UK Farming methods - turning vege

nzmegs

I have recently decided to eat a fairly strict vegetarian diet as a response to the farming methods which the UK seems to be adopting over the last few years.

it takes an awful lot of land to produce beef and much of this is used to produce the grain which they are fed on. (we could be eating that ourselves...) Add to that the carbon which is produced both from the living animals and processing required once they are slaughtered.

I have to say that the dairy industry also seems terribly unfair for the farmer. Not to mention raising chickens in cages.

Yes I could turn to local farmers, but at the end of the day how can i truly be sure that they are not using intensive farming methods?

I just feel better knowing that I am eating plants and grains which have negligible impact on the environment - and are better for me. I try to buy local to minimise the distance travelled.

While i know that many vegetarians do it for the animals. I truly don't think like that, but i do believe that there are too many animals being reared for our purposes and it is damaging our environment.

For the money saving element, i have to say that eating vege is pretty cheap :j

Anyone else worried about these farming methods? i am hopeful someone might be able to enlighten me further as i am just starting to find out the truth behind it.

Sagz_2

I stopped eating meat about 15 years ago as I was not happy at the way animals are treated. I've nothing against eating meat, and if I can ever find cows, pigs or chickens that are treated with respect and kindness right up to the point of death I'd be first at the table!

Until then I'm considering the ethics of roadkill....

nzmegs

Thanks Sagz. I have always felt uncomfortable with eating meat without really knowing why. I have put myself in a difficult position though as all of my family still eat it. Currently I am eating my own meals.
I think many smallholders treat their animals well, but finding sources of that meat which is within my price range is difficult. On balance I think it is better to make the choice and stick with it. saying that you will eat it if the farmer can convince you it is reared in an ethical way might come across as having your cake and eating it too. I guess it is still supporting an industry which I don't agree with.

I read something earlier which stated that almost all farmed animals in the UK are fed soya (GM soya at that). When did soya become a natural food for animals to eat? When it became a cheap source of protein which makes animals fatter quicker I suppose?

Also a factory farm for cows is about to be built. 8000 cows which will never leave the confines of their shed and who are tethered to a milking machine for most of the day. Sounds like fun. the resulting slurry will be used to generate electricity apparently. Will their feed come from GM soya too and grain from who knows where? All this just so we can have cheap milk and beef burgers?

I really hate to bang on about it cause I really dislike poeple who shove stuff down your throat. But i am just surprised that epople don't realise what is going on. Cows don't live in fields anymore - who would have thought that?

rhiwfield

I've just ordered a book, Simon Fairlie's Meat, A benign extravagance, which was recommended to me on the greenfingered forum. George Monbiot wrote a piece on it.

You said "I just feel better knowing that I am eating plants and grains which have negligible impact on the environment - and are better for me"

FWIW I'd much rather have a dairy farm or grass fed beef for environmental reasons than arable deserts. I think you'll find that grazing animals are essential for UK biodiversity, rather more so than many (but not all) food crops

nzmegs

I would agree with you if animals were fed on pastures. grazing animals are good for the soil if they are correctly rotated. But my main issue is with animals which are raised solely in sheds and fed on things which they are not designed to eat such as grain and soya. The pastureland is then converted to growing this animal feed which depletes the soil.

If I could be sure that what I was buying was a grazing animal which hasn't had hormones injected into it, I might think again. Labelling won't tell me this. The definition of free range states that animals must have "access" to the outdoors. Does this mean they actually go outdoors or eat the grass?

paddyrg

nzmegs wrote: »

Yes I could turn to local farmers, but at the end of the day how can i truly be sure that they are not using intensive farming methods?

Simple, visit the farms. You will find many local farmers will welcome your visit and sometimes you can buy direct from them, or they can tell you which farm shops/butchers they supply. You can check the welfare of the animals and how they're reared. British farms are among the most animal-welfare concerned in the world, especially the organic ones, although you will find pretty much all British farmers care very deeply for their livestock. In fact as there's so little money in farming, a love for the livestock and life is just about the only thing to make farming worthwhile.

Kirri

nzmegs wrote: »

I would agree with you if animals were fed on pastures. grazing animals are good for the soil if they are correctly rotated. But my main issue is with animals which are raised solely in sheds and fed on things which they are not designed to eat such as grain and soya. The pastureland is then converted to growing this animal feed which depletes the soil.

If I could be sure that what I was buying was a grazing animal which hasn't had hormones injected into it, I might think again. Labelling won't tell me this. The definition of free range states that animals must have "access" to the outdoors. Does this mean they actually go outdoors or eat the grass?

Free range as in chickens is still very cruel, what I've seen of videos recently of a very large and well known 'free range' egg company is awful.. (Animal Aid or PETA or someone like that had videos) I didn't realise how bad free range can be, and although I don't eat meat, I at least get only organic eggs now.

Have you looked into organic farmed meat? I'd rather go for British organic if possible as that will be the best looked after, most natural animals hopefully, were you to buy it.

RAS

Go for lamb as a first choice; much harder to rear intensively and if you can find a source of hill lamb, it is eating stuff that would never be useful as human food. Ditto things like limestone beef.

Be much more careful about chicken and pork, as they both require grain as a rule.

In large chunks of the world, including much of Africa, grazing of livestock is essential to keep land productive http://www.savoryinstitute.com/

Gigervamp

Check out BigBarn for local organic meat suppliers. If you stick to a mostly veggie diet, you will then be able to afford the higher price for organic meat.

Also, regarding free range eggs, as more and more people are now keeping chickens, you might find someone locally selling their surplus eggs.
Hubby takes a couple of boxes a week into work to sell to his workmates. We only charge £1 per box of 6 eggs, so they're cheaper than the supermarkets too.