[SustainableTompkins] hybrid or vegetarianism

Wed Mar 21 09:50:11 PST 2007

Just a brief post to you all to say how much I have enjoyed this thread. It 
is gratifying and empowering to realize how much we are on the same page.

I have a question which in the overall scheme of things is pretty minor, 
but which came to mind as I was reading Erica's first post. How much carbon 
can a pasture sequester, compared to a forest or to a cropped field? While 
I completely agree that much of the generally rolling land around here is 
best suited to pasture (or forest), rather than tillage, I was surprised to 
have Erica suggest that pastures are so much better than tillage. On the 
face of it, I would expect them to be more like lawns. Not much carbon 
stored there.

Joel Gagnon

At 11:59 AM 3/21/07 -0400, you wrote:
>Hi everyone,
>
>Just wanted to weigh in on the interesting ongoing discussion about carbon
>emissions and industrial livestock production.
>
>Methane and cows:
>I think the fact that globally livestock production produces more carbon
>emissions than transportation is important for everyone to know. One point
>I would add to the article is that much of the methane produced by CAFO
>agriculture is due to poor manure storage and handling. When manure sits in
>lagoons it anaerobically breaks down, sending even more methane into the
>atmosphere. While I personally don't eat products from CAFOs, I am working
>professionally to find ways to minimize carbon emissions through composting
>and other manure processing technologies. Many dairies have chosen to
>harness the methane produced in their manure lagoons by installing
>anaerobic digesters, and then converting that methane into electricity. In
>fact one of the first digesters in America was built in a dairy just a few
>miles outside of Ithaca. As for the stinky issue (which is a really
>important one) I've eaten lunch inside a vermicomposting facility with
>literally tons of manure right next to me and it didn't smell at all. It's
>a complex situation and there are lots of people working different angles
>for solutions.
>
>I believe that encouraging all citizens (no matter where they are on the
>environmental awareness scale) to educate themselves about the complexity
>of these issues and make their own decisions based on their evolving
>understanding of the issues is much more important than putting out
>simplistic sound bites. I found the comment at the end of the article about
>becoming vegetarian instead of buying a hybrid car frankly insulting.
>Insulting to my intelligence as someone who has spent my whole life
>critically evaluating the environmental impact of my consumer choices, but
>also insulting to the intelligence of someone who is just now learning and
>thinking about these issues. Yes, hybrid cars are out of my price range
>too. But my personal choice is to not stop eating meat, but not to own a
>car (we're hoping to join Ithaca Car Share when they start in May), to walk
>and commute with TCAT, to grow my own vegetables, to have a winter CSA
>share etc. etc. Is buying a kiwi fruit flown on a jet from New Zealand
>really contributing less carbon to the atmosphere than buying a pasture
>raised organic pork roast from the county I live in? With a simplistic
>sound bite we're risking this kind of disconnect.
>
>These issues are so incredibly complex, as I'm sure everyone on this list
>understands. But when we, as food systems advocates, put out too simplistic
>a message we risk sounding like the food pyramid folks. 1980 "OK trust us,
>don't think for yourself, margarine is good for you" 2005 "OK, nevermind,
>trans fats in margarine are bad for you." How different is that than 1990
>"Buy anything organic and your conscience is clear" 2005 "Well, actually
>organic products are becoming more and more processed and coming from
>farther and farther away, so actually buying local might be a more
>sustainable choice". Would we be in this situation now if there had been
>more holistic consumer education throughout the rise of organics? If US
>consumers (citizens) had learned from the very beginning that sustainable
>food choices involve a mixture of important things from prioritizing
>sustainable production systems to minimizing processing, packaging and
>shipping. Then people could have been making their own choices all along
>instead of waiting for someone to tell them what the "right" choice is.
>
>My life has been incredibly enriched by my husband's and my ongoing effort
>to educate ourselves about sustainability and act on what we have learned.
>I believe we should respect the intelligence of every American and help
>them educate themselves on this issues. I remember being incredibly
>confused by the labeling in the produce department at People's Food Co-op
>where I volunteered every weekend. I kid you not there were 15 different
>types of tags. Certified organic, non certified organic, local family farm,
>biodynamic, in state, out of state, it was aggravating! But through being
>confronted daily with the complexity of the issue I feel like I learned and
>grew a lot from the experience. If we can't trust the American public to
>make informed consumer choices, how can we trust them to vote given the
>complexity of the current political situation? Education is the key.
>
>Big Bad Cornell and USDA:
>
>I'm well aware of the role both Cornell and the USDA have historically
>played in developing some of the practices that are now being criticized in
>industrial agriculture. But, by making generalizations like "Cornell and
>the USDA only support industrial farms" is again falling into that black
>and white thinking. While it's convenient to dismiss whole institutions on
>the basis of generalizations, understanding the complexity of the issue and
>taking time to advocate for your position is what a democracy is all about.
>The USDA spends your tax dollars, as citizens it is your agency too. Yes,
>big ag business has a huge lobby. But a tiny group of concerned citizens
>and farmers in Santa Cruz California (The Organic Farming Research
>Foundation) was instrumental in successfully lobbying congress to make USDA
>research funds available for organic production systems. One year there was
>no program, now two years later there is $14 M for organic research. We do
>ourselves a disservice when we succumb to feeling powerless in our own
>democracy. The USDA funds SARE (Sustainable Agriculture Research and
>Education www.sare.org), AFIC (Alternative Farming Information Center
>www.nal.usda.gov/afsic) and ATTRA (Appropriate Technology Transfer to Rural
>Areas http://ncat.attra.org). ATTRA's federal funding is on the chopping
>block...The press release from the National Campaign for Sustainable
>Agriculture: http://www.sustainableagriculture.net/ATTRAfunding.php. As
>seemingly messed up as our government may be, congressional representatives
>still listen to their constituents and this is something one phone call can
>help with. The USDA funded NEON, the Northeast Organic Network, a program
>of the Cornell Small Farms Program www.neon.cornell.edu. Also, on the three
>sisters farming system, one of the international leading experts on this
>system, Jane Mt. Pleasant is a professor in the Department of Horticulture
>and the director of the American Indian Program at Cornell. Cornell is the
>land grant institution for NY state. That means everyone has a say. Again,
>I'm not saying that the system is perfect and all voices are equally
>considered. But looking at other states, like Iowa, grassroots groups of
>farmers and citizens have been able to successfully get the ear of the land
>grant institution and help them do more work that meets the needs of
>smaller scale stakeholders. http://www.practicalfarmers.org/. Pock shots
>are easy, but don't get us anywhere. Organizing and participating is hard
>work, but might have a better pay off in the long term.
>
>Wow, long message...you can tell I'm procrastinating :-). I look forward to
>following this ongoing discussion.
>
>-Allison
>
>**************************************************************************************
>Allison L H Jack
>Graduate Student
>Department of Plant Pathology
>Cornell University
>335 Plant Science
>Ithaca, NY 14850
>607.273.5762
>************************************************************************************* 
>
>
>
>"...Advancing a productive and sustainable agriculture"
>from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences mission statement
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