Sustainable Farming

Fix the Food Chain


 

Soy has become the main source of protein in animal feed in Europe.  It is grown and imported from Latin America where vast areas of land have been converted for large-scale production, which causes both environmental damage and social injustices:

  • Deforestation
  • Soil loss/degradation
  • Greenhouse gas emissions
  • Loss of wildlife habitat
  • Eviction and intimidation of local communities
  • Small-scale farmers forced to sell up and leave the land

The meat and dairy industry are responsible for 18% of climate-changing greenhouse gases.  Both deforestation and large-scale monoculture farming are causing soil loss and soil degradation.  Soil is a finite resource on which most terrestrial life depends.  Soil takes 10,000s - 100,000s years to form.  When the Earth's natural resources are exploited it is generally the poor who suffer the most.

 

 

 

 

Westminster, Kensington and Chelsea Friends of the Earth ran a Fix the Food Chain stall at the Environment Day event at Little Wormwood Scrubbs.  Our aim was to get people to sign postcards to their local MP asking them to sign EDM 845

 

 


Early Day Motion 845

EDM 845 petitions the Government to support more sustainable farming methods to reduce negative global impacts caused by the meat and dairy industry.

Nearly half of the European Union's budget goes to the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) by way of subsidies to farmers.  Currently most of the money goes to the biggest farms - taxpayers' money is being used to support intensive factory farming that relies on soy imports from Latin America.

 

What can I do?

Ask your MP to sign EDM 845 via an easy email action on the main Friends of the Earth website.

Take part in one of our actions; we are looking for volunteers to help persuade members of the public to lobby their MP by postcard, we do this at farmers' markets and green events in Central London.  Volunteers generally help out for a couple of hours - the more the merrier!  If you interested in helping out in one of our actions please contact our coordinator Norma Romero