Counting On … – Page 71

Counting on … day 1.072

15th March 2023

Food that is wasted – whether that it is on the farm (perhaps being ploughed up because there is no longer a market for it or it has become damaged), between the farm gate and the store (too many or too little of too mis -shapen), or in our kitchens (because we have bought too much or let what we have go ‘off’) – accounts for 8 to 10% of the world’s carbon footprint. Reducing food waste saves resources, limits pollution and ensures more people are better fed.

This week OddBox which diverts food that would go to waste into a weekly veg box delivery issued its annual report – https://www.oddbox.co.uk/blog/our-do-good-report-2022

Counting on …1.071

14th March 2023

“Cutting meat and dairy products from your diet could reduce an individual’s carbon footprint from food by two-thirds, according to the Oxford study, published in the journal Science.” https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-46459714

Major institutions are helping people make this change in lifestyle by serving less or no meat in their canteens. In 2022 Stirling became the first UK university to ban the sale of meat in its campus food outlets. This year Cambridge University has voted to do likewise. Newcastle Hospitals has meat free Mondays, which is an approach followed by various schools and colleges.

A different world is possible!

Counting on … day 1.070

13th March 2023

“Campaigners warned [2019] that the clear waters of the Wye, one of Britain’s best-loved rivers, were being blighted by thick green algae blooms linked to poultry production. Many of the intensive chicken farms in the catchment area of the Wye supply Avara Foods in Hereford, which is the third largest poultry producer in Britain and is jointly owned by the American food business Cargill. It is claimed that vast amounts of manure from chicken farms supplying Avara and other food businesses are washed into the Wye, contaminating the water with excessive phosphate levels that fuel the growth of algae blooms…

Cargill has operated in the UK since 1955 and purchased a major poultry processing plant in Hereford, more than 40 years ago. In 2013 it announced a £35m investment in the plant to increase production of fresh chicken, and five years later it combined its fresh chicken operation in the UK with poultry business Faccenda Foods to form Avara. New intensive poultry units – each housing at least 40,000 chickens – sprung up to meet the demand, and between 2013 and 2017 the number of birds in Herefordshire increased from 13 million to 18 million.

It is now hoped stricter controls and new practices, supported by Cargill and other operators, will help reduce the Wye pollution. Some farms are installing biomass boilers to generate heat from chicken manure, while other farms are sending the poultry litter to anaerobic digestion plants.” https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/sep/25/chicken-farm-giant-linked-to-river-wye-decline-was-sued-over-water-blight-in-us?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

How sustainable is our current meat focused diet? Is there scope for change that can create a better world?

Counting on … day 1.069

12th March 2023

Last September “Operation Noah today released a report that makes recommendations on ways to reduce and store carbon emissions to one of the country’s largest landowners, the Church of England, which owns approximately 0.5% of the UK’s land. The report … concludes that land owned by the Church of England is currently contributing to the climate and biodiversity emergencies ‘in terms of greenhouse gas emissions and limiting biodiversity within monoculture tree plantations and non-regenerative agriculture.’ While the Church of England has adopted a 2030 Net Zero target, its landholdings are outside the scope of the target. Yet this report finds that agricultural land owned by the CofE is likely to create more greenhouse gas emissions than all CofE church buildings combined; however, it adds, ‘there is also scope for considerable improvement if rapid and radical action is taken.’

The report specifically recommends a programme of tree growing, peat restoration, and providing better support and strategies to those who farm Church-owned land in order to reduce agricultural emissions and store more carbon.” https://operationnoah.org/featured/press-release-operation-noah-report-finds-church-of-england-land-contributes-to-the-climate-crisis-suggests-ways-to-reduce-and-store-emissions/

There is so much scope for change that will create a better world.

Counting on … day 1.068

11th March 2023

“ Haweswater’s wildlife is … being given the chance to make a full-throated comeback, thanks to interventions made by the RSPB, in collaboration with its landlords, the water company United Utilities. The project partners have reduced sheep numbers by 90%, from more than 3,000 two decades ago to about 300 today. They have also planted more than 100,000 trees, restored 400 hectares (988 acres) of peatbog, and “rewiggled” a valley bottom stream so it can reoccupy its natural flood plain. Webb resists the idea that Haweswater is a “rewilding” project, however. “It’s still a working farm,” says Webb of the site’s two farmsteads in the valleys of Naddle and Swindale. “We’re just doing it less intensively.”” https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/mar/10/haweswater-project-lake-district-rewilding-farming-jobs

A different world is possible!

