<br />
Q: Why should it matter to people that animals should have legal rights?<br />
A: Abraham Lincoln put it best: “In giving freedom to the slave, we assure freedom to the free.” When you<br />
deny freedom to anyone who deserves it, you undermine the freedom of everyone.<br />
You can find out more about the Nonhuman Rights project on their website.<br />
Book Review:<br />
How Not to Die<br />
By Michael Greger MD<br />
The vast majority of premature deaths can be prevented through simple changes in diet and lifestyle. In How Not<br />
to Die, Dr. Michael Greger, the internationally-recognized lecturer, physician, and founder of NutritionFacts.org,<br />
examines the fifteen top causes of death in America (and in most countries around the world) – heart disease,<br />
various cancers, diabetes, Parkinson’s, high blood pressure, and more – and explains how nutritional and lifestyle<br />
interventions can sometimes trump prescription pills and other pharmaceutical and surgical approaches, freeing<br />
us to live healthier lives.<br />
The simple truth is that most doctors are good at treating acute illnesses but bad at preventing chronic disease.<br />
Around the world the 15 leading causes of death now claim the the majority of people’s lives each year. This<br />
doesn’t have to be the case. By following Dr. Greger’s advice, all of it backed up by peer-reviewed scientific evidence,<br />
you will learn which foods to eat and which lifestyle changes to make to live longer.<br />
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History of prostate cancer in your family? Put down that glass of milk and add flaxseed to your diet. Have high<br />
blood pressure? Hibiscus tea can work better than a leading hypertensive drug—and without the side effects.<br />
What about liver disease? Drinking coffee can reduce liver inflammation. Battling breast cancer? Consuming<br />
soy is associated with prolonged survival. Worried about heart disease (our #1 killer)? Switch to a whole-food,<br />
plant-based diet, which has been repeatedly shown not just to help prevent the disease, but arrest and even<br />
reverse it.<br />
In addition to showing what to eat to help prevent the top 15 causes of death, How Not to Die includes Dr.<br />
Greger’s Daily Dozen – a checklist of the foods we should try to consume every day (as shown on below). Full<br />
of practical, actionable advice and surprising, cutting edge nutritional science, these doctor’s orders are just<br />
what we need to live longer, healthier lives.<br />
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All proceeds Dr. Greger receives from all book sales are donated to the 501c3 nonprofit charity<br />
www.nutritionfacts.org which is the best website we have found for peer reviewed scientific studies on the<br />
health benefits of a plant based diet.<br />
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<strong>Vegan</strong> <strong>Sustainability</strong> in the News<br />
A roundup of the main vegan and sustainability news stories from the past few months..<br />
London bombarded by vegan advertising campaigns in January<br />
Three of the world’s largest vegan advocacy organisations ran vegan advertising campaigns concurrently<br />
in London during the month of January. The Go <strong>Vegan</strong> World campaign ran ads on buses, taxis, billboards<br />
and video screens throughout the city. The ads launched in late December and early January in<br />
London, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Leicester, Newcastle and Bristol. Check out their brilliant<br />
free <strong>Vegan</strong> Guide.<br />
Simultaneously, PETA replaced every advert at Clapham<br />
Common tube station with a vegan poster. 60<br />
adverts in total showed photos of pigs, cows and<br />
chickens with the slogan "I'm ME, Not MEAT”.<br />
Meanwhile, <strong>Vegan</strong>uary, the charity that encourages<br />
people to go vegan for the month of January, had<br />
2,500 ads displayed inside London’s tube trains. The<br />
campaign started on the 15 th of December and ran<br />
until January 2 nd . It was crowdfunded by the vegan<br />
community. The ads featured three animals – Rocky<br />
the calf, a chick called Little Eric and a piglet named<br />
Ernie – who urge passengers to read their stories and<br />
join thousands of others around the world who choose to eat no animal products at all in January. The<br />
group described it as the biggest vegan campaign ever featured on the London Underground. <strong>Vegan</strong>uary<br />
also have a really good <strong>Vegan</strong> Starter Kit<br />
EU members demand Europe shifts to plant-based diet<br />
24 members of the EU parliament signed a letter to the European Commission President insisting on a<br />
reduction in animal agriculture and recommending a shift to a plant-based diet. The letter outlines the<br />
dangers posed by animal products to human health and the environment. It also recommends that EU<br />
policy should aim at a 30% reduction in the consumption of animal-based foods by 2030, and that the<br />
consumption of fruits and vegetables over meat be encouraged by means of an overhaul of the agricultural<br />
subsidies system which currently incentivises meat production.<br />
The five page letter can be read here.<br />
Fur Farming in Japan and Croatia comes to an end<br />
Since 2006 it has been illegal to establish any new mink farms in<br />
Japan. However, existing farms were allowed to continue operating<br />
and the Otsuka mink farm was the last remaining fur farm in<br />
the country. Its closure at the end of 2016 marks the end of the<br />
industry there.<br />
From the 1 st of January <strong>2017</strong> fur farming was also outlawed in<br />
By Bronwyn Slater<br />
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Croatia. The introduction of the new law comes after a 10-year-long phase out period. Despite strong resistance<br />
