Ok, truth be told, I was promted to set up this blog in responce to the comment that the discussion over livestock welfare, vegetarianism and land-use (that has been had on the TT mailing list) was becoming indignant. I disagree that it was becoming indignant and I really want to see all of these issue being discussed, if anyone has any opinions, information or questions about this and related issues, I think it is very useful to hear them all.
I found the gaudian article (Holy Cow) from the orginal message very interesting and have used the thread of related articles to creatre a display at Coleg Ceredigion questioning the future of the British countryside, and I have also discussed the issues at length with two of my sisters and my father who are small scale livestock farmers. So thank you, it has all be very interesting, and I believe, very timely!!
As you may have gathered from my e-mails on the matter, I am of the primatavist view point, whereby I believe we should reap the bounty of nature, with very little manipulation in the form of either cultivation or livestock farming. Therefore, I am also a tradgic idealist. I do not live in the way I believe I should because I live in a flat in a terraced house in a town in Wales in 2008. I merely point out an ideal which I would like to see the whole of society partisipate in.
These issues are very closely realted to my own research which focusses on early agriculture and environmental change. In the past I have been very interested in the Neolithic Transition period and environmental change in the Western British Isles, now I study the origins of agriculture in Africa. I have found that hunter gather communities are generally much better at buffering the consequences of environmental degradation and that transition to agriculture is a cultural process rather than a way of harnessing and increasing natures productivity. Indeed, there are many examples that in times of environmental degradation communities will revert to hunter gathering as it provides a higher quality and more reliable sustainence.
Regarding the grazing/re-wilding aspect. many man-made environments are benifical to bio-diversity. I have had the pleasure of working on the Dyfi NNR, Borth Bog would not be there if it were not grazed. However, livestock are not the only things that graze. Rabbits do a very good job (Ynyslas) and exclosures (fenses to keep out rabbits) on Scomer Island have shown the dramatic effect they have.
Any comments?
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3 comments:
Ok Charlotte, I'll carry on the debate here, off list, if it was annoying some people!
You express an interest in the issue.
Here is a link to one article
http://www.animalaid.org.uk/h/n/NEWS/news_veggie/ALL/1659//
I also have jpeg scans of an article in Animal Aid magazine which discusses these very issues. How do I display these on the blog?
The animal action site I am sure is very true. The lancet is not the type of journal where poor science is useually tolerated anyway, so i am sure there is every reason to believe it. It is talking about a general situation and I think people commenting on the list were trying to be much more specific and alsomuch more local.
The section on Horse racing was much more disturbing to me personally, I can not tolerate such mindless and pure abuse of animals, it might not impact on the environment or our helth as much but it is simple a-moral to use animals in such a way. If I register you for admin permission then you should be able to upload pictures, have you signed up to be a blog author, you need to so that I can give you those permissions.
Char
It would be interesting to carry on this discussion especcially as it relates to this region rather than purely in the abstract.
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