6 2 March 2016
ENVIRONMENT
Cowspiracy
The hideous pollution case I stumbled
on illustrates our failure to see the harm
caused by animal farming
The impacts of animal
farming are in many
cases greater than
those of anything else
we do. But we don’t
want to know
by George Monbiot
E
at less meat and sh,drink less milk. No
requestcouldbesimpler,ormoreconsequen-
tial.Nothingwedohasgreaterpotentialfor
reducingourimpactsonthelivingplanet.Yet
norequestismorelikelytoelicitabafed,
hurtorfuriousresponse.
Thispointcomesacrosswithastonishingforceinthe
lm‘Cowspiracy’.Iwouldquestionsomeofthegures
ituses,butitsthesis–wejustdon’twanttotalkabout
it–isundeniable.LeadersofthebigUSgreengroups
eitheravoidedthelm-makersliketheplagueorsmiled
andshooktheirheadswhenaskedaboutlivestock.
Stateofcialswerestruckdumbbythequestion.
Climatechange,wateruse,forestdestruction,river
pollution,oods,deadzonesinthesea:theimpactsof
animalfarmingaremassiveandglobal;inmanycases
greaterthanthoseofanythingelsewedo.Butwedon’t
wanttoknow.
Livestockkeepingissoembeddedinourculturaland
religiousidentitythattochallengeitis,itseems,to
attackthefoundationsofsociety.Weliketoseeour-
selvesasfreethinkers,butweallhaveoursacredcows.
The world’s great monotheistic religions arose
amongnomadicherders.Whilesedentarypeoplewor-
shippedahostoflocalgods,totheherdersmoving
acrosstheland,Godwasanoverarching
principle,oftenresidinginthesky.Thepas-
toral religions took root among settled
peoples,andwefoundourselves,evenin
wetandfertilelandslikeBritain,reciting
theseredesertcreedsofAbel’sprofession,
thoughwetilledthegroundlikeCain.
Formillenniawecountedourwealthin
cattle (otherwise known as chattels, or
stock).Aliterarytraditiondatingbackto
Theocritus,inthe3rdCenturyBC,portrays
herdingasalifeofvirtueandinnocence,arefugefrom
thecorruptionandvenalityofthecity.Twothousand
yearslater,thetropepersistsalmostnightlyontelevi-
sion.Youchallengethesedeepthemesatyourperil.
LookatthetreatmentofKerryMcCarthy,Labour’s
newshadowenvironmentsecretary,whohasthetemer-
itytobeveganinapublicplace.
Amonghermanydeadlysinsareherproposal(before
she becameshadowminister)thatmeat shouldbe
treated“thesamewayastobacco,withpubliccam
-
paignstostoppeopleeatingit”,andherobservation
that–whileotherindustriescutproductionwhenit
exceeds demand – dairy farmers are exempt from
marketforces.Theyarepaidtokeepproducingmore
milkthanwewanttodrink.
Let’sfocusonthispointforamoment.
FarmersfromacrossEuroperegularlygatherinBrus-
selstoprotestagainstthelawofsupplyanddemand.
Someofthemexplaintheireconomictheoriesby(as
lastSeptember)throw-
ingstonesandbottles
atthepolice,releasing
livestock into the
streets and setting
lighttohaybalesinthe
streets.
Whenotherprotest-
ersexpoundtheirviews
this way, they are
beatenupbythepolice,
excoriatedbythepressandrewardedwithaccommo-
dationinstatefacilities.InSeptemberhowever,the
EuropeanCommissiongavethem€500mtogoaway
andnotrestructuretheirindustry.Thiscomesontopof
the€55bnthatfarmersreceiveeveryyearthroughthe
CommonAgriculturalPolicy.
Beforeshe became environment secretary in the
Westminstergovernment,LizTrussfoundedtheCon-
servativeParty’sFreeEnterpriseGroup,whichbelieves
thatnothingshouldstandinthewayofmarketforces,
andprescribestheharshestmedicineforthosewholive
offthegenerosityofthestate.
ButlastmonthsheboastedthattheUKhadmanaged
tosecure£26millionofthenewEuropeanhandout:
“thethirdlargest[allocation]ofallthememberstates”.
Eachdairyfarmer,sheexulted,wouldreceiveastate
giftof,onaverage,£1,800.
Themoneyisn’tallocatedequally,bytheway:it’s
paidperlitreofmilkproduction.Thebiggeryouare,the
moreyouget,whichishowthewholeEuropeansubsidy
systemworks.
Apartfromrewardingtherichforbeingrich,thereis
notoneelementofthesubsidyregimethataccordswith
thebeliefsLizTrussprofesses.Yet,inoverayearas
environmentsecretary,Ihaveneverheardhermuttera
wordagainstit.
Thejusticationgivenforthisspecialtreatmentis
thatfarmingisanessentialindustry,andwemustsup-
port it to secure food supplies. But its consistent
problemisnotundersupplybutoversupply.Overpro-
duction threatens our future food supply, as it
acceleratesthedestructionofthesoil.Dairyismore
damagingthanmostsectors,asthecowsareoftenfed
onmaize,thegreatsoil-strippingcrop.
