Question 1

Are you planning to campaign to ban animal agriculture?

Accepted Answer

No.

WePlanet acknowledges that a dramatic reduction in animal agriculture is necessary to stabilise our climate, improve food security and biodiversity and reduce animal suffering. However, evidence demonstrates that people are more willing to change their behaviour when alternatives are a choice made on grounds such as cost, ease of access, social acceptability, and taste.

This is why we advocate for a scaling up of techniques like precision fermentation which will allow alternative proteins to become affordable, accessible and with the same benefits as existing animal products.

Question 2

Don’t we need animals to keep soils healthy?

Accepted Answer

While animals do play a role in certain aspects of soil fertility, such as nutrient cycling and organic matter decomposition, there are alternative methods and practices that can be employed to achieve similar outcomes.

Soil health primarily depends on factors such as nutrient availability, organic matter content, microbial activity, and soil structure. These factors can be managed through various approaches, such as crop rotation, cover cropping, composting, and the use of non-animal fertilisers. These methods can help maintain soil fertility and provide essential nutrients to plants without relying solely on the involvement of animals. 
 
Additionally, technological advancements in agriculture, such as precision farming and controlled-release fertilisers, allow for targeted nutrient application and better soil management, reducing the reliance on animals for soil health.

However, it's important to note that the role of animals in soil health should not be disregarded entirely. Animals, particularly grazing livestock, can contribute to soil fertility through their manure, which adds organic matter and nutrients to the soil. They also aid in the breakdown of plant material through grazing and trampling, enhancing decomposition processes. In certain ecosystems and agricultural systems, the presence of animals can have significant benefits for soil health. But this in no way resembles the current levels of livestock production. Ecosystems which benefit from grazing; do so only because where there are relatively low numbers of grazers, not at all at the level of an economically viable farm.

Question 3

We haven’t seen mass adoption of plant based alternatives to meat, why do you think this would be different?

Accepted Answer

Food is part of our culture, our lifestyle, our preferences and our habits. At all these levels, there’s no denying it; change is hard. However, shifts are possible.

On the level of the individual, we believe a combination of factors will contribute to the adoption of sustainable proteins. Those are price, taste, availability and convenience. Currently, plant-based alternatives; and new sustainable proteins are where solar panels were in the 80’s, or electric vehicles were in the nineties. They were more expensive, less convenient; and far less available. With concerted effort from both the government end and business end, that radically changed though. So we expect new sustainable proteins like those involving precision fermentation to become tastier, cheaper and more available: however, we need to accelerate their development.  
 
Apart from working on taste, price and availability, we know  it’s important that more people become aware of the issues with our current (meat/dairy heavy) food system. By raising awareness, people will be more inclined to try alternatives.

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