Fruit Eden Veganic Farm Newsletter Issue No. 2, 2012.05.07
Fruit Eden Veganic Farm Newsletter Website： https://fruiteden.wordpress.com/newsletter/
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Table of Content：
This week’s recommended organic produce
Web Info on healthy diet, spiritual growth, organic farming, environmental issues etc.
- The 12 Most Toxic Fruits and Vegetables
- Yams
- The anti-aging superfood avocado
- Farming Without Plough or Chemicals
- Stock-free organic farming
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This week’s recommended organic produce：
- organic avocado, medium, promich， MX： $1.95 $1.65 / each (approx. 170 ~ 200g)
- organic lettuce green leaf， CA： $2.45 / each
- organic yam jewel medium，CA： $3.65/ 3 lb bag
- organic soybean, CA: $2.20/ bag (approx. 1 lb)
Welcome to suggest next week’s organic produce.
See also: the complete price list for organic produce：https://fruiteden.wordpress.com/products/
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Web Info on healthy diet, spiritual growth, organic farming, environmental issues etc.
The 12 Most Toxic Fruits and Vegetables
[digest]Eat your fruits and vegetables! The health benefits of a diet rich in fruits and vegetables outweigh the risks of pesticide exposure. Use EWG’s Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides to reduce your exposures as much as possible, but eating conventionally-grown produce is far better than not eating fruits and vegetables at all. The Shopper’s Guide to Pesticide in Produce will help you determine which fruits and vegetables have the most pesticide residues and are the most important to buy organic. You can lower your pesticide intake substantially by avoiding the 12 most contaminated fruits and vegetables and eating the least contaminated produce.
Commodity crop corn used for animal feed and biofuels is almost all produced with genetically modified (GMO) seeds, as is some sweet corn sold for human consumption. Since GMO sweet corn is not labeled as such in US stores, EWG advises those who have concerns about GMOs to buy organic sweet corn.
Dirty Dozen (Buy these organic)
1 Apples
2 Celery
3 Strawberries
4 Peaches
5 Spinach
6 Nectarines – imported
7 Grapes – imported
8 Sweet bell peppers
9 Potatoes
10 Blueberries – domestic
11 Lettuce
12 Kale/collard greens
Clean 15 (Lowest in Pesticide)
1 Onions
2 Sweet Corn
3 Pineapples
4 Avocado
5 Asparagus
6 Sweet peas
7 Mangoes
8 Eggplant
9 Cantaloupe – domestic
10 Kiwi
11 Cabbage
12 Watermelon
13 Sweet potatoes
14 Grapefruit
15 Mushrooms
link source: http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/summary/
[digest]Creamy or firm when cooked, yams have an earthy, hardy taste and usually a minimal amount of sweetness. Although they are available throughout the year their season runs from October through December when they are at their best.
Health Benefits
Protection Against Cardiovascular Disease
Yams are a good source of vitamin B6. Vitamin B6 is needed by the body to break down a substance called homocysteine, which can directly damage blood vessel walls. Individuals who suffer a heart attack despite having normal or even low cholesterol levels are often found to have high levels of homocysteine. Since high homocysteine levels are signficantly associated with increased risk of heart attack and stroke, having a good supply of vitamin B6 on hand makes a great deal of sense. High intakes of vitamin B6 have also been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease.
Yams are a good source of potassium, a mineral that helps to control blood pressure. Since many people not only do not eat enough fruits and vegetables, but also consume high amounts of sodium as salt is frequently added to processed foods, they may be deficient in potassium. Low intake of potassium-rich foods, especially when coupled with a high intake of sodium, can lead to hypertension. In the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) study, one group ate servings of fruits and vegetables in place of snacks and sweets, and also ate low-fat dairy food. This diet delivered more potassium, magnesium and calcium. Another group ate a “usual” diet low in fruits and vegetables with a fat content like that found in the average American Diet. After eight weeks, the group that ate the enhanced diet lowered their blood pressure by an average of 5.5 points (systolic) over 3.0 points (diastolic). Dioscorin, a storage protein contained in yam, may also be of benefit to certain individuals with hypertension. Preliminary research suggests that dioscorin can inhibit angiotensin converting enzyme, which would therefore lead to increased kidney blood flow and reduced blood pressure.