Counting on … day 1.067

10th March 2023

“Livestock produce manure which, when mixed with urine, releases ammonia, a nitrogen compound. If it gets into lakes and streams via farm runoff, excessive nitrogen can damage sensitive natural habitats by, for example, encouraging algae blooms that deplete oxygen in surface waters.”

This is a particular problem in countries and regions where there is a high concentration of farm animals such as in the Netherlands. In December 2021 the Dutch government “launched 13-year multibillion-euro plan,[ which] includes paying some Dutch livestock farmers to relocate or exit the industry, and helping others transition to more extensive (as opposed to intensive) methods of farming, with fewer animals and a bigger area of land. It will start as a voluntary programme, with compensation offered to livestock farmers asked to leave. “In the end, it might be necessary to stop negotiating as a last resort, but the basis is voluntary,” said de Groot. The end result is expected to be close to a one-third reduction in the numbers of pigs, cows and chickens in the country.” https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/dec/15/netherlands-announces-25bn-plan-to-radically-reduce-livestock-numbers?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Counting on … day 1.066

9th March 2023

In Scotland a local community has bought land from the Buccleuch estate in order to rewild the land restoring its habitat to support enhanced biodiversity.

THE STORY SO FAR

Who: Langholm Initiative: Margaret Pool (former Chair); Jenny Barlow (Estate Manager)
Where & when: Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, from 2019
What: Community buyout of former grouse moor to be managed as a nature reserve
How: Clearing conifer plantations; creating new woodlands; conserving precious habitats and fostering nature recovery, planning new sustainable economic activities
Future potential income: Tourism, educational and research activities, regenerative farming, possible renewable power
Ecosystem benefits: Nature recovery on over-grazed hillsides; conservation of rare valley woodland; peat restoration; wetland conservation; soil recovery; flood prevention. https://www.rewildingbritain.org.uk/explore-rewilding/meet-the-rewilders/meet-the-rewilders-langholm

A different world is possible!

Counting on ….day 1.065

8th March 2023

34% of the world’s mammals (by weight – biomass) are humans, 4% are wild animals and a staggering 62% are livestock – cows, pigs, sheep etc. ie most of the mammals on earth are there because we are going to eat them. (Of course a small number of those animals will be draught animals and some breeding stock, but equally the numbers don’t include poultry). It would be logical to think that we should be reducing the proportion of livestock we keep so as to maintain space for wild animals – and that would be a boost for biodiversity.

Counting on… day 1.064

7th March 2023

Out of a total of 42 Church of England dioceses, only seven now still maintain investments in the fossil fuel industry – Chichester, Guildford, Hereford, Peterborough, Southwark, Southwell and Nottingham, and York. Change is happening. Bright Now reports ‘Since the start of 2023, the Church of England Dioceses of London, Lichfield and Rochester have all announced their divestment from fossil fuel companies.’

A different world is possible!

Counting on … day 1.063

6th March 2023

Euronews reports: “A housing block in Wales has been fitted with a ‘world-first’ solar system that connects all the flats to the same rooftop panels.

The residents of Odet Court in Cardiff are set to save 50 per cent off their energy bills thanks to the new technology, which can meet up to 75 per cent of each flat’s electricity demand.

Australian manufacturer Allume Energy claims that its ‘SolShare’ model is the only technology that enables solar energy from a single rooftop system to be shared by multiple homes in the same building. Allume Energy General Manager for Europe Jack Taylor says he hopes the Welsh project “will serve as a template for governments and social housing providers in the UK to [upgrade] multi-unit residences.” Odet Court has 24 flats, so without a way of connecting them, developers would have had to install 24 separate sets of panels, inverters and batteries. As well as saving money on hardware, the company says that SolShare has boosted solar use by more than 25 per cent. The new system is suitable for retrofit projects as well as new builds, as it does not require any changes to existing supply and metering infrastructure.” https://www.euronews.com/green/2023/02/18/live-in-an-apartment-this-new-solar-technology-cut-could-your-bills-in-half

A different world is possible!