Good to see positive research on this subject, was soil health included in the research? I'd hope farming industry for vegan industry isn't doing the same it's doing for meat industry; which is to run the same crop year after year, ruining whatever growth potential that plot of soil had longterm.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago (8 children)

There isn't "meat industry" farming or "vegan industry" farming. The primary dichotomies in farming are industrial vs small scale, organic vs conventional, and local vs global. If you don't like monocultural industrial farming, then support the other types of farmers.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (4 children)

I've always heard that "organic" farming is really not especially different from conventional farming, including from some folks in agriculture. Like, they still use chemical pesticides and stuff, just different ones that are less effective and so sprayed more heavily.

I don't have anything to back that up with though, so there's a reasonable chance you have better info here. I'd be interested to know more if you've got standards and such you can share?

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Lived at a farm that got some organic farming approvals; it depends on the country. And perhaps even your region. In my country, you can get certain approvals/certifications for organic farming, and the regulations for that is very strict. Things like "chemical" (synthetic) pesticides are forbidden outright, so are strong fertilizers etc. This has government oversight, so, there are randomized sampling and testing done on approved entities (farms, companies).

Sadly this often leads to higher costs and more land use. Like it or not, a lot of the things forbidden do lead to much higher yields etc. The end result is higher prices; organic (certified) products are quite expensive here.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Totally, organic is not the same as sustainable.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Organic is very much ~~the same as~~ about sustainability. The degree to which a particular enterprise succeeds in living up to organic principles and to internationally recognized organic standards is a different question.

Organic standards are available to be read. Here is the Canadian standards. You'll notice that sustainability is very much the organizing principle.

Organic standards are not the be-all and end-all of sustainability, that is true.