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Close up on stockless agricultureWhen, in 1944, a group of pioneers formed The Vegan Society to promote the value of a plant-based diet, orthodox medical opinion was hostile. Conventional wisdom held that it was impossible to live without animal products and that disease and premature death would be the inevitable outcome. Sixty years later all such doubts have been proven false. It is firmly established that a predominantly plant-based diet has nutritional advantages and that 'well-planned vegan and other types of vegetarian diets are appropriate for all stages of the life-cycle, including during pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood and adolescence' (The Journal of the American Dietetic Association, June 2003). For those who wish to see animal exploitation eliminated from the food chain, nowadays the challenge is not only to underline the fact that an animal-free diet is nutritionally adequate, but also to establish the ecological sustainability of food production methods that do not utilise any animal wastes. For it is still commonly argued that animal manure is irreplaceable in the maintenance of soil fertility - without which it is impossible to grow any crops. This belief lends added justification (and financial value) to the vast livestock industry, creating a demand for slaughterhouse by-products. The majority of commercial fertilisers - including organic varieties - contain blood and bone meal and/or chicken and cow manure. |
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Stockless agricultureThere are already a large number of small-scale food producers across the world (and many more individual gardeners) who practise what is known as stockless agriculture. Some do so as the result of circumstances where no animal manure is available, while others run projects that deliberately promote vegetarianism. An example of the latter is the Khadigar farming community in Farmingham US, who apply stockless composting methods on their 95-acre site to produce vegetables, oilseeds, grains, soya beans and other food legumes, plus soft fruits, green manures, flowers, herbs and flax. Khadigar is one of several working stockless enterprises thriving in the US, Europe and Africa. UK publicity for stockless methodsOne stock-free UK market garden that has received recent media attention has been the two-acre walled garden with 16 acres of field-scale production run by Iain Tolhurst (Tolly) in Berkshire. Using various green manure techniques, he produces vegetables for a local box system that is organic, wildlife-friendly and economically viable. He also stresses that the methods he has developed are suitable for use on small garden plots. When Tolly's enterprise was featured on BBC Radio's On Your Farm in February 2004, the presenter noted sympathetically that 'stockfree-organic is proactive, taking a step beyond protesting, beyond ideas to actually doing something'. UK researchLimited research into animal-free growing also indicates its viability. In the UK, a ten-year study at the Elm Farm Research Centre has concluded that 'stockless organic farming is a viable option in the UK. The potential constraints are nutrient supply, maintenance of soil fertility and structure. Weed, pest and disease control can all be satisfactorily achieved. The yields are comparable with other viable organic farms and under current economic conditions organic stockless systems are economically viable'. |
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Human wasteAnother source of soil fertility with enormous potential is human effluent. It is one of the more abiding irrationalities of humanity that many people are instinctively disgusted by the idea of using human waste, yet perfectly happy to use manure from what they consider to be inferior animal species. Meanwhile, we pay comparative fortunes for the treatment of sewage and still face some problems of water pollution when systems prove inadequate. Yet human effluent can be recycled as manure - provided that it is properly treated first. Techniques for doing so have been widely available since the 1970s, when the US Department of Agriculture revolutionised methods of recycling of organic wastes in aerated-static piles. Worldwide, several schemes exist. In Shanghai by the mid 1990s, some 90 per cent of wastes were gathered from human inhabitants of the city, then treated and sold to local farmers as compost. Nearer to home, visitors to the toilets at the Centre for Alternative Technology in Wales all contribute to a recycling system, which - after suitable treatment - produces compost for its flowerbeds and vegetables! Vegan-Organic TrustThere is now an organisation to promote stockless methods of food production called the Vegan-Organic Trust. Its aims include research, education, promotion and 'to offer practical help and organise courses'. Another core objective is 'to ensure that all animals, domestic and free, are treated with respect and can live without fear in a protected habitat'. For more information visit the Vegan-Organic Trust website at www.veganorganic.net. |
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