As consumers become more and more aware of the consequences of their purchases, it is becoming increasingly fashionable for corporations to associate “ethical consumerism” with their brand name. This is especially prevalent amongst energy companies, car manufacturers and political parties who boast of their green credentials in an uncannily Orwellian fashon. This is often referred to as “green-washing.”
A similar process is happening with companies who deal in animal produce, who will often advertise themselves with studio images of of happy, healthy cows who are simply delighted to provide the company with their nutritious milk. We at Ahimsa, however, know that these images come straight from the idealistic image of farming that we all retain in our minds but which has been a rarity for a long time.
Take the example of the recent Muller campaign called “Thank you cows” which consists of nothing more than literally saying “thank you” and representing their “compassion” with images of one cow enjoying its freedom in various beautiful locations. This leaves the average consumer with a groundless feeling of satisfaction, knowing that at least on cow is roaming free and not penned in, hooked up to milking machines. But this has no relevance to the reality of the animals’ lives. It is no more than an advertising campaign which lies for the sake of profit.
Beware the Greenwash, and beware the Milkwash. Companies are all too keen to tell us exactly what we want to hear, but have no intention of acually making the changes that would mean better welfare for animals and consumers, but perhaps dent their profit margin.
We need to challenge this propoganda wherever we see it and investigate the facts for ourselves. Ahimsa is the only organisation in Britain to actively campaign for the rights of cattle with no agenda apart from the ethical responsibility that we all have towards those who provide us with our sustenance.
Blind consumerism is the cornerstone of unethical supply-and-demand based capitalism. Stand up to show that you are not blind; drink your milk with your eyes wide open.
A factory farm housing more than 8,000 ‘battery cows’ will be built in the English countryside. Under the controversial plans, Britain’s largest ever dairy herd will be kept in industrial-scale sheds with little access to pasture or sunshine.
The cows will be milked around the clock to produce 430,000 pints each day – while their slurry will be recycled to generate power for the national grid.
The complex is the first ‘supersize’ cattle factory planned for Britain and follows growing concerns about the spread of ‘zero-grazing’ farming. Justin Kerswell, of animal rights group Viva, said: ‘This is factory farming – and it blows out of the water the pastoral image the dairy industry likes to portray.’ The £40million farm will be built near Nocton, Lincolnshire, later this year. It will have eight hangars for 8,100 cattle and two 24-hour milking parlours.
The animals, fed on fodder, will spend most of their days inside where they will stand and sleep on sand rather than pasture. And they will be milked three times a day, while a typical dairy cow is milked just twice.
Waste will be removed each day and fed into an anaerobic generator to produce enough electricity for more than 2,000 homes. Robert Howard, a farmer behind the Nocton Dairies project, said the farm will be the largest in Western Europe and help the dairy industry compete against imports. ‘Campaigners think cows should be like in the Anchor butter advert, with 50 to 100 cows dancing in a field,’ he said. ‘It is a lovely idea, but not the reality.’ His colleague Peter Wiles said the cows would have access to open pasture when they were not producing milk. The sheds would have open sides, he added. ‘We will have a visitor centre to show the public around,’ he said. ‘We are aiming to have exceptional standards.’
The company’s website played down the industrial scale of the farm, saying: ‘The layout is designed so the cows get plenty of exercise and fresh air. ‘A vet will be on site 24 hours a day, seven days a week to support the trained dairy staff in their daily inspections of every single cow to check they are healthy and happy.’ But animal campaigners are fighting the plans. Linda Wardale, of the group Vegan Lincs, said the conditions would be akin to ‘ battery farming for cows’. ‘Cows should be in the fields, nibbling on grass, but here they’re going to keep them in sheds,’ she added.
And Patrick Holden, an organic dairy farmer and director of the Soil Association, said the farm was a wake-up call. ‘Will consumers be happy to know that they are drinking the milk from one of 8,100 cows that will never get out to grass?’ he asked. ‘There is also a greater risk of disease – and the spread of new diseases, as we saw with BSE.’
In addition, the move away from family farming would make Britain more vulnerable to rises in energy prices and trade crises, he added. The Nocton Dairies’ farmers hope to have planning permission by the end of next month and milk the first cow by September.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1254467/Battery-farm-cows-8-000-animals-housed-milk-factory.html#ixzz0hEs0rQN
The Bhaktivedanta Manor is the first and only farm in the UK to run entirely without slaughter or fossil fuels. It is a unique experiment into what happens when dairy cows and their offspring are allowed to live productive lives instead of being exploited and sacrificed in the name of cheap milk. It is currently the only farm to produce Ahimsa standard slaughter-free milk.
It all started in 1973, when George Harrison donated a Hertfordshire manor house and twenty acres of land to a blossoming religious community. The first thing they did was buy a cow.
Thirty-six years later, Bhaktivedanta Manor, near Watford, is a home, working farm and community centre visited by thousands of Hindus from all walks of life. The farm houses 50 cows and oxen in simple English oak barns. No animal has ever been killed and Hindu principles of cow protection and compassion to all living creatures are neatly transplanted into the modern Western world to successfully run a dairy farm entirely without slaughter or fossil fuels.
The animals are treated with care and respect, and not seen merely as machines of milk-production. They are free to live full and fulfilled lives. Calves suckle directly from their mothers, cows are milked by hand and trained bulls plough the land. Every animal has its place in the community.
35,000 litres of cruelty-free milk are produced every year from this exceptional farm, proving that farming does not need to be exploitative to be productive and bountiful.
The current global agricultural system is responsible for 37 percent1 of all greenhouse gas emissions. Livestock is accountable for 18 percent2. This is more than any other sector of the economy; more than all transport put together. It is also a major source of land and water degradation.
In a society where consumption of animal products is growing at an astonishing rate, it is absolutely vital that we re-think the way we rear our livestock – unless the entire world is willing to convert to veganism.
Organic agriculture is less energy intensive, using 37 percent3 less fossil fuels than industrialised farming… but the Ahimsa method is entirely independent from fossil fuels. By using trained bulls to work the land, we break free from the shackles of chemical and machine, and give jobs back to the people with the help of animals and simple tools, as has been done for thousands of years.
Due to the intensity of land and feed needed to support beef cattle, beef – and, to a lesser extent, all other meat – is extremely economically wasteful and energy inefficient. Dairy, however, is a highly economical food. The Bhaktivedanta Manor dairy herd, even with its oxen, calves and non-milking cows, is still nearly two and a half times more productive in terms of food calorie production than a comparable beef farm4.
Cruelty free and fossil fuel free dairy production is not some idealistic dream; it is a practical and viable necessity.
