We would just like to take this occasion to give you a small incentive by saying that food production is possible without the direct and indirect exploitation of non-human animals or any other form of coexistence between us. The following examples illustrate this. For the time being, the topics are only touched upon here; please follow the links for further information.
Organic vegan agriculture
In as early as 1921, the German philosopher, pacifist and animal rights activist Magnus Schwantje wrote: “Even the question of whether agriculture can do without the manure coming from slaughtered animals, has been proven to be true by experts on account of longstanding attempts.“
Now, almost 100 years later and with far more technical expertise and resources, there are already some pioneers dedicated to organic vegan agriculture:
- A good starting point for the topic is the blog post by Roots of Compassion, following an article in the Tierbefreiung (animal liberation): Bio-veganer Landbau – Wie (un)vegan ist der Anbau von Nahrungsmitteln? (organic vegan agriculture – how (un)vegan is food cultivation?)
- In July 2018, ARIWA dedicated the topic to a newsletter, which gave a good overview
- The organic vegan network for agriculture and horticulture: biovegan.org
- Förderverein Biozyklisch veganer Anbau (friend’s association for biocyclic vegan cultivation)
- O.M.E.N. / biocyclic vegan network / biocyclic vegan cultivation: biocyclic-network.net
- Association “Biozyklisch-Veganer Anbau” (biocyclic vegan cultivation): biozyklisch-vegan.de
- Biohof Hausmann (near Leipzig)
- Biolandhof Clemens Hund (near Lake Constance)
Solidarity-based agriculture (SoLaWi) – sharing the harvest
Farmers are always affected by the immense competition of a diffuse “market”. Accordingly, the major discounters and wholesalers always have the power to extort, for example, if the cucumbers are not straight enough – and thus stir up constant uncertainty among farmers.
Solidarity-based agriculture (SoLaWi) stands in the way of this: here, several private households bear the costs of an agricultural enterprise, for which they receive their harvest yield in return. Due to the personal relationship to each other, both the producers and consumers reap the many benefits from non-industrial, market-independent agriculture.
- Netzwerk Solidarische Landwirtschaft (solidarity-based agriculture network): solidarische-landwirtschaft.org
- plantAge – organic and vegan vegetable cooperative in Berlin and Brandenburg (being established)
- Gemeinschaftsaftsgärtnerei Wildwuchs e.V. – organic vegan SoLaWi: solawi-wildwuchs.de
- Bio-Vegane Solawi Rhein-Main (organic vegan SoLaWi Rhein-Main): biovegane-solawi-frankfurt.de
- Socio-ecological vegan walnut cultivation near Berlin: https://www.hofwindkind.com/
Animal sanctuaries – how a just society shared by humans and animals could look
It may look like a painting by Hartmut Kiewert, but it is already a reality in some places: animals live in relative freedom and can enjoy their lives. Some of them already have endured terrible experiences and only now have the chance to live out their lives in a safe and secure environment.
- Land der Tiere (FB / YT)
- Erdlingshof (FB / YT)
- Hof Butenland (FB / YT)
- Lasst die Tiere leben (FB)