permaculture

[Robyn Francis <erda@nor.com.au>]

On 8/8/07 11:24 AM, "Lawrence F. London, Jr." <lflj@intrex.net> wrote:
> Aren't cows held to be sacred in India and that they are never used for food
> (maybe they milk them).
> I assume they have an organized way to gather their manure for fertilizer. 
> So
> there you have veganic farming
> coexisting with wandering livestock.
> Wendy wrote:
> 
The Indian vegetarian diet is big on dairy products. Manure is used for
fertiliser, rendering earth walls and as an important source of cooking fuel
(as dried pads). Most of the vegans I know boycott all animal products,
including honey. Vegetarians however will generally consume animal products
that don't involve killing an animal like dairy products, eggs, honey etc.

BTW The uncontrolled feral cow population in India is huge environmental
problem contributing seriously to desertification. (There aren't enough
tigers to naturally control the cow populations anymore...)

Interestingly, Bali is also a Hindu culture and has a unique small breed of
Balinese cow. They actually eat their cows as a sacred food and don't milk
them or use dairy products.

I personally have a problem with vegans wanting to exclude animals from
nature and animal manures from food production. Human systems are part of
nature, not separate. It's anti-ecology to discriminate against animals in
the system. It really comes down to humane treatment of animals and
integrating them to support plant-based production and land management
systems, which are both primary aims of animal systems in permaculture.  I
think a lot vegans & vego's are simply reacting to the horrendous nature of
inhumane commercial animal production systems. These systems moved me to be
vegetarian for 17 years, but through pc I discovered and learned to
appreciate the place of animals in ecology and roles in production ecology
and have now been a selective happy organic omnivore these past 20 years
with no regrets. 

All life is sacred, and from a Gaian perspective a carrot is as sacred as a
cow--hence I respect all life I take to sustain my own, animal, vegetable,
mineral...

Ciao
Robyn