Meat and Dairy That Regenerate Our Planet [Steps 4 and 5 of 8]

Welcome to part 7 of our mini series on Conscious Buying Decisions to Help Climate Change. Last time we covered ‘Composting’. This time we’re looking at ‘Choosing Meat and Dairy That’s Regenerating Land to Help Our Planet’, which is also part of our series on Eating Sustainably.

You can find all content in this mini series at Mini Series: Conscious Buying Decisions to Help Climate Change.

If you already know that you have the power to help climate change and improve your health and happiness, here are the options to make conscious decisions when buying food and drink:

1. Check out #VoteWithOurMoney with 6 Steps to Help Stop Climate Change
2. Try the Sustainability Roadmap with 40+ Solutions to Climate Change
3. Use the Company Directory to Help You Grow, Eat, and Live Sustainably

If you want some more facts before making any decisions that help our planet, let’s get into the details:

Before we get started, it’s worth saying that this mini series is based on the Kiss the Ground Purchasing Guide. Many of the facts come from the book called Drawdown.

Find the Book Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed To Reverse Global Warming by Paul Hawken That You Can Find Here on Amazon*

There are 8 Steps To Eat for Your Health and the Climate:

1. Knowing Your Food Source
2. Growing Your Own
3. Composting
4. Choosing Meat That’s Regenerating Land
5. Choosing Dairy That’s Regenerating Land
6. Buying Seafood to Help Revitalise the Ocean and Ecosystems
7. Knowing Your Annuals and Perennials
8. Going Beyond the Healthiest Foods

In this piece we’re looking at steps 4 and 5, Choosing Meat and Dairy That’s Regenerating Land to Help Our Planet.

For the last 400+ million years, nature has evolved WITH animals. Plant eaters and meat eaters have been an essential part of constantly improving ecosystems, working like this:

1. Herds of plants eaters come to an area of pasture
2. They eat the tops of the pasture (the most nutritious parts)
3. They trample the rest of the pasture
4. They wee and poo to leave amazing fertiliser on the soil
5. Their wee and poo cycles nutrients back to the soil, and adds microorganisms
6. Then predators come along
7. The herd starts running
8. The predators typically pick-off the weakest animals from the herd
9. Predators stop the herd from overgrazing
10. Predators then back-off until they need another meal
11. The herd move on to another patch of pasture and the cycle starts again
12. Taking carbon out of the atmosphere, storing it in the soil, improving ecosystems

Farmers that have taken the time to study the benefits of managing livestock like nature have also seen other benefits:

1. Animal hooves create divots that help water infiltrate into the soil
2. These divets are excellent on slopes, stopping water running-off down hill
3. The action of animals mouths pulls plant roots and encourages growth
4. Ruminant animals have AMAZING manure = probiotics for the soil

This is a fantastic, and truly inspirational, video on the Healing Effects of Holistic High-Intensity Grazing that helps our planet with Greg Judy (watching it makes me wonder why we would ever do anything other than farm like nature):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6HGKSvjk5Q

Animals are an essential part of the nutrient cycle. Managing animals properly within our agricultural systems is a critical part of restoring soils and balancing the climate.

---

---

Most of the animals in our modern food system have been removed from farmland and housed in Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs). The raising and slaughtering of livestock in this conventional (industrial) model breaks the nutrient cycle, creates pollution, and contributes to global warming.

However, some farmers have figured out how to raise animals in a different way, rapidly restoring landscapes by moving livestock over the land in ways that mimic the impact that large herds of herbivores once had on grassland ecosystems. In these carefully managed systems, cows, sheep, and other animals are moved around various pastures on timed intervals to improve the land’s health and resiliency. In some cases, animals can even be allowed to graze amongst trees (a technique called silvopasture) to further promote carbon sequestration and ecosystem biodiversity. Animals on pasture have to be carefully managed and moved between pastures quickly so as not to overgraze or damage the land.

There are lots of different terms for the farmers that manage livestock like nature: rotational grazing, holistic planned grazing, mob grazing, regenerative farming. They’re all focused on the same thing: improving the land, animal welfare, and the flavour and nutrient density of meat.

If we support farmers who are practicing rotational grazing as a way to regenerate the land and build soil, we help other farmers transition from conventional to regenerative.

The Problems With Industrialised Meat and Dairy

1. Land is deforested to support herds of animals
2. CAFO animals are often stressed and very unhealthy
3. 99% of U.S. “animal units” are fed antibiotics and hormones to keep them alive
4. CAFOs concentrate excrement in large pools that release ammonia and methane
5. Industrialised corn and soybean fields are needed to produce animal feed
6. Conventional farming that degrades the land and releases carbon from the soil
7. Mass-scale slaughter is often inhumane and unsanitary
8. Even grass-fed cows can be detrimental to the land and climate if poorly managed
9. The transportation, slaughter, and packaging have high fossil fuel costs

How Our Planet Benefits from Regenerative Meat and Dairy

1. Animals are moved across the land on carefully timed intervals, helping to restore native grasslands and pasture.
2. Animals are moved quickly across the land in tight bunches, spurring new plant growth and fertilising the soil.
3. As animals stimulate and fertilise the land, biodiversity increases, soil health improves, and carbon is sequestered.
4. Animals are stronger and healthier, moving according to their natural rhythms and eating the kinds of food they evolved to eat.