A Look at Yam, Diosgenin, and Menopausal Symptoms
Many consumers have found products in the marketplace that promote wild yam or wild yam extracts as substances that can help provide a natural alternative to hormonal replacement in women who have reached the age of menopause. Many of these products are provided in the form of creams that can be topically applied. Even though the food itself is not usually promoted by natural products companies, these yam-containing products have sparked interest in the relationship between yam and menopause. Yams do contain some unique substances called steroidal saponins, and among these substances are chemicals called diosgenins. Because of similiarities between diosgenin and progesterone, questions were initially raised about the ability of our body to convert diosgenin into progesterone, but research has shown that the answer here is clearly no. Diosgenin does, however, have an impact on hormonal patterns in studies involving animals, and may be helpful in lowering risk of osteoporosis, although we don’t as yet have any human studies in this area.
Wild yam also has some history of traditional use in herbal medicine, especially Chinese herbal medicine, as a botanical that can affect organ system function. While the focus here has been on kidney function, wild yam (or Chinese yam) has also been used to support the female endocrine system. For example, there has been traditional use of this root in conjunction with lactation. We’ve only seen one high-quality, peer-reviewed research study in which women were actually given wild yam (in the form of a topical cream) to determine the impact of this plant on menopausal symptoms. Although this research showed some very limited benefits from the wild yam cream–and no side effects–none of the symptom changes were statistically significant. In summary, we’d say that there’s no research evidence to support the claim that yam has special benefits when it comes to menopause, but that more research is needed in this area because there is a clear connection between yam, diosgenin, and endocrine function that is not yet understood.
We’d also like to add some information about yam and vitamin B6. Vitamin B6 has been an especially popular supplement with respect to premenstrual syndrome (PMS) in women, especially in conjunction with the depression that can be triggered by PMS. Some companies have also advocated the use of this vitamin for menopausal symptoms. One cup of baked cubed yam contains 15.5% of the Daily Value for B6, and we rank yam as a “good” source of vitamin B6 for this reason. In research studies, however, the dose of vitamin B6 required for help with PMS depression is about 50-100 milligrams–many, many times the Daily Value level of 2.0 milligrams. So if you’re a woman, even though yam might be a food well-worth including in your meal plan in conjunction with PMS, the amount of vitamin B6 that you’d be getting from this food would be insufficient (by itself) to reach the therapeutic level shown to be helpful in research studies.
Blood Sugar and Weight Control
Yams’ complex carbohydrates and fiber deliver the goods gradually, slowing the rate at which their sugars are released and absorbed into the bloodstream. In addition, because they’re rich in fiber, yams fill you up without filling out your hips and waistline. And one more benefit, yams are a good source of manganese, a trace mineral that helps with carbohydrate metabolism and is a cofactor in a number of enzymes important in energy production and antioxidant defenses. You’ve just got to hand it to Mother Nature; when She brings forth a food, She makes sure it integrates everything needed to contribute to your health and vitality.
How to Select and Store
As noted in the Description section, oftentimes the root vegetable that is labeled in the store’s produce section as a yam is not truly a yam but is a variety of sweet potato. Therefore, if you want to buy a real yam, you should ask someone in your store’s produce department who can let you know the actual origin of the vegetable in question. As yams are not widely available in the United States, you may find that your store does not carry true yams although you are certain to find them in many Asian and African food markets.
Choose yams that are firm and do not have any cracks, bruises or soft spots. Avoid those that are displayed in the refrigerated section of the produce department since cold temperature negatively alters their taste.
Yams should be stored in a cool, dark and well-ventilated place where they will keep fresh for up to ten days. They should be stored loose and not kept in a plastic bag. Keep them out of exposure to sunlight or temperatures above 60°F (around 15°C) since this will cause them to sprout or ferment. Uncooked yams should not be kept in the refrigerator.
Research has shown some nutritional advantages to roasting over boiling when it comes to yams, so if you are deliberating over these two cooking methods, we recommend that you choose roasting. At the same time, however, when it comes to a potentially problematic substance like phytic acid (phytic acid can sometimes block absorption of desirable nutrients like zinc and iron), a wet-heat cooking method might be helpful. Because steaming is a wet-heat method that avoids submersing the food in water and risking excessive leeching of water-soluble nutrients, we recommend steaming over boiling when using wet heats (and we always stick with steaming in our own yam recipes).
link source: http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=113
3. The anti-aging superfood avocado
[digest](NaturalNews) Foods that have an incredible array of health benefits that go well beyond just their nutrient value are considered superfoods. These foods are typically loaded with a combination of critical fatty acids, anti-oxidant phytonutrients and essential amino acids. Avocados are one of the best anti-aging superfoods to consume.
