Veganic Farming

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The 411: Successfully Funded Project - Grow crops organically without farmed animal products

Found on: https://experiment.com/projects/growing-veganic-exploring-plant-based-agriculture-in-the-united-states?s=discover

Growing Veganic: Exploring Plant-Based Agriculture in the United States

By Mona Seymour and Alisha Utter

Backed by Joe Fisher, John Schoeppner, RyanEmily, RICHARD CIANCI, Green Mountain Animal Defenders, Mark Epstein, Jimbo Janwarwala, Kelly Weiner, Gene Baur, Yatlong Sam Poon, and 26 other backers

About This Project

Veganic farmers grow crops organically and without farmed animal products such as manure and blood, feather, and fish meals. Veganic farming offers a range of potential environmental and human health benefits while aligning with vegan values. We will conduct interviews with veganic farmers across the United States to better understand farmer motivations and experiences; farmer-identified best practices; and farmer needs, including resources essential to growing the veganic agriculture movement.

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What is the context of this research?

Industrial chemical-based agriculture is one of the most destructive human activities on the planet, linked to harmful effects on biodiversity, environmental quality, and farmworker health. Alternative agricultural paradigms avoid chemical inputs yet often rely on animal byproducts sourced from industrial agriculture, such as blood meal and manure. These byproducts are tied to a spectrum of issues, such as potential environmental contamination from veterinary pharmaceuticals and the presence of animal pathogens transmittable to consumers (e.g, E. coli). How do we avoid these problems and grow healthy vegetables, grains, and other plant foods that do not financially or symbolically support industrial agriculture and animal exploitation? Veganic agriculture represents a way forward.

What is the significance of this project?

As the ethical, environmental, and personal health arguments for plant-based diets become increasingly recognized, the demand for food produced without animal inputs is expected to rise. In addition to offering truly plant-based food options to vegans, veganic agriculture has the potential to provide regenerative and agroecological solutions to leading food system issues, including resource depletion, environmental destruction, and foodborne illness related to animal byproducts.

There is currently no systematic, peer-reviewed research examining veganic farming experiences in the US. This project will set an empirical foundation for veganics research in the US and build knowledge on veganic farmer needs and best practices.

What are the goals of the project?

Through in-depth interviews with 15-20 US veganic farmers, this project seeks to explore questions including: How did farmers first learn of veganic methods? Why did they begin to grow veganically? How do they obtain information and advice about veganics? What challenges do they face in growing veganically? What are their greatest needs as a veganic farmer?

We anticipate that our findings will be of particular interest to current and potential veganic growers, supporters of agroecological and veganic agriculture, and academics. Results will be shared at conferences (scholarly, agricultural, and/or animal rights oriented), through peer-reviewed literature, and via a free veganic farming manual organizing farmer-identified best practices with the scientific rationale that supports them.

Additional Information

Today, veganic growing, also known as vegan organic or stockfree organic farming, is a fringe practice in the US. Based on data collected by one of this project's researchers, it is thought that there are approximately 50 commercial veganic farms in the US. However, research trials in the US and UK have shown veganic methods to be viable, with yields similar to organic agriculture, and sources suggest that it is a sustainable form of agriculture. For these reasons and others identified in the proposal, we seek to expand the store of publicly-available knowledge about veganic farming experiences and practices.