Some animal rights activists and vegans believe that climate change, which according to the World Economic Forum is one of the biggest threats facing humankind, can be reversed if people stop eating meat and shift production and demand of animal-source foods to plant-based ones.
Most studies say animal agriculture contributes 14%-16% of all human greenhouse gas emissions.
However, the regenerative farming movement believes agriculture provides the best chance to address climate change on a huge scale, and encourages people to eat more grass-fed, or pasture-raised beef, especially if it is produced under a specific management method.
“Putting a stop to animal agriculture won’t reverse climate change. Animals are in fact the solution. If done in a way that is not destructive like conventional agriculture, and seeks to regenerate the soil, we will reverse the damage. The secret lies in the soil,” says Angus McIntosh, a regenerative farmer based in Stellenbosch. He provides a variety of meat and egg products under the Farmer Angus brand.
Biodiversity
Regenerative farming aims to increase biodiversity and enhance the ecosystem in a particular area by putting carbon back into the soil.
There is growing evidence of climate change throughout the world, and the threat it poses, including freshwater shortages, climate instability, and famine.
According to the UN framework convention on climate change, Africa is already feeling the effects of climate change, with extreme weather, such as crippling droughts, recorded in recent years. Africa’s high vulnerability to the effects of climate change is due to its economies’ dependency on agriculture, a sector acutely affected by climate fluctuations, according to researchers at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
McIntosh said regenerative farming can tackle climate change because “it’s a reversal of destructive agriculture which takes carbon out of the soil and puts it in the atmosphere”.
He explained that there are two ways that carbon is stored in the soil, which happens to be the safest place to store it, according to environmentalists.
Land has always been a powerful carbon sink, absorbing and storing excess carbon dioxide and slowing the effects of climate change.
The first method is during plant growth and the second is when the plant is grazed and root shedding or sloughing occurs.
On McIntosh’s farm, both these processes are supercharged through heavy animal concentration on the pasture followed by a long (six-week) recovery. Because there is an enormous concentration of animals there is a huge amount of manure and urine, which helps the grass regrow.
Having a big herd in a small space also ensures that all the plants are eaten and hence a lot of root shedding takes place during grazing.
This is what is known as true regenerative farming, said McIntosh.
“Agriculture is the best chance for addressing climate change on a massive scale. If all farmers, landscapers and gardeners aimed to rather invest in building the soil and stop poisoning it with chemical fertilisers and other toxic poisons like glyphosate, we will begin to recapture and store atmospheric carbon dioxide, and reverse climate change.”
He suggested that plant-based diets for humans potentially means the increased use of artificial fertilisers. Their production has been linked to higher methane emissions. Methane has been found to be 84 times more potent than carbon dioxide.
But, according to a report published in August by scientists for the UN’s intergovernmental panel on climate change (IPCC), switching to a plant-based diet can help fight climate change.
The report suggests that animal agriculture puts a lot of pressure on the environment, using many natural resources and producing large amounts of methane, an extremely potent greenhouse gas. Thus, according to the UN report, “a shift towards plant-based diets” is one of the most significant ways to reduce greenhouse gases from the agriculture sector.
“Some dietary choices require more land and water, and cause more emissions of heat-trapping gases than others,” said Debra Roberts, co-chair of IPCC working group II.
“Balanced diets featuring plant-based foods, such as coarse grains, legumes, fruits and vegetables, and animal-sourced food produced sustainably in low greenhouse gas emission systems, present major opportunities for adaptation to and limiting climate change,” she said.
While the ideal diet to save the planet is something that is debatable, it is clear that we are already facing a serious climate crisis that needs to be addressed proactively. It is a huge task that requires all hands on deck.
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