Avocados are native to Central America and were a favorite food of the Aztec Indians. It is part of the flowering plant family Lauraceae which includes camphor, bay laurel and cinnamon. Avocados are considered a fruit. They are cultivated in tropical climates throughout the world including southern Florida and California.
The oldest known evidence of avocado use as a food was found in a cave in Puebla, Mexico. The dates of the writings are thought to be from around 10,000 BC. The two major types of avocados are the Hass Avocado and Florida Avocado. The Hass avocado was named after Rudolph Hass who developed an avocado farm and obtained a patent for the avocados he was growing.
Florida avocados are significantly larger than the Hass avocados but are lower in overall fat and calories. The Hass avocado is more dense in monounsaturated fatty acids than the Florida avocado. The Hass avocado averages between 18-30% fatty acids while the Florida avocado has about 3-5% fats. This equals out to the Florida avocados being about 25-50% of the total fat content found in the Hass avocados.
Avocados rich in healthy Fats & anti-Oxidants
This amazing fruit is very high in healthy oleic acid. This is a monounsaturated fat that helps increase fat metabolism. It is also rich in the powerful carotenoid anti-oxidants lutein and zeaxanthin as well as vitamin E (tocopherol).
These anti-oxidants decrease oxidative stress and allow for a healthier cellular environment. Other critical components include ionic potassium and folate. These elements are alkaline forming in the body, helping to buffer acidic wastes that accumulate within the human tissue and bloodstream.
Avocados are a terrific complement to a vegetable based meal. Most vegetables, particularly in their raw state, contain a high amount of carotenoid based anti-oxidants. Studies have shown that these anti-oxidants are lipophilic (fat-loving) and are absorbed best in the body when combined with a healthy fat such as oleic acid.
A study published in the Journal of Nutrition in March 2005 showed that adding avocados to salad increased absorption of alpha-carotene, beta-carotene and lutein 7.2, 15.3, and 5.1 times higher, respectively, than the average amount of these carotenoids absorbed when avocado-free salad was eaten.
Hass avocados have been found to be the most densely concentrated variety of the avocado fruit. They contain the highest content of lutein and zeaxanthin and other fat-soluble nutrients. Both types of avocados are terrific for the digestive system as they contain a good variety of both soluble and insoluble fibers.
Avocados are one of the best anti-aging foods that prevent wrinkles and skin aging. The D-manno-heptulose sugar that is found in avocados has been shown to improve the skin epidermis by boosting collagen formation. Avocados also contain specific amino acids and carotenoid anti-oxidants that reduce age spots, soothe inflammation and heals scars and burns.
When looking to find a ripe avocado it is best to feel the consistency rather than judge them off of their color. Ripe avocados that are still good are typically firm but have slight give to them. Any sort of mushy consistency is a warning sign that the inside meat is oxidized and rotten. Refrigerating your avocados will increase their shelf life while putting them in a bag with an old banana peel will make them ripen faster.
link source: http://www.naturalnews.com/035763_avocado_superfood_anti-aging.html
4. Farming Without Plough or Chemicals
[digest]Nature does not plough; she employs the earthworm and soil bacteria, together with deeply penetrating roots, to do her work.
Nature does not supply water-soluble minerals to the soil; she ensures an automatic and ample application of organic matter which, in the process of decay, produces organic acids to act upon soil minerals and so make them capable of absorption by plant roots. Because we have failed to follow the example of nature we find that the soil in our care has apparently become incapable of providing sufficient good food to sustain our population in health. Why has the soil that was provided for our sustenance now become what the chemists call ‘deficient’ — unequal to the task for which it was intended? Or has it?
In modern farming, both crop production and livestock feeding, we have been concerned with the provision of prepared nutrients imported to the farm, instead of making full use of the complete provisions of nature. The result is that we have burdened farming with the colossal cost of chemical fertilizers, sprays, insecticides, vaccines and medicines, while nature quietly continues to beat us, in the matter of both abundant production and healthy crops and animals, at no cost.
