Cowspiracy - Village Magazine

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

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