This is absurd, the world is going mad! Rather than using our brains to work with nature, by returning the countryside to its natural rhythm, you want to strong arm it with more BS technology that will take us backwards. The stats you spout here are taken from the worst types of farming, CAFO, which I deplore and which needs to change. These ideas are about profit, nothing else and never Human health which is much better served by eating real foods.
We need regenerative farms, as described by the Savory Institute. When managed correctly large mammals do not cause destruction but the complete reverse! The conditions being; sufficient natural predators in the environment (which there aren’t due to humans) natural migration is permitted (which is rare because of spreading human populations, desertification and fences and other man made borders) and finally the most realistic approach -which doesn’t involve mass human extinction post ripping up all fences- a well managed feeding rotation of large herbivores called holistic management and other terms.
Grasslands are carbon sinks, they absorb more carbon than forests by virtue of the fact that they are very fast growing and store the carbon in the soil (root system). This means that when a fire destroys forests -which is more and more common due to desertification (less humidity-rainfall) and river diversion to crops (think almond milk!) etc, in California last year 1,893,913 acres of forest were lost- the carbon is lost into the atmosphere, millions of tonnes in a few days. In the case of a wildfire in grasslands the carbon stays in the soil and regenerates, when large mammals are present, very quickly.
Grasslands are more biodiverse and provide the perfect free food for animals which should be eating grasses etc and not being forced to eat grain, which has to be grown somewhere and is heavily sprayed, transported etc etc. Cows that eat grass fart a lot too and produce more methane, but the methane thing is a different debate.
We can use regenerative farming techniques to reclaim land that has been turned into desert. Just look at a satellite image of the world, there is way too much yellow (desert) reflecting heat into the atmosphere every second, reducing biodiversity and doing nothing in terms of carbon sequestration. That is where the answer lies.
This farming method can mitigate flooding, drought, famine, war -people fight over resources in Africa all the time despite it being labelled something else (tribal, religion, race etc it’s just a way of joining a side)- and poverty all the time while reducing carbon in the atmosphere, supplying people with the worlds most nutritious food (animal produce) and providing stability to those areas of the world that need it most. You want to see what regenerative farming actually means to those doing it, it’s beautiful and gives us hope, watch this video from the Maasai in Kenya and this video from Mexico, real world people, get behind this not some product created by industry!
There’s no coincidence that those areas also have the most brittle climates. Brittle climates when interfered with by Human Beings break very quickly, the result, deserts, death, war and almost no advancements in society or technology,
We fortunate many, sit in our tight, new jeans drinking soy lattes in stylish cafes in cool parts of the urban environment utterly detached from nature and the real world. We have no memory or consciousness of what it is to be Human, to want, to be truly hungry or scared. We have even forgotten what our most nourishing food is, what a joke we have become.
We think that altruism is coming up with technology that makes us even richer and subjugates those in the third world without us ever having to see, thank God. Spouting nonsense like your article and farming technologies that actually worsen poverty whilst promising the opposite and enslaving thousands of people every day in debt and high powered legal contracts. Stay Down, know your place, they shout!
We test our technologies like GM crops and those chemicals that come hand in hand in areas of extreme poverty, areas where the people have no voice and can’t turn the offer of work down despite horrendous illness and injury exploding in their communities. We impose our civilisation on those people who are better off without it and we call that progress and give ourselves a pat on the back and a pay rise.
This Freudian use of technologies to reproduce food that is perfect is the most absurd thing I have ever heard and represents nothing more than our utter arrogance and detachment from the natural world. All the while, we drown in greed.
And all this coming from a species, the only species in fact, that destroys its own environment and is the least qualified to offer advice. We would be better handing it back to the dumb animals, much better.
Our approach to farming has been nothing but destructive; crop agriculture has been the most destructive industry since time began. For the past 10,000 years we have cut, slashed, shot, ploughed, killed and more recently poisoned our way to the trouble we are in now. Everywhere we go deserts follow.
Industrial agriculture of all kinds needs an overhaul and those enormous companies that are backing your ‘impossible burger’ and other abominations have the power to change it but are only concerned with their bottom lines. Why wouldn’t they be, except for the facts that I’ve mentioned herein i.e. destruction of the human race, not in my lifetime they whisper to themselves as they pick out the kitchen counter tops for their summer home.
How on earth is highly processed crap going to save the world? The ingredients:
As a nutrition professional I can tell you without skipping a beat this is pure junk. PURE JUNK! Synthetic vitamins and minerals replacing those that are beautifully in tune with our own biology, found in meat, nose to tail. And you talk about heme from soy, don’t make me laugh!
This is dangerous dogma based on shoddy and bias science that is being pushed by agencies working for some of the world’s biggest companies and we are falling for it hook line and sinker.
Those messages being pushed on us all day everyday; go vegan, save the world, eat less meat, sustainable -a marketing term now-, cow farts, carbon, feed the world with technologies and industrial farms, our chemicals and are facial recognition software for cows yadda yadda yadda.
It’s a disgrace. The messages we should be hearing are:
- Seek out those (local if possible) farms that use regenerative farming techniques and support them, pay more for your meats and veg.
- Do yourself a favour and eat less often, 1 or 2 per day is fine, and in smaller portions. Intermittent fast sometimes.
- Decrease refined carbs and replace with high quality fats and animal proteins to make meals more nutritious and less damaging to your hormones and the environment.
- Concern yourself with feeding your communities by supporting your local farmer and eating with the seasons for health and sustainability. Don’t buy into the feed the world BS, it’s a lie. We need to stop wasting food by reducing the logistics.
- Super foods are a marketing term and weigh heavy on the environment. Most of them are BS.
- Learn about how important soil health is and how industrial farming, both types, is damaging to it. Soil means life, simple as.
- STOP EATING JUNK FOODS .
- Modern diseases cannot be caused by old fashioned foods.
- Get outside more.
- Exercise more.
- Sleep for 8 hours a night.
- Love and be loved.
Ok, that’s a bit of a rant but this is a very serious matter. Do the research, the newspaper does not count and neither does Medium unless it’s supportive of your existing beliefs obvs! ha.