The earth is the permanent possessor of all things contained therein and which grow therefrom; they are loaned to the human and animal kingdom for bodily sustenance for the duration of life, but nature decreed that they shall, after use, be returned to the earth. No plant, animal or human being can claim the right of destruction, or of permanent possession, of any of the ingredients of its food or physical body. They must be returned to the earth to sustain new life and to ensure the continuation of the universe when life, for us, is ended. We are but the tenants of life, having on loan the physical from the earth and the spiritual from God. What happens to our spiritual being and its inspiration remains to be discovered after we lay down the physical life. But our duties regarding the physical body and its means of natural sustenance are clear to all. It must be returned, together with all organic matter derived from the earth, back to the earth.
Problems of so-called soil deficiencies — certainly as far as the main elements are concerned — have only arisen with the increasing failure to acknowledge and act upon this law. Without adequate decaying organic matter to release, in the process of its decay, the otherwise non-available phosphates, potash and nitrogen, man has thought it necessary to transport these elements from sources of concentrated supply and, by treatment with chemicals, render them water soluble. In powder form these water-soluble elements are then applied, to upset the natural balance of the soil, to impregnate the water particles of the soil with concentrations far in excess of the optimum natural supply. Upon these the plant draws, instead of utilizing the more slowly available organic elements of the humus.
Phosphate deficiency is one of the outstanding fallacies of science (in soil as distinct from certain types of solid rock). There is no such thing; or at least none that science can measure. All that the soil analyst can measure is availability. When the soil analyst tells us a field is suffering from phosphate deficiency he merely means that insufficient phosphate is available; in other words, that the soil does not contain enough organic matter to produce the necessary mineral-releasing acids in the soil. A soil only becomes ‘deficient’ when there is insufficient decaying organic matter upon it to release the mineral nutrients already present in an unavailable form, and gather them from the air and falling rain.
The solution, therefore, to all apparent deficiencies, is adequate organic matter in the right place.
Experience has shown me that the right place for organic matter is on or very near the surface of the soil. That seems to be one of the reasons for the success of eliminating the plough. Whether we have applied it or not, the soil surface is usually covered with organic matter: straw-stubble, weeds, leaves and numerous minute decaying bodies and the microscopic excreta of millions of living creatures. If we plough we put this down, not only beyond the reach of most domestic plant roots, where incidentally weed seeds will be preserved, to germinate next time we plough and bring them to the surface, but at a depth which will catch moisture from above and below and withhold it from the crop which grows in the top soil.
Nature accumulates organic matter on the surface, year by year, and what she needs below the surface she transports by means of earthworms and other soil organisms.
That great gardener, F. C. King, following Sir Albert Howard’s imitation of nature’s way of manuring by compost, perceived also that nature does not dig, and, in consequence, does not need to spray to keep her crops free from disease and parasite. He proceeded to sow his seeds in undug soil, which was abundantly supplied with organic matter. ‘It is not the richness of the soil that confers immunity on plants, but rather the unity which prevails within the soil, whenever this remains undisturbed,’ he said. He believes that digging damages fungi in the soil. It is reasonable to assume that the disturbance of soil severs the threads of mycelium, which convey nutriment from the humus of the soil to the rootlets of the plant — the process known as mycorrhizal association which Dr. M. C. Rayner and Sir Albert Howard have shown to be a vital necessity to the health of certainly over 80 per cent and probably all of our domestic crops. My farming experience has shown me that there is an intricate and carefully balanced inter-relation of activity in the soil, which should never be disturbed, provided we can supply organic material necessary to the maintenance of this activity. I believe that if one part of the process is interrupted or prevented there is no substitute but only partial emergency measures. The process remains incomplete and the crop suffers accordingly.
Now that I have seen the remarkable crops resulting from land that has been unploughed for six years, in different fields, I can support every word of criticism which the American, Edward Faulkner, had for the plough in his book Plowman’s Folly. When I first tried to farm without the plough I was not overwhelmed with success. I could not get a tilth fine enough to satisfy my orthodox conception of a good seed-bed. The rubbish on the surface worried me too much and I succumbed to the temptation to plough it in. I felt also that ploughing was essential in order to bring some moisture to the parched surface. The surface soil always dried out so quickly that it was often necessary to bring up the moisture from below during a dry time, before it was possible to produce a seed bed moist enough to take seed and enable it to grow away quickly from the weeds.
