DEBATE: With Earth Day coming up this week, Claire Hamlett reports on the first panel discussion held by Viva! Farming in which the future of sustainable farming - animal-free or not? - was discussed. Panellists included veganic farmer Iain Tolhurst, animal welfare expert Professor Andrew Knight and ProVeg Vice President Jasmijn de Boo.

In February, vegan charity Viva! launched a new initiative - Viva! Farming. Its purpose is to help farmers transition away from using animals in agriculture, providing them with the information and support they need to do so. Last night Viva! hosted an online event to share a recording of a panel discussion they held as part of Viva! Farming’s launch, during which participants debated the question “Is the future of sustainable farming animal-free?” The panel features speakers in favour of veganic farming as well as several in favour of keeping animals as part of the system. There was also a Q&A with Iain Tolhurst, who has been growing crops on his Oxfordshire farm for decades without any animal or synthetic inputs.

The kind of veganic (both animal-free and organic) farming that Tolhurst does and that Viva! Farming is advocating occupies a small but growing niche in the British agricultural landscape. According to the Vegan Organic Network, which has developed a set of veganic standards and has a certification scheme, there are around 22 veganic farms operating in the UK and Ireland. Organic farms typically use fertiliser from animal inputs - manure and meal made from blood, bones, feathers, and fish - often derived from damaging farming systems. Veganic farms instead fertilise the soil using green manure, compost teas, and other regenerative soil-building techniques. 

There are critical environmental, moral and public health arguments for moving away from animal-based agriculture. These were highlighted in the panel discussion by the speakers for the vegan side, which included Professor Andrew Knight and Jasmijn de Boo, the Vice President of ProVeg International. As far as growing crops using animal-based fertiliser goes, the problems involve the potential for pathogens to spread and can increase antimicrobial resistance when antibiotic residues are present. Using these fertilisers also supports the exploitation and killing of animals - something which vegans, at least, clearly want to avoid. 

On the ‘opposition’ side of the panel - those who believe the future of sustainable farming still involves animals - sat, among others, Richard Young, Policy Director of the Sustainable Food Trust, and Dr Julia Wright from Coventry University. Their arguments were generally familiar, repeating claims that have been shown to be false. Soil needs animal manure to be healthy (farms like Tolhurst’s clearly show otherwise). People need meat to be healthy (nope). Two-thirds of UK land is only suited to growing grass and can’t grow food for direct human consumption (there’s a third option: it could be rewilded). Veganism is elitist. But there was some common ground between the two camps, which we recap below, along with a few other key takeaways that came out of the panel discussion and the Q&A with Tolhurst afterwards.

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1. Everyone wants to see the end of factory farming

This was the sentiment on which all the panellists most agreed. Perhaps animal farmers could get behind the SCRAP Factory Farming campaign, in that case?

2. Subsidies are skewed and transitioning can be expensive

The two veganic farmers on the panel - Tolhurst and former undercover farm investigator Rich Hardy - both said they farm without any help from subsidies. The European subsidy scheme (CAP), which is being phased out in the UK, has mostly been directed to animal farmers and those growing crops which are turned into both human food and animal feed. The scheme replacing it will pay farmers for delivering environmental services, but the UK government has still not taken the opportunity to help farmers diversify away from animal farming - which would be the most beneficial option for the environment.

In the Q&A, Tolhurst discussed the expense that can come with transitioning from one type of farming to another due to having to change equipment or make other alterations to the farm. There is nothing currently to help farmers cover this cost if they want to move towards plant-based agriculture.

3. More research needed

Tolhurst’s is the longest-running farm and thanks to its abundance of biodiversity, good soil health and high productivity, has worked with scientists to run on-farm trials to see how it could make further improvements and be replicated elsewhere. Other studies have been carried out on farms such as one in Greece that uses ‘biocyclic’ vegan techniques.

But overall, there remains a dearth of research into veganic farming and how it could be scaled up. There is also a lack of knowledge in the farming sector about how to farm without animal-based inputs. More investment in research and knowledge-sharing would help to build on what is already known about veganic farming.

4. We could use way more land to grow our own crops

A key point from some pro-veganic panellists was that the UK produces only 23 per cent of its fruit and vegetables, and uses only one per cent of its agricultural land for this purpose. This could go up a lot if there were more help through subsidies and other funding sources for research and development on growing, for example, protein crops like lentils to help feed the increasing demand for plant-based food. This is a point also made in a report published last year by the Vegan Society looking at how to create a plant-based food system in the UK.

As one of the favourite criticisms of vegan diets is that it requires lots of imported food, perhaps more support for growing plants-based food domestically is something everyone should get behind.

In general, then, the barriers to veganic farming breaking out of its niche seem more political and financial than anything. Hopefully Viva! Farming and other organisations like Farmers for Stock-free Farming can go some way to helping more farmers and newcomers into veganic farming until more systemic support is established.

The panellists:

“Yes, the future of sustainable farming is animal-free”:

• Kerri Waters, Farming Coordinator, Viva!

• Iain Tolhurst, Owner, Tolhurst Organic

• Jasmijn de Boo, Vice President, ProVeg International

• Professor Andrew Knight, Professor of Animal Welfare and Ethics, University of Winchester

• Rich Hardy, Co-founder, Lazy Meadow Vegan Farm

“No, the future of sustainable farming isn’t animal-free”:

• Caroline Drummond, Chief Executive, Linking Environment And Farming

• Richard Young, Policy Director, Sustainable Food Trust

• Christopher Price, Chief Executive, Rare Breeds Survival Trust

• Dr. Julia Wright, Associate Professor, Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience, Coventry University

Claire Hamlett is a freelance journalist, writer and regular contributor at Surge. Based in Oxford, UK, Claire tells stories that challenge systemic exploitation of and disregard for animals and the environment and that point to a better way of doing things.

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