Page 23 - Spring2008

decay cycle, not held in artifi cial suspension by vast Great Plains of North America are restored to their original deep black
political boundaries. loam by vast herds of beef cattle mimicking their native cousins the bison.
African men, displaced from their traditional cattlekeeping by the U.N.-

A REVERENCE FOR LIFE sanctioned call to vegetarian efficiency, return to their native lands to take
What has the world come to when today’s on the noble pursuit of land healing, leading great herds of cattle through
young teens contemplate childlessness in order the bush under the thoughtful tutelage of Holistic Management . Parched
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to reduce their carbon footprint, and the U.N. is river beds become vegetated and begin to run again, bare soil heals over
prescribing “defaunating” agents for ruminants with a thick carpet of green, all due to the life-giving forces of the cow

to kill their gut flora, and when the predominant in great numbers. Our redemption is not in her annihilation as the U.N.
rural landscape consists of endless expanses of would have it, but in truly understanding her environmental and nutritional
corn and soy with not one cow and not one farmer restorative traits, and putting those traits to work for us.
in sight? We are certainly entering the age of These land-healing processes generate a new food supply. This food
sterility, not to mention infertility. A reverence supply is unique in the fact that it produces grass-fi nished meat and dairy
for life and all things that give richness to life as a byproduct of innovative land management and carbon sequestering
has taken a back seat to the idea that we must strategies. With these processes, we are not merely sustaining the land but
reduce our “impact” on the planet. Our children enhancing and embellishing it, turning the deserts green. That should be our
are now being brought up to believe that their goal. While the U.N. continues to dabble in their industrial, government-
daily activity is a detriment to the earth, and we funded solutions based on tax incentives and negative reinforcement, we
wonder why the self-esteem of our young people will just vote with our food dollars for environmentally enhancing, animal
has hit a record low. agriculture. Soil building, grass-based farming, utilizing livestock to our
Ironically, the call to reduce our environmen- environmental and nutritional advantage is the key to our future prosperity.
tal impact has caused more degradation than it Can you imagine the diversity of traditional foods we could revitalize on

has spared. Seventy-five percent of the world’s a grand scale through a worldwide effort to restore degraded landscapes
rangelands are considered degraded, not because with cows, sheep and goats? The potential to fl ood the marketplace with
there are too many cows but because there are old-fashioned animal fats would be endless. I’m ready to live off the (grass-
too few. National forests are ablaze because of fed) fat of the land and I hope you are, too. Let’s move forward, full speed
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campaigns to silence the chainsaw—this is fuel ahead, with this special life-respecting movement, and instill in the next
that could be utilized and instead it is left to burn generation a reverence for life and all that gives richness to it. Our move-
out of control. Nevertheless, in the midst of life- ment to curb climate change will be validated by the beauty of rich soil,
less landscapes all over the world, real farmers green pastures and healthy generations to come. For this, we owe immense
and livestock husbandmen are asked to seek jobs gratitude to the ruminant livestock of the world, and their enduring service
somewhere outside the livestock sector—in ster- to mankind.

ile fields of soybeans, I suppose—what the late
Mark Purdey referred to as the “vegan ecologi- Matthew Rales obtained his BA in Environmental Studies from Middle-
cal wasteland.” What we are witnessing now is bury College in Vermont. He recently completed an apprenticeship at Joel
our own, modern version of the “Trail of Tears,” Salatin’s grass-based Polyface Farm and is pursuing a career in grass-
where both man and beast are forced off the land based farming at Polyface.
to toil in confinement houses and feedlots where

their activities can more easily be regulated and REFERENCES
so that the land can be “freed up” for the produc- 1. Steinfeld, H and others. Livestock’s Long Shadow: Environmental Issues and Options.

tion of more “efficient” vegetarian fare. 2. November 29, 2006.
Hindo, Brian. Monsanto: Winning the Ground War. Business Week. December 17, 2007. pp.
35-41.
THE FUTURE 3. The Wall Street Journal. January 3, 2008.
4. Nation, Allan. Allan’s Observations. The Stockman Grassfarmer. January 2008.
Now imagine a world in which we revere 5. Margarine Manufacturers of America. Data available at www.margarine.org.
and hold our animals sacred, the soil so sweet 6. Enig, Mary. The Tragic Legacy of the Center for Science in the Public Interest. www.we-
stonaprice.org/knowyourfats/cspi.html.
and so fertile that our farms become inevitable 7. Mann, Charles C. 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus. 2005. p.318.
wildlife corridors—we may even have to hunt 8. Savory, Allan and others. Moving the World Toward Sustainability. Green Money Journal.
www.greenmoney.com.
to keep these wildlife populations in check. But
this just means supplementing our diets with a
little wild venison or gazelle now and then. The
SPRING 2008 Wise Traditions 23