Following the global outbreak of COVID-19, we know that many farmers (particularly those who supply the hospitality sector) have lost the majority of their markets almost overnight. We also know some farmers with established home delivery services, online sales or…
Methane emissions from the industrial sector have been vastly underestimated, according to new research from Cornell University and the Environmental Defense Fund. Published in Elementa, researchers equipped a Google Street View car with a high-precision methane sensor and discovered that…
While the cattle industry is repeatedly accused of being the main culprit for increased global methane emissions (and a leading cause for climate change), a new study shows that the fertiliser industry is the root cause. The report by researchers…
By Simon Fairlie. This article was originally printed in the Spring 2019 (Volume 4 Issue 2) of Sustainable Farming magazine. To read the full issue please visit agreenerworld.org.za/resources/sustainablefarmingmagazine. Ruminants, and particularly cattle, are habitually cast as climate villains, responsible for large…
It’s great to see the increased interest in certifying grassfed claims (after all, how else do you know they’re really true?) but it’s important to know which labels mean what. With all the new kids on the block, how does…
Reposting courtesy of our colleagues at AGW Global: The recently published EAT-Lancet Commission report, housed on the world-renowned Lancet site, proposes scientific targets for healthy diets and food production to ensure human health and environmental sustainability in the years to…
The way we farm and feed ourselves is a hot topic right now—and so it should be. While many of us have access to an abundance of so-called “cheap” food, it turns out that it’s not as “cheap” as we might think. All the evidence suggests that industrial farming is damaging our health, animals, and the planet we share. Hardly a day goes by without a food- or farming-related headline—whether it’s “Pink Slime” in our meals, obesity and diet-related ill health, the abuse of antibiotics in meat production, or belching cattle warming the planet.
Grazed and Confused?—the new report from the University of Oxford’s Food Climate Research Network—represents an important step forward in advancing our scientific knowledge on how we might feed ourselves sustainably.
Written by a number of eminent scientists involved in exploring sustainable food production, the report seeks to address a specific—but vital—question in the sustainable food debate: What is the role of grazing ruminants in contributing to or mitigating climate change?
It is therefore extremely disappointing to see this important report being widely misrepresented in the media and misused by those who are calling for an end to food animal production, or to discredit grassfed or pasture-based livestock operations in favor of other species or production models.
