7th July 2008

Over 60 people squeezed into Star Anise café in Stroud on Friday June 27th to hear the latest Coffee House debate on the ethics of farming and food. The evening covered many aspects of this wide-ranging topic, including the relationship between livestock and climate change, the effects of Peak Oil upon world food production, the efficacy of different types of manures and the moral arguments for not eating meat. 

The speakers included vegan partners James Beecher and Imogen Shaw, who outlined the case for their way of life in the view that animals kept for food are deprived of their freedom and exploited, while animal welfare and organic production were insufficient compromises.

Mark Harrison from Stroud Community Supported Agriculture disagreed with the basic thrust of the vegans’ beliefs, affirming that animals bring “heart” to a farm in a way that is unique and irreplaceable.

Director of the Biodynamic Agricultural Association Bernard Jarman argued that farm animals no longer know how to live in the wild, and it is necessary to farm them in order to sustain the natural animal-plant cycles of life. All of the speakers acknowledged that the landscape would change dramatically if we were to abandon the keeping of livestock.

Several people raised the question of how to feed an overpopulated world in which people are malnourished and in some places starving, and disagreements arose over whether this could be achieved with meat-based diets. On the subject of dietary health, all the speakers maintained that it is beneficial to health to live on the foods they endorsed, the meat-eaters maintaining that meat may be included in a healthy mixed diet so long as it is of high quality and not adulterated with unnecessary chemicals.

Bernard Jarman said, “Animals should be treated with respect and allowed to live their lives with dignity. We have to become much more sustainable, rely more heavily on local produce and strive to be a less consumer-driven society.”

The debate was lively and passionate but it was also marked by the mutually respectful nature of its participants, who nevertheless disagreed on many fundamental issues.

The Coffee House Discussions are sponsored by the Green Party and held on the fourth Friday of each month at Star Anise café. July’s subject will be the sex industry.