I was afraid that my crops would be smothered by weeds if I did not plough them under out of sight for another year; little realizing that at the same time I was bringing up last year’s seeds, well preserved and in an ideal condition for immediate germination and quick growth.
So I continued to plough, until it occurred to me that when my land contained sufficient organic matter some of my earlier failures would be explained. For without adequate organic matter the soil was not in a natural condition to operate the simple processes of nature. By starving the soil of organic matter and above all by transferring what organic matter there was from the surface to a site six to eight inches below the surface, I was placing beyond the reach of the crop all its nutriment and its means of conserving the moisture for root growth. I suddenly realized why weeds always grow rapidly and vigorously during the most disastrous drought, while the domestic crop shrivels and dies. Many weeds are deeper rooting than our cultivated crops, so that where land is ploughed they have continuous call on the decaying organic matter which is lying out of reach of the cultivated crop but at the optimum level for the sustenance of the weeds. The weeds, therefore, have ample moisture at their root level to keep them in continuous growth regardless of external extremes of weather and, of course, they can laugh heartily at the wretched wheat or cabbage struggling miserably in the dried-out top soil, with only the artificial additions to stimulate growth plus whatever moisture may, from time to time, fall from the sky.
I saw then why uncultivated crops rarely suffer from drought; why the forests, hedgerows and roadside weeds flourish, regardless of weather conditions, while our crops in cultivated fields grow in stops and starts, according to the weather, and in many cases don’t grow at all unless we provide artificial stimulants. It becomes clear too how we may grow vigorous healthy crops by imitating nature and leaving the soil, as far as possible, undisturbed except on the very surface; allowing the plant to feed at the breast of nature instead of periodically severing the child from the breast and violently forcing upon it our bottle of poisonous chemicals.
So I determined, now that my soil contained more organic matter, to try again and, from a number of fields, I rested the plough. Somewhat diffidently and with apprehension — for I was still afraid of the weeds and the possible failure of the sown seeds to germinate in the rough and dry seed-bed — I wrote, in the 1948 spring number of The Farmer, about crops sown without ploughing in the previous year:
‘Each field was given a good churning up with the cultivator and afterwards cut up as well as could be with the disc harrow. The risk was that not all the weed seeds were germinated by the time the crop was sown as there was still no rain. The crops were sown in a dry lumpy seed-bed, yet, in spite of this, excepting one piece of wheat, they all look well, though the unploughed fields are showing more than their fair quota of weeds. In the case of the oats and vetches, which are to be cut for silage in May, this does not matter for the weed will provide bulky green food, giving a variety of valuable herbs to the silage, and they will be cut before there is any chance of the seeds falling.
‘But the resulting crops astounded me and here is their history.
‘The third week of September I sowed Pilot seed wheat in a field which had grown moderate crops of wheat the two previous years. This is bad farming practice of course, but I was curious to see what a third crop of wheat would do. The field had not been ploughed for thirteen months. The seed was sown in a rough knobbly seed-bed in a covering of dead and dying weeds churned up with a mixture of wheat straw stubble by the disc harrow. The tilth was rough enough to block the drill at times, but we scrambled our way through it and I prayed that rain would come to give the wheat a good start. For three weeks there was no rain and the weeds flourished. Throughout the winter it looked as though the crop would have to be resown in the spring. But when spring came the weeds were diminishing and the wheat shot forward. Before the wheat was in ear it was evident that the weeds had disappeared and the wheat was clearly one of the heaviest crops I had grown on the farm, for I had never seen such a strong and vigorous growth, without manuring of any kind, and after two previous straw crops.
‘Nature had attended to the manuring by the natural death of the weeds; for the weed seeds remaining ungerminated on the surface had obviously come to maturity during the late autumn and had died off during the winter, and the acids of decay had released available minerals to provide nutriment for the flourishing wheat roots. The long dry spring and the drought of early summer left the wheat unaffected. Vigorous growth continued in consequence of the moisture and organic nutriment held at the root level of the plant by the natural sponge of decaying organic matter.’
The wheat yielded 39-1/2 cwt. an acre compared with 27 cwt. an acre for the first crop and 20 cwt. an acre for the second crop.
‘Equally successful was a crop of oats and vetches, also sown on land that had not been ploughed for two years previously. So rapid was the growth of this crop that though we started harvesting it for silage at the optimum stage of growth, about two feet high, before we could finish the field it was over six feet high in parts and provided a tremendous tonnage of green food per acre.
