There was a very long period in the development of mankind when man was in balance with his environment. Our ancestors roamed the world, gathered food, developed their social skills, made art and love, and sometimes killed an animal together, which then became a feast for the clan. In the wild prey societies, the spiritual, intuitive knowledge, experience and physical ability defined the value of the individual.
You might think it was a good time. But people's senses drove them elsewhere.
10,000-12,000 years ago, humans began to settle down. To call something "one's own", to own something, meant a fundamental break with the cultural history of mankind up to that point. From then on, what was owned gave the individual its value.
It was necessary to look after their property and provide for themselves and their clan, and so agriculture developed. Wild plants were gradually cultivated, wild animals were domesticated and sacrificed to the gods with the request for a merciful fate.
Sedentarization, ownership, dominance and domestication are closely related siblings, and movable capital was represented by the number of heads - capita - of the herd. Man began to shape his new livelihood by the sweat of his brow.
What began as progress back then has now reached a dead end. Factory farming and industrialized agriculture are our achievements. Of course, global warming today has something to do with our diet.
Food heightens our senses, sparks our joy, brings us together with our friends, and when we enjoy it together, life becomes a celebration.
We become more approachable, social and generous.
Can it be that our food, which gives us so much pleasure, is destroying our planet?
Our own selfishness, our perfectionism, our will to rationalize and mercantilize everything in agriculture has thrown the world out of balance. Agriculture and food production, as well as changes in land use, such as the destruction of rainforests to make way for our livestock feed, account for 37 percent of globalCO2 emissions (source: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 2019). To feed the animals of farmers in the EU, 63 percent of the EU's arable land is needed, plus an area outside the EU equivalent to Germany's agriculture, mainly in the regions of former rainforests. This is how much material expenditure is required for performance-obsessed factory farming.
And how do the animals fare? When I was a child, the animals on the farm were called "pets", today they are called "farm animals". The change in terminology creates distance between the animals and their owners. If something is useful, it becomes a thing, and we can use a thing without scruples.
One of the most wonderful creatures
One animal that is very close to me personally is cattle - one of the most wonderful creatures on this earth. For many thousands of years, humans and cattle have shared a common destiny. In their relationship with each other, humans and cattle release oxytocin. Humans and cattle can make each other happy, the happiness hormone tells us, when they get involved with each other.
Cattle have the ability to transform grass, nothing but grass, into milk and meat through their four-part stomach. If cattle are kept on pasture - it is not worth eating meat and milk other than from grazing cattle and grazing cows anyway - they fertilize and energize the earth with their manure. They maintain and increase the fertility of the soil with their manure. Cattle do not need soybeans from the former rainforest or grain. Performance-dominated agriculture needs this, because domestic animals must also be subject to the performance principle.
In factory farming, dairy cows are fed urea, propylene glycol, protected amino acids and protein-rich concentrated feed in addition to grass, hay and silage. A cow that could normally have 10 to 15 calves is finished after two lactations due to this form of husbandry. This also has a negative impact on our carbon footprint.
Animals have a soul
Animals have a soul and can feel joy and sorrow. How we treat our animals has a lot to do with our humanity. If we turn a blind eye to animal suffering, we damage our souls.
When I meet cattle, I think of the great French researcher Claude Levi-Strauss. At the end of his life, he was asked what he had not achieved in his life. He replied that he would have loved to talk to an animal, he would have gained completely different insights into life.
Factory farming and industrialized agriculture are putting an enormous strain on our planet. Factory farming is common practice in pig farming. Years ago I had a free-range project; I have never seen pigs with so much joie de vivre, with so much mischief, wit and liveliness. Visitors felt magically attracted, they came by the busload to experience this. It is only when pigs are in the wild that they develop their incredible intelligence, their social skills through and through. Incidentally, the DNA of pigs is said to be very similar to that of humans.
In factory farming they have no life, it is a vegetation on slatted floors above their excrements and above the ammonia fumes, the animals attack each other from confinement and boredom.
Even chickens are no better off in factory farming. Seeing them in their cramped stalls with their beaks pinched off is a great misery.
A part of nature
There is no such thing as us humans and nature, we are part of nature, of the ecosystem, and what we eat is part of us.
What we live on is the question that should be on our minds. It is worth taking a closer look at what we eat, where our food comes from and how it has lived.
Here in Austria, you are lucky enough to be able to buy the best organic food. Your consumption helps the environment, biodiversity and animal welfare. As a consumer, you are actively combating global warming. Taking responsibility for your actions is worthwhile - for yourself and for future generations.
Taking a closer look brings more pleasure and enjoyment when eating and knowing that your food is not leaving behind a devastated world is simply a good feeling. Dare to change your lifestyle, you are still able to act, it is still a question of your own attitude.
"Give life a chance" is a John Lennon song that the courageous young people from "fridays for future" have adapted. Give life a chance through your consumer behavior.
Author: Werner Lampert
Werner Lampert (born 1946 in Vorarlberg/Austria) is one of the pioneers in the field of sustainable products and their development in Europe. The organic pioneer has been intensively involved in organic farming since the 1970s. With Back to the origin (Hofer) and Ja! Natürlich, he developed two of the most successful organic brands in the German-speaking world.
