Vegan - Organic and Natural Products

Vegan organic gardening

Vegan / Veggie organic gardening : aims to produce organically grown foods and other crops whilst minimising (preferably erradicating) the exploitation or harm of any living creature. It is therefore a method of farming without the use of animal products or byproducts. Vegan organic farming is similar to organic horticulture but does not allow the use of materials such as blood, fish and bone meal or animal manures because the production of these is viewed as either harming animals directly, or is associated with the use of animals for meat, milk or leisure activities.

While just about all veganic gardeners try to maintain a healthy soil environment, and prefer to rely on compost, green manures, and cover crops, as much as possible, to maintain soil ecology and good levels of plant nutrients, some veganic gardeners are not strictly organic, and may utilize pesticides and industrially-produced plant nutrients, in addition to using organic techniques such as compost, green manures, and cover crops.

Soil fertility doesn't originate from animals; it comes from plants at the bottom of the food chain. When grass is filtered through a cow most of the nitrogen is lost in her urine.

Instead, take the grass that would go to feed a cow and put it directly into your compost pile - you'll get the nitrogen you need in addition to other nutrients that aren't found in manure. Using the grass and other plant-based materials yields more organic matter than manure. Soil fertility is maintained by the use of green manures, composted vegetable matter and minerals, often supplemented with the addition of human waste such as urine, which provides nitrogen and 'humanure' produced from compost toilets. Although some veganic gardeners avoid the potential health risks of using human waste. Such wastes may technically be considered 'animal products', however the many vegan organic growers (including the Vegan Organic Network) do not consider their usage unacceptable as there is unlikely to have been exploitation associated with their production.

Benefits of Vegan Organic Gardening - It reduces food safety risks such as E. coli and the human form of Mad Cow Disease (Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease) which can be spread through bone and blood meal

It decrease dependence upon slaughterhouse and fisheries by-products by eliminating the use of bone, blood, feather, and fish meals and manure

Preserves water and soil quality, reduces waste, feeds more people

Veganic Gardening - The Kenneth Dalziel O'Brien Veganic Gardening Method - is a distinct system that was developed by Rosa Dalziell O'Brien, Kenneth Dalziel O'Brien, and May E Bruce, although the term was originally coined by Geoffrey Rudd.

The Kenneth Dalziel O'Brien system employs very specific techniques based around the addition of straw and other vegetable wastes in order to maintain soil fertility. Unlike other stockfree systems, gardeners following the Dalziel O'Brien system do not use soil covering mulches, instead employing non- compacting surface cultivation techniques using a special wide-bladed hand hoe called a ' scrapper '.

Kenneth Dalziel O'Brien published a description of his system in Veganic Gardening, the Alternative System for Healthier Crops, published in 1986 by Thorson's Publishing Group. ISBN 0-7225-1208-2

Many veganic gardeners do not hesitate to use mulches. They generally prefer natural materials but will use commercial materials on occasion.

Growing Our Own - Kathleen Jannaway (Movement for Compassionate Living publishing) - a practical guide to vegan organic gardening

Veganic Gardening- The Alternative System for Healthier Crops - Kenneth Dalziel O'Brien (Thorsons Publishing, 1986, ISBN 0-7225-1208-2 ) - a full exposition of the Veganic gardening system.

Vegan Organic Network - Vegan Organic gardening - the basics

Centre for Vegan Organic Education (US-based)

Earthly Origin of Commercial Materials Eductional Org photos

Why vegan-organics? - Also called stock-free farming, vegan-organics is a system which avoids all artificial chemical products (synthetic fertiliser, pesticides, growth regulators), genetically modified organisms, animal manures and slaughterhouse by-products (blood, fish meal, bone meal, etc).

To preserve soil fertility, vegan-organic growers insist on green manures, composts made of plant-based materials, mulches made from plant-based materials, and every other long-term method which is ecologically viable and which does not rely on any form of animal exploitation.

Generally it is inspired by principles which favour biodiversity, reduced working of the soil, and the use of perennial and native plants. The aim of increasing energy efficiency while reducing environmental impact is reflected in the importance of buying and selling produce locally and thus reducing the use of machinery for transport.

Prevention is the cornerstone of the fight against competing organisms (pests). The idea is to seek an equilibrium between cultivated and wild areas, by developing favourable habitats for natural predators, such as hedges for wind-breaks and ponds. So competing organisms are viewed as indicators and not as enemies that should be fought. The system focuses explicitly on tolerance and accepts as a first principle that part of the harvest goes to nature. Repellents may nevertheless in some circumstances be used: in the Stockfree Organic Standards, their use is restriced to cases of economic necessity.

