A
proposed “super dairy” farm of 1,000 cows in Wales, United Kingdom
recently prompted concerns regarding animal welfare, additional noise,
and odor from local residents as well as from the organization
Compassion in World Farming.
Despite general public disfavor of
industrial-scale animal farms, as well as their associated environmental
impacts, it was estimated by environmental group Friends of the Earth
that in 2009, £700 million contributed by British taxpayers went toward
subsidizing factory farms of cows, pigs, or chickens in England.
Deputy
Leader Mr. Adrian Ramsay of England and Wales’ Green Party expressed
his concerns, saying that factory farming must end, for the benefit of
human health and animal welfare as well as to address climate change.
Adrian Ramsay – Deputy Leader, Green Party in England and Wales (M):
It’s clear that many of the public health scares we’ve had on issues
like BSE, avian flu, swine flu, have resulted from factory farming, from
intensive horrific conditions in which animals have been reared both in
the UK and elsewhere in the world.
Moving away from factory farming would really help us to tackle climate change, and there’s a number of reasons for that.
One
of them is the deforestation that’s happening in so many parts of the
world, which is affecting indigenous communities and wildlife, but it’s
certainly increasing climate change as well.
And one of the main
reasons for deforestation is clearing land for intensive rearing of
animals or for growing food to feed to those animals, when we know that
crop production is a far more efficient way of feeding people.
Of
course the emissions from intensive farming, including methane
emissions, are very substantial and have a real effect on the changes in
the environment that we’re seeing.
VOICE: Referring to the Green
Party’s own legislative efforts to address this problem, Mr. Ramsay
called for governmental support of local farmers’ markets and
environmentally friendly farming practices.
Adrian Ramsay – Deputy Leader, Green Party in England and Wales (M):
We want to promote organic farming. We want to make it easier for
farmers to go organic and to grow things more locally, and on a small
scale, wildlife-friendly way that preserves biodiversity, and we think
that the subsidies that go to farmers should be focused around achieving
these objectives, making it easier for farmers to do the green thing.
VOICE:
Our appreciation Deputy Leader Ramsay, Green Party members and all
other concerned advocates for your encouragement of sustainable food
production. May leaders everywhere end the destructive and cruel animal
industry by offering support for organic vegan farming practices.In an
interview published in the September 2009 edition of the British
Parliament's The House Magazine, Supreme Master Ching Hai spoke of the
optimal outcome for our Earth through plant-based food policies.
Supreme Master Ching Hai:The
government can support organic vegan farming through subsidies. They
can also redirect the funds away from the meat industries and instead
toward encouraging citizens to plant, to buy and to choose organic vegan
food. And when they do, we will soon have a lot of healthy, happy,
productive people, a restored green environment, and minimum climate
mitigation costs – something all governments can look forward to and
gain the enthusiastic support of all citizens.
If humans switch
to the vegan diet, the Earth will begin cooling immediately and many of
these dilemmas can even be reversed. So please, be veg and do good, to
save the planet and all the beings on it, including you and me.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-mid-wales-11074966 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/agriculture/farming/5225298/Taxpayers-forking-out-700-million-for-factory-farming-in-England.html