The whole
European subsidy
system rewards the
rich for being rich
March 2016 6 3
Irecentlystumbledacrossoneresultofwhatwe
arepayingfor.
Ihadintendedtospendthedaybesidethe
RiverCulm,thatowsthroughtheBlackdown
HillsinDevon.Itissupposedtobeawildlife
haven, supporting brook lampreys, stone
loach,wildtroutandbullheads.Alocalprimary
schoolhasbeenhelpingtorestorethesalmon
populationbyhatchingtheshandreleasing
themintothewater.
Well,therivercertainlymadeanimpact–on
my nostrils.I could smell it from50 metres
away.WhenIreachedthebank,Isawthatithad
beenreducedtolittlemorethanafarmsewer.
Itstankofcowmanure.Thebedwascoveredin
feathery growths of “sewage fungus” (the
nameismisleading:inrealitythesearebacte-
rialcolonies).HereisapictureItookofit:
Sewage fungus covering the river bed
I’mtoldbyanexpertinriverecologythatwhen
sewagefungusbecomeslamentouslikethis,
itmeansthatthepollutionisbothsevereand
chronic.Thiswasthedominantlifeform.There
waslittlelifeofotherkindstobeseen.
SoIchangedmyplans,andwenttolookfor
thecauseofthepollution.Becausethesewage
fungus disappeared abruptly as I walked
upstream,itwasnothardtotracetheapparent
source.Ifoundthispipedischargingcowslurry
intotheriver:
Slurry outfall just above the river
Hereistheslurryminglingwiththebrightriver
water:
The slurry entering the river
Thepipecamefromadairyfarmonahillover-
lookingtheriver.Iwenttotakealook.
Thisisoneoftwoindoordairyunitsonthe
farm:
Dairy unit
––
Here’stherstofthefarm’sslurrylagoons,into
whichmanurefromthecattleows:
Upper slurry lagoon
Thisdrainsintoasecondlagoon:
Lower slurry lagoon
Belowthesecondlagoon,Ifoundatrenchcon-
tainingabrokenpipe.Runningthroughthepipe
–andpastit–wasasteadyowofstinking
liquidmanure:
The ditch below the second lagoon
Thisappearedtoseepintoarivuletrunningoff
theland,thatwasthickwithliquidslurry:
The stinking rivulet pouring off the land
Thestenchwassobadthatitalmostmade
megag.Ifollowedthisrivuletdowntothepipe
Ihadfound,dischargingintotheriver.
Theweatherhadbeendryforseveraldays
beforemyvisit.Icanonlyimaginewhattheow
mustbelikeduringawetspell.
IphonedtheEnvironmentAgency’snumber
forreportingenvironmental.Itsinspectorsvis-
itedthefarmthreedayslater.
Irangthefarmerafterwards,buthesaid,“I’m
notdiscussingitwithyou.It’snoneofyourbusi-
ness”.WhenItriedtoaskquestions,hehung
up.
TheEnvironmentAgencytoldmeitis“taking
thisincidentseriously”andwilldecidewhat
actiontotakeaccordingtowhatitsinvestiga-
tionsreveal.Itsaiditisillegaltoletslurryow
outofalagoonintoaditch,andforafarmpipe
todischargeintoariver.
Whilethestateofriversinthiscountryremains
dire,asaresultofourexcessiveuseofwater
andofchronic,low-levelcontamination,the
number of severe pollution incidents has
declinedinallsectorsexceptone.Farming.In
thiscase,itisrising.
Farmingisnow,byalongway,thenation’s
leadingcauseofseverewaterpollution.Andof
allkindsoffarming,dairyproductioncauses
thegreatestnumberofseriousincidents.
Thescaleofdairyfarmshasincreasedgreatly
inrecentyears,sowhensomethinggoeswrong,
itcangoverywrongindeed.
Imaginehowwewouldrespondifthiswere
anyotherindustrialsector.If rivers likethe
Culmwerefrequentlytrashedbytoxicsludge
fromfactories,therewouldbeanoutcry.But,
asCowspiracyshows,thebiggestproblemis
theonewedon’twanttosee.
Farfromensuringthatsuchdisasterscease,
LizTrussisderegulatingtheindustry.Shehas
calledfor“simplerandfewerfarminspections
plusanoverhaulofgreeningrequirements”.
Sheboaststhat“since2010wehavecut10,000
unnecessarydairyinspectionsayear”.What
sheconsidersunnecessary,Iseeasanessen-
tialdefenceofthenaturalworld.
TheEnvironmentAgency,throughaseriesof
devastatingcuts,nolongerhasenoughstaff
fortheroutineinspectionofrivers.Nowit’sup
toyouandmetoreportpollution,thoughwe
don’tpossessitsexpertise.Justasimportantly,
weneedtorememberthatwesitattheendof
thischainofconsequence,throughourcon-
sumption.It’struethatourinuenceoverthe
dairysectorisweakerthanitmightbe,because
ofoverproduction.Butyoucanstillmakeadif-
ference,simplybyreducingtheanimalproducts
youputinyourmouth.Youmightalsodoyour
waistafavour.
Shouldwenotwelcomethischancetochange
theworldsoswiftlyandeasily?
www.monbiot.com
POLLUTION OF THE RIVER CULM

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