The vegan-organic system is therefore not completely animal-free!. On the contrary, by nourishing the soil and reducing the amount it is worked, an active fauna enriches and improves the soil: above all the earthworm.

The Stockfree Organic Standards, produced by VOT, are the definitive guide to all aspects of vegan-organic growing. These apply strictly only to those who wish to become registered organic growers, while others may use them as a guide.

Why vegan-organic?

Fertility - Lack of animal manure - Some farms have no nearby source of sufficient manure and so opt for a plant-based alternative. If the organic standards were more restrictive and only allowed the use of manure from organic farms, then there would be an even greater scarcity of suitable manure; yet this would encourage the development of plant-based alternatives.

Organic from start to finish - Many organic farms use manure from non-organic farms. Although generally composted, traces of hormones, antibiotics, genetically modified organisms or other contaminants could still be present. As for fertilisers originating in abattoirs, many growers are uncomfortable with their use, and some scientists have reservations as to the possible transmission of prions (the agent in the disease BSE and its human form, vCJD) when using these fertilisers (eg by inhalation).

No more dependence on conventional agriculture. Whether it is the manure from conventional dairy farmers, or the powdered feathers from the industrial-scale chicken farmers, the use of these fertilisers seems to legitimise and support conventional farming.

Increased self-sufficiency in fertilisers. Many farms try to minimise inputs by using above all green manures and compost which they make themselves.

Eliminate intermediaries - Standard organic fertilisers rely on the transformation of plants into compost by the manure produced by animals. At each stage there are nevertheless losses, from volatilisation (ammoniacal nitrogen), from leaching, or from the energy required for the biological functions of the animal. Since all manure ultimately comes from plants (apart from mineral fertilisers) some prefer to shorten the chain by eliminating the stage of transformation by animals, instead composting the plants directly. In the case of green manures, mulching and chipped branch wood (also known as ramal), even the stage of composting itself is eliminated.

Aiming for efficiency rather than for productivity. Productivity is a measure of the yield per hectare, which does not take into account the energy required to produce and transport the inputs. The environmental impact of farming depends on an assessment of the total energy required to produce a given quantity of food.

Ethical and health

Vegetarians and vegans - Those who choose not to eat animal products also would like to choose to have their food grown in a way which does not rely on the farming of animals.

Health concerns - Vegan-organic methods avoid the hazards associated with food production involving animal wastes, hormones, aggressive chemicals, genetic engineering and other environmentally damaging systems, so will be of interest to all those concerned with sustainable healthy living whether or not they are vegan or vegetarian.

Reduce the environmental impact - The use of alternatives to animal manure (compost, green manures, mulching and chipped branch wood) improves the soil and avoids the necessity of raising animals. Raising animals demands high inputs in terms of water, fodder and land, and so leads towards monoculture and the use of heavy machinery and thus to the degradation of the soil (compaction, erosion, loss of biodiversity, and leaching). Land liberated from grazing and fodder production could be used to produce renewable fuels, organic soil improvers, natural fibres and construction materials, thus reducing dependence on fossil fuels and clear-felling of forests.

Nature as model - Biodiversity and the use of decomposing plant matter to feed new plants are the very basis of natural growth. The best example is the forest where fertility comes from the accumulation of plants on the surface, without working the soil and (almost) without the addition of animal manure.

World peace and justice - Fighting world hunger Worldwide, 38% of total grain production is fed to animals. Developed nations import vast quantities of grain to feed animals, often from very poor countries where people do not have enough to eat. So avoiding animal products favours the economical use of land, which can be used directly for growing food to feed people.

World peace and environmental justice If agriculture continues its present course across the planet, it is predicted that there will be wars over water resources, conflict over land rights, farmers increasingly dispossessed and marginalised, a widening of the gap between affluent and poor, increasing intensification of animal farming, depletion of the quality of soils, damage to the oceans, devastation of rain forests and many other negative factors. Vegan-organics points a way out of these problems. It is not just an alternative eco-friendly agricultural method, it is an holistic system, marrying ethics and pragmatic solutions for tackling world hunger, animal exploitation and environmental degradation; it spells hope for the lessening of conflict and for making a better world.