ILRI
International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI)
ILRI
ilri
ILRI@feeds.cgiar.org
Squaring the meat vs veganism circle
- From
-
Published on
06.09.18
- Impact Area

The Kiss, drawing by Pablo Picasso.
Bull, Plate VIII, Pablo Picasso, 1946.
. . . [C]alls for us all to switch entirely to plant-based foods ignore one of the most powerful tools we have to mitigate these ills: grazing and browsing animals.
‘Rather than being seduced by exhortations to eat more products made from industrially grown soya, maize and grains, we should be encouraging sustainable forms of meat and dairy production based on traditional rotational systems, permanent pasture and conservation grazing. We should, at the very least, question the ethics of driving up demand for crops that require high inputs of fertiliser, fungicides, pesticides and herbicides, while demonising sustainable forms of livestock farming that can restore soils and biodiversity, and sequester carbon. . . .
‘Not only does [the] system of natural grazing aid the environment in terms of soil restoration, biodiversity, pollinating insects, water quality and flood mitigation—but it also it guarantees healthy lives for the animals, and they in turn produce meat that is healthy for us. In direct contrast to grain-fed and grain-finished meat from intensive systems, wholly pasture-fed meat is high in beta carotene, calcium, selenium, magnesium and potassium and vitamins E and B, and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA)—a powerful anti-carcinogen. It is also high in the long-chain omega-3 fatty acid DHA, which is vital for human brain development but extremely difficult for vegans to obtain. . . .
‘In the vegan equation, . . . the carbon cost of ploughing is rarely considered. Since the industrial revolution, according to a 2017 report in the science journal Nature, up to 70% of the carbon in our cultivated soils has been lost to the atmosphere. . . .
Read the whole article on the ILRI Clippings blog.
Related news
-
How Digital Agriculture Boosts Crop Yields and Efficiency
The Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT)04.07.25-
Climate adaptation & mitigation
Digital agriculture is revolutionizing how we produce food. By integrating advanced technologies suc…
Read more -
-
Mapping for Resilience: How Spatial Data is Transforming Karamoja Cluster
Ibukun Taiwo02.07.25-
Climate adaptation & mitigation
Pastoral communities in the Karamoja Cluster (a region spanning Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan, and Ethi…
Read more -
-
Building Resilience and Regeneration: The Central Highlands Ecoregion Foodscape (CHEF)
Sehlule Muzata02.07.25-
Climate adaptation & mitigation
At the CGIAR Sustainable Farming Program (SFP), we believe that collaboration is essential for trans…
Read more -