Choose Meat That’s Regenerating the Land to Help Our Planet

The vast majority of meat around the world is being raised in a way that’s detrimental to both the land and our planet.

If avoided-deforestation from land use change is also included, an additional 39.3 gigatons of emissions could be avoided, making healthy, plant-rich diets one of the most impactful tools to fight global warming.

Cows, Sheep, and Bison

Ultimately, cows, sheep, and bison should be allowed to live in the way that their ancestral herds did:

1. Moving quickly around grasslands or through trees in tight bunches
2. Eating deeply rooted perennial grasses, legumes, and weeds
3. Plants that readily sequester carbon
4. Spending no more than a few days in any one spot due to predator pressure

Farmers regenerating land move livestock from pasture to pasture at the right time—allowing the animals to fertilise the land, gently disturb and aerate the soil, and trigger vegetation to re-enter its growth phase.

The livestock must be moved onto new pasture before they trample the land or begin to eat too close to the ground because that restricts plant growth. When done correctly, planned grazing, especially in concert with silvopasture, can increase biodiversity, improve levels of soil organic matter, and sequester carbon to help our planet.

It’s important to buy meat from farmers who are helping our planet by utilising regenerative models of meat production. Supporting businesses that are restoring soils, native grasslands, and pasture, taking good care of their animals, and sequestering carbon through healthy soil practices and holistic management.

If you use the same meat budget that you currently have, but align your meat purchases with animal welfare principles, then you’ll find that you naturally consume much less of it to help our planet. You may even consider approaching meat and dairy as a side dish, rather than as a main.

Tips for Buying Meat to Help Our Planet

Be careful—supermarket meat may say “pasture fed” or “grass fed” even if the animal only fed pasture or grass at one point in its life (rather than for its whole life). Get to know your farmers and their farming practices.

1. Purchase 100% pasture-fed / grass-fed meat raised in rotational systems
2. Stop eating meat from factory farms
3. Find a place to buy Pasture for Life certified meats (in-store or online)
4. Ask your butcher, farm shop, or farmer if their animals have a grazing plan
5. Ask if the farmer maximises plant recovery and growth
6. Ask if the animals were fed genetically modified food, antibiotics, or hormones
7. Ask if the animals were fed grain (that needs growing) or mainly pasture
8. Ask if the farmer follows organic principles (even if it’s not certified organic)

You can also look for meat that is certified organic, however, whilst organic guarantees that you avoid artificial chemicals, hormones, and GMOs, it doesn’t guarantee the animals are part of a regenerative system.

On farms that utilise intensive 1–2 day pasture rotations, the capacity of the land to support cattle has increased by 200% to 300%.

Native grasses re-establish themselves. Farmers stop having to plough, sow, and weed, which dramatically decreases their fuel and equipment costs. Plus, the behaviour of the animals also changes. Rather than moving slowly over the land, animals learn to move more quickly, and begin eating protein-rich weeds in addition to their typical diet of pasture.

Choose Dairy That’s Regenerating the Land

Make the choice to purchase dairy from animals that live on pasture or in a silvopasture system (rather than in confinement, like most dairy animals). Make sure the animals are genuinely pasture-fed, and that they’re raised by farmers who consciously rotate their animals to produce the healthiest pastures they can.

Be aware; for animals to produce milk, they must have recently given birth. Take the time to learn about how the animals are being treated before you purchase dairy products.

Take a Look at One Dairy That’s Pasture for Life Certified, Lye Cross Farm:

https://vimeo.com/240180071

Chickens and Turkeys That Help Our Planet

Most industrial factory farms cram their birds into crowded, dark spaces, and feed them industrial soy to provide them with large amounts of cheap protein. Unfortunately, industrially produced soy is destructive to the soil because it requires heavy ploughing and pesticide use.

The natural diet for chickens includes nuts, seeds, insects, and small sprouts. In a regenerative system, birds are eating the protein they find naturally on the farm, including insects, worms, seeds, and even wild nuts and fruits. They’re allowed to behave and feed as they evolved to do, and help fertilise the soil, aerate the land, and even eliminate common pests. Poultry also do especially well in silvopasture systems, where they’re integrated and allowed to graze between trees.

Check out Eggs & Poultry managed on Biodynamic farms where poultry are kept in flocks with roosters, with room to scratch and roam outside, allowing space for natural behaviour. The result is eggs and meat that are full of flavour, and have a naturally balanced nutritional content, providing us with the nourishment nature intended.

Goats

Goats are great at eating everything. They’re adept at clearing overgrown land to get it ready for planting, and clearing weeds.

Check out the Goats in the City video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Gc6gBYgO9c

Silvopasture: Combining Forestry & Grazing

Many farms have separated our animals from perennial and annual crops. However, there are still many farmers worldwide who are farming in a more integrated way, mimicking a natural forest and allowing farm animals to move freely through the trees.

