Go Veganic
I’m glad to see veganic agriculture finally getting some publicity within the USA. Explicitly veganic farming has caught on more quicky in Canada, the UK, and Europe. Elsewhere in the world, farmers in low-income countries are increasingly rejecting the “Green Revolution” pesticides and fertilizers imposed on them by means of neo-colonialism and returning to traditional practices, many of which happen to be veganic.
For tips on veganic practices for your own garden, just search for “veganic” in the search this blog box to the left.
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Much like certified organic farmers, veganic farmers use no synthetic chemical fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides or genetically modified ingredients. Veganic farmers take it to another level by not using any manures or slaughterhouse byproducts. They don\’t even use organically approved pesticides.
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Salmonella and e-coli are bacteria that live in the intestines of livestock and are present in their waste. Livestock waste, or manure, can be used to fertilize fields, potentially contaminating crops with the disease-causing bacteria.
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| Crops can also be contaminated by contact with infected animals or their byproducts, including bone meal and blood meal, which are used as fertilizer as well. |
| Veganic farmers use crop rotations and composted plant matter - or “green manure” - to fertilize their crops. |
| Stephane Groleau, co-founder of the Veganic Agriculture Network based in Quebec, Canada, said he\’s aware of only a dozen veganic farms or gardeners in the U.S. |
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June 26th, 2008 | Category: Uncategorized
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June 26th, 2008 at 2:05 pm
One veganic site I checked out before gardening this year also noted the destructive consequences of tilling (for the soil, for the creatures who live in the soil, etc.). The person who put up the site half-jokingly referred to her recommended alternative methods as “no-till,” a sort of play on the words “no-kill,” but not a full play because of course it’s literal as well.
There is this handy-dandy tool which is like a VERY long pitchfork that you shove down into the soil and wiggle around to loosen things. That’s what we used instead of a tiller or shovel, and then we just used our hands to really loosen things up, mix in compost, get rid of vines (yes, even this method is some-kill, all gardening involves some killing, unfortunately), and just generally make the soil happy for seeds.
It felt good to do and it didn’t wreck the soil structure. Most importantly, perhaps, it worked — things are growing like crazy.