WE DON’T HAVE TO STOP EATING MEAT…

 

 

 

 

 

 

WE DO NOT HAVE TO STOP EATING MEAT BECAUSE OF THE CLIMATE. DISCUSSIONS AROUND THE PRODUCTION OF MEAT and the assumed impact this has on Climate Change become increasingly heated and emotional.

Facts are often replaced by opinions. More and more often a plant based diet is presented as the solution.

Let’s take the emotions out of it and have a look at the facts:

It does not make any difference if animals or plants are farmed non-regeneratively, the damage is the same. Simply put – a large monoculture of soy beans releases as much carbon from the soil and contributes to environmental damage as cattle intensively kept, especially when finished on grain. It does not make a difference, the damage is enormous.

The difference is not what we farm but how we farm.

REGENERATIVE FARMING methods drive Carbon out of the atmosphere back into the soils – this is called sequestration. 

Here comes the best part – with the help of livestock – I cannot only drive carbon back from the atmosphere into the soil much faster with than with plant-only-farming but I can replenish Soil Organic Matter (SOM) back into the topsoil with the help of livestock – especially ruminants – much faster than without.

So I can reverse environmental damage with a herd of cattle, pigs, sheep, horses, goats, poultry or a mix thereof much faster than if I only plant vegetables – roughly by the rate of 5 – depending on conditions of course.

The main driver of sequestering carbon back into the soil is the Microbiome in the soil –

all the bacteria and microorganisms who live underground. Animals help me to build up topsoil faster than plants-only can. They contribute manure and trample unused plants back into the soil. This builds up plant matter and allows more bacteria in the subsoil – my precious microbiome – where they multiply and do their miraculous restorative work.

So keep tucking into your steaks and enjoy! Just make sure they are not only pastured but come from farmers who are dedicated restorative soil improvers. Farmers who understand themselves as stewards of the land rather than owners and who are transparent about their methods. 

Contact me if you would like to learn more about the daily implications of restorative farm work, or just would like to have somebody to run ideas by. Looking forward to talking to you soon.

Cheers,

Stefanie Hildmann