Pigs in particular are great at eating fruits and nuts that fall to the forest floor, and help turn and aerate the soil with their feet. They can be moved around a forested area to help fertilise the soil. Cows, sheep, chickens, and turkeys can also be raised in forested areas.

Watch this Mark Shepard Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=___6tEIECa4

Pastures that contain trees sequester 5–10 times as much carbon as pastures that are treeless. If silvopasture expands by roughly 200 million acres by 2050—out of the 2.7 billion acres theoretically suitable for this type of agriculture—then carbon dioxide emissions could be reduced by 31.2 gigatons.

Farmers could realise £521 billion (converted from $699) in financial gains—a number that far outweighs the estimated £31 billion (converted from $42) required for implementation.

When we raise animals in a way that mimics nature, there are more opportunities for carbon to be drawn out of the atmosphere through photosynthesis, and for healthy soil to store it.

Meat and Dairy Certifications

When purchasing meat, the best thing you can do is get to know your local farmer; understand their practices and the impact that their animals are having on the land. If you can’t find a farmer who you know and trust, you can try:

Abel & Cole, the organic online supermarket that delivers to your door: Find Abel & Cole here

If You Choose To Buy From Abel & Cole You Can Get a Special Offer Here*

The Pasture for Life Where to Buy directory with lots of farm shops, butchers, and online delivery services:

It’s important to know which certifications can help you make better purchasing decisions.

Look for These Certifications

1. Pasture for Life – Certified 100% grass-fed meat, milk, and dairy
2. Biodynamic Certification
3. Regenerative Organic Certification
4. Organic Certified Meat (still worth asking about animal management)
5. Free Range (you must ask questions about antibiotics, hormones, management)

Be Careful With Misleading Terms

1. Grass fed (be careful with this as it can be used if only 51% grass-fed)
2. Natural
3. No added hormones
4. Cage free
5. Grass finished

There are plenty more meaningless terms to check. The best thing to do is always to ask questions before buying meat so you know if the animal was raised like nature intended.

That’s it for this piece. You can find the next piece ‘Buy Seafood to Help Revitalise the Ocean and Ecosystems’ as well as all articles in this 10-part mini series at Conscious Buying Decisions to Help Climate Change.

Want To Get Updates About This Mini Series?

You can get updates about this mini series by Subscribing to Our Newsletter, Subscribing to Our Podcast, or Subscribing to Our YouTube Channel.

Suggested Reading

If you like the topic of this mini series, you might be interested in these reading suggestions with links to each book on Amazon.

Find Kiss the Ground by Josh Tickell Here on Amazon*

Find Soil Will Save Us by Kristin Ohlson Here on Amazon*

Find Soil, Grass, Hope by Courtney White Here on Amazon*

Find Dawn Again: Tracking the Wisdom of the Wild by Markegard and Doniga Here on Amazon*

Find Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming by Paul Hawken Here on Amazon*

Find Diet for a Hot Planet by Anna Lappé Here on Amazon*

Find Cows Save the Planet: And Other Improbable Ways of Restoring Soil to Heal the Earth by Judith D. Schwartz Here on Amazon*

Find Growing a Revolution: Bringing Our Soil Back to Life by David Montgomery Here on Amazon*

Here Is What You Can Do

• Use this mini series to help you buy products that help people and planet
• Check out #VoteWithOurMoney with 6 Steps to Help Stop Climate Change
• Try the Sustainability Roadmap with 40+ Solutions to Climate Change
• Use the Company Directory to Help You Grow, Eat, and Live Sustainably
• Be inspired. We can help climate change if we do something about it
• Talk to your friends and colleagues
• Share this with others

Want to Continue Your Journey?

VOTE

6 Steps to Start Helping Climate Change

Learn More

ROADMAP

Solutions to Help Stop Climate Change

Learn More

DIRECTORY

Companies to Help You Live Sustainably

Learn More

Where Next?

There is so much inspiring information to give you ideas of how to help climate change by growing, eating, and living sustainably, you can:

1. Read Our Articles
2. Sign-Up to Our Free Email Newsletter
3. Get Started and Vote with Your Money
4. Try the Sustainability Roadmap
5. Use the Company Directory
6. Support Nafford Junction

Help Us Inspire Others

If you are passionate about helping climate change, please consider supporting Nafford Junction, you can:

1. Become a Patron to Give Regular Contributions
2. Buy Me a Coffee to Make a One-Off Contribution
3. Create for Us and Publish Thought Provoking Content
4. Become an Inspiring Leader and Advertise with Us
5. Go to NaffordJunction.co.uk/support

Production Notes

This was produced by me, James Walters, as a personal project to help stop climate change by inspiring others to grow, eat, and live sustainably.

Any advice given is the opinion of those involved and does not constitute medical, financial, or legal advice.

* We include links we think you will find useful. If you buy through those links, we may earn a small commission. It’s one way to support our work and to inspire as many people as possible.