Welcome back to Hunger Hunt Feast! If you consider yourself "green" or take interest in protecting the environment, you are going to love this episode.
Today Zane shares the truth about how the "plant-based" lifestyle is damaging our planet and the environmental impact of grains.
QUICK NOTES FROM ZANE:
The current agricultural system of large scale mono-crops of grains is not environmentally friendly
It is depleting topsoil, polluting rivers, and destroying ecosystems like wetlands, prairies, and forests
It's a corporate-owned, government-subsidized industry that has run traditional farmers out of business
Traditional farming skips harvest seasons to allow for cover crops and grazing, foraging animals to replenish nutrients in the soil
50 gallons of oil per acre of corn- fertilizer, pesticides, machinery
High water usage from rivers
Comparison of water usage of 1lb of wheat to 1lb of grass-fed beef
Factory farming of beef, pork and chicken wouldn't exist except for the cheap corn from the mono-cropping system
Not a sustainable industry- grains are sold for less than it takes to produce them
Grains are used to make processed food which makes up 70% of the avg. US diet
Exporting grains to developing nations puts farmers out of work in those countries and causes them to be dependent on corporate food giants
Once fertile Mesopotamia is now the Iraqi desert.
Irrigation and fertilizers cause salinization of soil
Dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico at the mouth of the Mississippi caused by fertilizers that is 6-7000 sq. miles
Alternative approach: regenerative farming using a perennial polyculture
as described in the documentary Sacred Cow by Diana Rogers, episode #36 podcast guest
Polyface Farm run by Joel Salatin - has sequestered 2 tons of carbon per acre, per year for over 50 years
White Oak Pastures in Georgia is a carbon-negative farm using regenerative techniques
Is regenerative farming replicable?
Lierre Keith, former 20 yr vegetarian, wrote in "The Vegetarian Myth",
"We need to stop asking what feeds the most people and start asking what feeds people sustainably.
What methods produce topsoil while only using sun and rain because nothing else is sustainable."
LINKS:
50 Gallons of oil per acre of corn
Dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico
Degraded topsoil in the US Midwest
https://www.politico.com/agenda/story/2017/09/13/soil-health-agriculture-trend-usda-000513/
https://e360.yale.edu/features/how-the-loss-of-soil-is-sacrificing-americas-natural-heritage
China restricting farming near large rivers
Polyface Farms sequesters 2 tons of carbon per acre, per year
White Oak Pastures sequesters more carbon than it releases
Sacred Cow Documentary by Diana Rogers on Amazon
The Vegetarian Myth" by Lierre Keith
Questions? You can email your questions to zane@zanegriggs.com.
Connect with me at zanegriggs.com or on Instagram @zanegriggsfitness
QUICK EPISODE SUMMARY:
- The sustainability of our agricultural state
- How corporate ran grain supplies have affected the investment
- How much oil it takes to create corn and the role of fossil fuels
- What happens when you destroy wetlands
- How to get most of your days micro-nutrients
- How grain is used to fatten livestock up before slaughter
- The ROI of our current agriculture system
- A few examples of how soy is dangerous for humans long term
- One of the first historical documentation of brewing beer
- Regenerative farming is possible
- Support local farmers: It takes all of us to create change
- Recourses around this topic if you want to learn more
