I’m not sure if that’s whistling in the wind or being in favour of apple pie Boilerman: on the one hand, men have been told to keep it on their trousers for centuries - which hasn’t worked out so well; on the other hand nobody (other than religious extremists) doubts the usefulness of contraception.
But the important thing here is to base actions and policies on evidence, rather than opinions or vague targets. “In a nutshell, data shows that the higher the level of a woman’s educational attainment, the fewer children she is likely to bear.” (The World Bank - but there have been many, many robust studies showing just this.)
Of course there are individual exceptions like your sister (and me - I have 4 children) but in general large families are driven by poverty and curtailed education. If you have few opportunities and your livelihood is precarious, a large family is likely to be the only security available for your old age. Educate people well and give them opportunities and economic security, and population will decline (is declining in most developed countries).
Grass also holds carbon.
This is one of those areas where people seem unable, or unwilling, to differentiate between grass fed cattle and those grown on feed lots or areas of burnt rain forest.
Education is necessary so that the two are not put into the same category.
Here in the Clunysois we have a very thin layer of topsoil, so growing grass is the best way of using the land.
Another huge problem Jane, is that every time land is ploughed / dug over it releases stored carbon. Land needs to be managed better but that takes a massive mind set change and it’s far too easy to convince the public that eating meat is the culprit.
It’s possible to make both an environmental and an animal rights case for eating a little meat.
Small-scale, traditional mixed farming in which animals play a role in land management and soil fertility - and live free-range lives of reasonable length - is one example. And of course meat is also a by-product of dairy and egg farming.
What’s not really defensible is multinational agribusiness and factory farming - either in terms of its scale or its methods - which is why we should all try to eat a lot less meat, and a lot more locally and if possible organically grown fruit and veg.
I was involved in setting up an organic box scheme in the the UK over 25 years ago (North East Organic Growers) - and have worked with several community supported agriculture ventures since, the last one in Morocco, just south of Tangier (Coopérative Jnannemla)!
I haven’t eaten meat for many years but my Border Collies are fed a species appropriate raw diet so I always have that dilemma and internal conflict……(and I don’t like the advertising pushing me towards insect diets for them)
We are living in very strange times where it seems to me that all that is natural be it food or immunity or medicine or water or earth’s resources are now concentrated and controlled by an ever diminishing handful of corporations….maybe only two now….
I follow a small scale dairy farmer in USA who was just recently saying how he admired bezos and his success with Amazon but really wished he would stop blaming his cows for everything
not just that - anyone who needs to add to our pollution/excess use of resources (like taking an outer space flight for the fun of it) needs his head examined. Proper hypocrites who should be called out at every opportunity.
I feel guilty taking the car out for any unnecessary journey, have not been on a flight since we found our house in France and generally try to be as eco conscious as possible.
I feel sorry for the next generations who will have to live with our omissions.
I’ve also read contrary reports that grass fed upland beef from Scotland and Wales can be classed as carbon neutral. (A friend of mine works in agricultural research in Scotland and lives on a Scottish beef and sheep farm.
It’s true that many reports are based on beef reared in Argentina and USA on a cereal based diet. Depends what and where you read it.
We see it here, they plough and it is dry and windy and the soil just flies away.
The initial cost of machinery for direct drilling is way beyond the means of the small farmees around us.
I picked up the steak knife yesterday, had a wonderful Menu du Jour at a lovely little cafe in Tocane-Saint-Apres. 13.50 for five courses - the main being bavette et frites, including wine and coffee. I feel no guilt
I dont but then i am selfish. The next generations will have their own problems to solve such as electro smog, PTSD when twatter and fisogbook etc goes down or which motorway they can glue themselves to and a whole bunch of woke subjects to lose sleep over.