from the fur industry, the government listened to concerned citizens and animal rights groups in coming<br />
to its decision. Celebrity Sharon Osborne’s video in partnership with PETA was described as instrumental in<br />
bringing awareness to the cruel chinchilla fur industry there.<br />
Bird Flu results in a cull of 22 million birds in South Korea<br />
More than 22.5 million poultry were killed amid the worst<br />
bird flu epidemic in farms across South Korea in recent<br />
times. Korea has suffered several bird flu outbreaks since<br />
2003 but the outbreak in the winter of 2016, caused by the<br />
highly pathogenic H5N6 strain of bird flu, has been described<br />
as the worst ever. The flu also spread to the local<br />
zoo which had to be closed. These diseases can spread to<br />
other wildlife and can also kill people. 36 people were killed<br />
in the last major outbreak in mainland China in 2013.<br />
In 2014 South Korea culled 14 million birds amid a bird flu<br />
outbreak. As of the end of March, 2016 the country had<br />
killed more than 156 million chickens and more than 9.5<br />
million ducks, according to government data.<br />
On Keeping a <strong>Vegan</strong> or a Vegetarian Diet<br />
by Matthieu Ricard<br />
“It just takes just one second to decide to stop. The<br />
main reason not to eat meat and fish is to spare another's<br />
life. This is not an extreme perspective. This is a<br />
most reasonable and compassionate point of view.”<br />
My first Buddhist teacher, Kangyur Rinpoche, was a<br />
very strict vegetarian (meaning a vegan diet). I was inspired<br />
by him and also by a deep inner reasoning that<br />
suddenly became obvious to me. I never hunted in my<br />
life, but did go fishing sometimes when I was a little boy in Brittany. When I was 13 years old, a thought<br />
bloomed in my mind “How can I do something like that”? I realized that I was totally avoiding putting myself<br />
in the place of the other. And when I was 20, I gave up eating meat. That was 50 years ago.<br />
The heart of the Buddhist path is compassion. That means to value others. If you value others, you value their<br />
wellbeing and are concerned by their suffering.<br />
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We can find the means to survive without causing suffering to others. In India for example, there are over 400<br />
million vegetarian people who survive well. They are not sacrificing their health or reducing their life span. In<br />
fact, even from a selfish standpoint, it is better to be a vegetarian. Many studies have shown that red meat increases<br />
the incidences of colon cancer and other illnesses.<br />
However, the main reason to stop eating animals is to spare others' life. Today, 150 billion land animals and 1.5<br />
trillion sea animals are killed for our consumption. We treat them like rats and vermin and cockroaches to be<br />
eliminated. This would be called genocide or dehumanization if they were human beings.<br />
”the main reason to stop eating animals is to spare others’ life”<br />
We even go one step further with animals: we instrumentalize them. They become objects. They become the<br />
pig industry, sausage or meat factories. Ethically you cannot imagine progressing toward a more altruistic or<br />
more compassionate society while behaving like this.<br />
Eating meat reveals another selfishness in terms of other fellow human beings. Rich countries consume the<br />
most meat: about 100 kilos per year per inhabitant in the USA, compared to about 3 kilos in India. The more<br />
the GDP of a country increases, usually so does the amount of meat consumption.<br />
In order to produce one kilo of red meat, you need ten to sixteen kilos of vegetable proteins. This is at a cost to<br />
the poorest section of humanity. With two acres of land, you can feed fifty vegetarians or two meat eaters. The<br />
775 million tons of soy and corn that are used for industrial farming could be used for feeding people who are<br />
in need.<br />
The United Nations International Panel on Climate Change, a group that is not particularly fanatical about being<br />
vegetarian, recommends that we start by just eating less meat. This is one of the easiest ways to reduce global<br />
warming and could make a huge difference to the rate of climate change. The reason is that industrial farming<br />
causes the production of methane. Methane is thirty times more active in creating global warming than CO 2 .<br />
Agriculture is the second main factor for global warming before industry and transportation!<br />
It just takes one second to decide to stop. It doesn't create any huge chaotic changes in our life. It's just that we<br />
eat something else. It's so simple. A small effort can bring a very big result for animals, for the disadvantaged,<br />
for the planet, for our own health. A sensible mind can see this is not an extreme perspective. This is a most<br />
reasonable, ethical, and compassionate point of view.<br />
Matthieu Ricard is a Tibetan Buddhist Monk, an international best-selling author and a prominent speaker<br />
on the world stage, celebrated at the World Economic Forum at Davos, forums at the United Nations, and at<br />
TED where his talks on happiness and altruism have been viewed by over seven million people. He is a charismatic<br />
figure who has captured the minds and hearts of people all over the world. He is also the author of A<br />
Plea for the Animals, The Moral, Philosophical, and Evolutionary Imperative to Treat All Beings with Compassion,<br />
Shambhala Publications 2016. You can view his video entitled ‘On keeping a vegan or vegetarian diet’<br />
here.<br />
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<strong>Vegan</strong> <strong>Sustainability</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong><br />
Website: www.vegansustainability.com<br />
E-mail: info@vegansustainability.com<br />
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