In order to help our farmers build a better future there have to be changes in our personal energy use, in particular our diet. This is easier for communities to achieve together than for individuals alone. Firstly our culture needs to change. Secondly we must support farmers, but in a different way. Farming is the life blood of the human race. It starts here;
Red Meat Consumption
At the heart of our difficulties is the worlds consumption of meat. Ideally for our world we would all be vegetarian. It is that simple. However that is not what we suggest at Earth and Leaf. We just need to eat less. In certain countries that means significantly less.
Why?
Sixty per cent of the weight of mammals on our globe are farmed or herded animals. Pigs, cattle, sheep and goats.
In the case of a beef animal the process turning vegetable material into meat is given the scientific term of Feed Conversion Ratio (FCR). A good ratio is 6 to 1. Approximately 50% of a carcass is inedible, the skeleton, many internal organs, gut contents, the head and feet etc. Therefore the Food Conversion Ratio to edible meat doubles to 12 to 1. Evidently, this is very difficult to justify when resources such as land are scarce.
Beef and dairy farming also produces lots of Methane, a dangerous greenhouse gas.
Some economies are very dependent upon production of red meat and also the arable feed products for these animals plus of course the world’s huge population of chickens.
The British Isles
These islands are self sufficient in Beef and consumption is falling.
We produce much more lamb than we consume. But, the story is complicated. We export and import lamb. Consumption is falling.
There’s a reason this little fella appears all over our site. He’s a traditional Belted Galloway. They are a relatively small breed of cattle, native to South West Scotland. They are very hardy and can live outside all year round. They are ideal for extensive upland grazing and perfect for the Shepherds of the Trees project.
Change
No-one really likes change.
Just Transition for Beef and Dairy Farmers
Of course, supermarkets will have to change too. Because they will not be able to sell red meat forever as a volume product. They will take that in their stride. We musts start once more to support our high street specialist butchers again.
Shepherds of the Trees
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