Veganism and soil depletion
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Jebus
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Veganism and soil depletion
What's a good reply to those who claim that veganism speeds up soil depletion?
How to become vegan in 4.5 hours:
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1.Watch Forks over Knives (Health)
2.Watch Cowspiracy (Environment)
3. Watch Earthlings (Ethics)
Congratulations, unless you are a complete idiot you are now a vegan.
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teo123
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Re: Veganism and soil depletion
Maybe that basically nobody today uses animal secretions and dead animals as fertilizers, but that the most effective way of fertilizing the ground is by growing clover and peas there, and that growing clover and peas is the way it's usually done today (and has been for centuries)?
I mean, I don't understand what people even mean when they say that. Growing large amounts of grain just to be fed to animals will speed up the soil depletion, rather than slow it down, that's the most basic common sense.
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brimstoneSalad
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Re: Veganism and soil depletion
It's just not based on anything. Animal agriculture is the main driver of soil depletion and desertification. Saying it's veganism that's to blame is just one of those points of counterfactual rhetoric anti-vegans like to spout without evidence... they usually appeal to Allan Savory and all of that pseudoscience about how grazing supposedly improves soil (it doesn't).
There ARE ways of growing plants that deplete soil (not that it can't be built back up again), but we're moving to no-till and that does the opposite.
No till farming of gran staples is fine. No till farming of legumes can actually add nitrogen to the soil too -- and who eats more legumes, vegans or meat eaters?
It's just very silly.
Also, a lot of vegan foods come from trees, which are the ultimate form of root biomass. Deep permaculture farming that brings nutrients from deep in the ground (where they're not accessible from topsoil) and deposits them on the surface. Animal agriculture isn't ever rooted in tree products.
You can make the argument that some organic farming promotes soil depletion because they're more likely to have to till (no till farming often relies on herbicide to kill off established plants instead of turning the soil over to bury them)... you can still do no till in organic, it's just harder and takes more time so I don't think most do it (aside from permaculture).
Non-organic vegan diets are beneficial to the soil vs. standard diets or those based on grazed meat.
You can say that *fish* doesn't deplete the soil, which in some cases (that is, aside from tilapia being fed grains) is true... it just depletes the ocean instead. Not sure if that's supposed to be better.
There ARE ways of growing plants that deplete soil (not that it can't be built back up again), but we're moving to no-till and that does the opposite.
No till farming of gran staples is fine. No till farming of legumes can actually add nitrogen to the soil too -- and who eats more legumes, vegans or meat eaters?
It's just very silly.
Also, a lot of vegan foods come from trees, which are the ultimate form of root biomass. Deep permaculture farming that brings nutrients from deep in the ground (where they're not accessible from topsoil) and deposits them on the surface. Animal agriculture isn't ever rooted in tree products.
You can make the argument that some organic farming promotes soil depletion because they're more likely to have to till (no till farming often relies on herbicide to kill off established plants instead of turning the soil over to bury them)... you can still do no till in organic, it's just harder and takes more time so I don't think most do it (aside from permaculture).
Non-organic vegan diets are beneficial to the soil vs. standard diets or those based on grazed meat.
You can say that *fish* doesn't deplete the soil, which in some cases (that is, aside from tilapia being fed grains) is true... it just depletes the ocean instead. Not sure if that's supposed to be better.