‘Encouraged by the success of the wheat and silage crop, I sowed eight acres of kale. Though one might expect a root crop to produce less spectacular results without what I have formerly assumed was the ‘aid’ of the plough, the results were even more encouraging than my previous ventures. The most remarkable thing was the almost complete absence of weeds in a field that was, at the outset of surface tillage methods, extremely dirty following three corn crops. The field was well disced before seeding and thistles were hoed by hand. A dressing of sewage sludge was worked in and the field received no further cultivation, not even horse hoeing or hand hoeing, other than two days work for three men cutting out a few persistent thistles.
‘Visitors found it difficult to believe that we had not horse or tractor hoed up and down the rows continuously throughout the growing stages of the crop. For they had seen no crop sown on ploughed land, even with continuous cleaning, that had achieved such freedom from weeds.’
A Comparison of Ploughed and Unploughed Land
A remarkable example of the harmfulness of the plough was accidentally provided when I ploughed an old pasture. The whole field was ploughed with the exception of one corner which had been scattered with straw and upon which grazing cattle had deposited some dung two years previously. The looseness of the top soil and the debris on the surface made the plough ineffective in this corner and the soil was merely pushed aside, to be broken down later by the disc harrow. After being worked the whole field was sown to turnips during early July. Over most of the field, in spite of continuous wet weather, the young turnips were, for ten days since they showed two leaves above ground, at a standstill, indicating that something below the surface was retarding growth. But the corner that was not ploughed and which had a supply of organic matter worked into the surface never ceased to grow, and the plants were at least three times as big as those in the rest of the field. Furthermore, unlike the unploughed kale field, the weeds in the ploughed turnip field got out of control. All the weed seeds of a generation past, since the field was last ploughed, germinated promptly on arrival at the surface of the soil and proceeded to thrust their roots down to the decaying turf, which lay below the reach of the turnips.
This solved for me a problem upon which I had previously not had the courage to risk a trial; I formerly believed that though one might dispense with the plough on stubble and following potatoes or roots, it would nevertheless be necessary to plough up old pastures and temporary leys on first breaking them up. Now, once more, nature thrust this demonstration under my nose and urged me to go the whole hog. Nature permits no half measures and she clearly indicated that, if I am to farm properly, I must imitate her ways as completely as possible so far as is within my ability to perceive them. This means that no land need be ploughed if there is sufficient organic matter available to enable the natural cultivation of earthworms and other organisms to prepare and make friable the soil and ease the preparation of a seed-bed with disc harrows only.
link source: http://journeytoforever.org/farm_library/turner/turner4.html
[digest]1 Why vegan-organics?
1.1 Also called stock-free farming, vegan-organics is a system which avoids all artificial chemical products (synthetic fertiliser, pesticides, growth regulators), genetically modified organisms, animal manures and slaughterhouse by-products (blood, fish meal, bone meal, etc).
1.2 To preserve soil fertility, vegan-organic growers insist on green manures, composts made of plant-based materials, mulches made from plant-based materials, and every other long-term method which is ecologically viable and which does not rely on any form of animal exploitation.
1.3 Generally it is inspired by principles which favour biodiversity, reduced working of the soil, and the use of perennial and native plants. The aim of increasing energy efficiency while reducing environmental impact is reflected in the importance of buying and selling produce locally and thus reducing the use of machinery for transport.
1.4 Prevention is the cornerstone of the fight against competing organisms (‘pests’). The idea is to seek an equilibrium between cultivated and wild areas, by developing favourable habitats for natural predators, such as hedges for wind-breaks and ponds. So competing organisms are viewed as indicators and not as enemies that should be fought. The system focuses explicitly on tolerance and accepts as a first principle that part of the harvest goes to nature. Repellents may nevertheless in some circumstances be used: in the Stockfree Organic Standards, their use is restriced to cases of economic necessity.
1.5 The vegan-organic system is therefore not completely animal-free!. On the contrary, by nourishing the soil and reducing the amount it is worked, an active fauna enriches and improves the soil: above all the earthworm.
1.6 The Stockfree Organic Standards, produced by VOT [the Vegan Organic Trust], are the definitive guide to all aspects of vegan-organic growing. These apply strictly only to those who wish to become registered organic growers, while others may use them as a guide. Why vegan-organic?
