Because Switzerland is a grassland country and humans cannot eat grass, but animals can; therefore, livestock farming is necessary in Switzerland. Since this is said to be the most frequently heard counterargument, we would like to address it briefly here. The good news first: the so-called grassland argument is actually an argument in favor of veganism.
“Animals help us maintain soil fertility.
Therefore, agriculture needs animals.
So we must exploit and kill them.”
The fact that this conclusion is illogical is obvious. No one would argue this way about so-called beneficial animals. Or about humans. The problem is speciesism, and more specifically, carnism.
Argument:
“Animals help us maintain soil fertility.
Therefore, (grazing) animals are beneficial for the soil.
Good agriculture requires good/healthy soil.
Therefore, we must create habitats for animals or provide them with an appropriate environment, so that they can live alongside us and, in harmony with the needs of everyone involved, help cultivate the surrounding landscape.”
In detail, this means taking in animals that are able to live according to their needs and integrating them into a holistic cycle.
It is equally important to note that the grassland argument completely conceals the fact that 70% of so-called livestock in Switzerland are chickens and pigs—that is, animals that are not fed grass at all and compete directly with human food production because their feed is grown on fields that could just as well be used to grow food for people. If we were to take the grassland argument seriously, this would mean that, in Switzerland, we could only:
And when you consider that only one quarter of all meat comes from ruminants, this amounts to a dramatic reduction. That means, we could consume only 14 kg of meat per person per year instead of the current 52 kg, or specifically we would have six vegetarian days per week, most of them vegan, or a small number of people would continue eating as they do today while the rest of the Swiss population would no longer eat animals at all.
This would be entirely in line with the urgently needed agricultural transition. More importantly to develop alternatives to animal-dependent farming methods, rely on plant-based fertilization, free the fields of the Swiss Plateau from animal feed production, and use it to grow food for humans.
Because Switzerland is a grassland.
Of course, our consultations are always free of obligation and tailored to your individual situation.
Would you like to explore what your farm could look like after a TransFARMation? Do you sometimes have doubts about your work and wonder whether things could be done differently on your farm? Or is there something else that’s weighing on you?
Get in touch with us.