2 Fertility
2.1 Lack of animal manure
Some farms have no nearby source of sufficient manure and so opt for a plant-based alternative. If the organic standards were more restrictive and only allowed the use of manure from organic farms, then there would be an even greater scarcity of suitable manure; yet this would encourage the development of plant-based alternatives.
2.2 Organic from start to finish
Many organic farms use manure from non-organic farms. Although generally composted, traces of hormones, antibiotics, genetically modified organisms or other contaminants could still be present. As for fertilisers originating in abattoirs, many growers are uncomfortable with their use, and some scientists have reservations as to the possible transmission of prions (the agent in the disease BSE and its human form, vCJD) when using these fertilisers (eg by inhalation).
2.3 No more dependence on conventional agriculture
Whether it is the manure from conventional dairy farmers, or the powdered feathers from the industrial-scale chicken farmers, the use of these fertilisers seems to legitimise and support conventional farming.
2.4 Increased self-sufficiency in fertilisers
Many farms try to minimise inputs by using above all green manures and compost which they make themselves.
2.5 Eliminate intermediaries
Standard organic fertilisers rely on the transformation of plants into compost by the manure produced by animals. At each stage there are nevertheless losses, from volatilisation (ammoniacal nitrogen), from leaching, or from the energy required for the biological functions of the animal. Since all manure ultimately comes from plants (apart from mineral fertilisers) some prefer to shorten the chain by eliminating the stage of transformation by animals, instead composting the plants directly. In the case of green manures, mulching and chipped branch wood (also known as ramal), even the stage of composting itself is eliminated.
2.6 Aiming for efficiency rather than for productivity
Productivity is a measure of the yield per hectare, which does not take into account the energy required to produce and transport the inputs. The environmental impact of farming depends on an assessment of the total energy required to produce a given quantity of food.
3 Ethical and health
3.1 Vegetarians and vegans
Those who choose not to eat animal products also would like to choose to have their food grown in a way which does not rely on the farming of animals.
3.2 Health concerns
Vegan-organic methods avoid the hazards associated with food production involving animal wastes, aggressive chemicals, genetic engineering and other environmentally damaging systems, so will be of interest to all those concerned with sustainable healthy living whether or not they are vegan or vegetarian.
4 Environment
4.1 Reduce the environmental impact
The use of alternatives to animal manure (compost, green manures, mulching and chipped branch wood) improves the soil and avoids the necessity of raising animals. Raising animals demands high inputs in terms of water, fodder and land, and so leads towards monoculture and the use of heavy machinery and thus to the degradation of the soil (compaction, erosion, loss of biodiversity, and leaching). Land liberated from grazing and fodder production could be used to produce renewable fuels, organic soil improvers, natural fibres and construction materials, thus reducing dependence on fossil fuels and clear-felling of forests.
4.2 Nature as model
Biodiversity and the use of decomposing plant matter to feed new plants are the very basis of natural growth. The best example is the forest where fertility comes from the accumulation of plants on the surface, without working the soil and (almost) without the addition of animal manure.
5 World peace and justice
5.1 Fighting world hunger
Worldwide, 38% of total grain production is fed to animals. Developed nations import vast quantities of grain to feed animals, often from very poor countries where people do not have enough to eat. So avoiding animal products favours the economical use of land, which can be used directly for growing food to feed people.
5.2 World peace and environmental justice
If agriculture continues its present course across the planet, it is predicted that there will be wars over water resources, conflict over land rights, farmers increasingly dispossessed and marginalised, a widening of the gap between affluent and poor, increasing intensification of animal farming, depletion of the quality of soils, damage to the oceans, devastation of rain forests and many other negative factors. Vegan-organics points a way out of these problems. It is not just an alternative eco-friendly agricultural method, it is an holistic system, marrying ethics and pragmatic solutions for tackling world hunger, animal exploitation and environmental degradation; it spells hope for the lessening of conflict and for making a better world…
Extract from the Vegan Organic Network web-site at http://www.veganorganic.net/
link source: https://worldnewsforlife.wordpress.com/features/stock-free-organic-farming/
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Fruit Eden Veganic Farm Newsletter Website： https://fruiteden.wordpress.com/newsletter/
To subscribe to our Newsletter, please send email request to： fruit.eden@gmail.com
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Fruit Eden Veganic Farm 