Everyday I am reminded through conversations I have with people in the community just how confused people are about food production systems and I can see why.

They are continually bombarded with messages that tell them its wrong to eat animals.  Yet nobody talks about what the world would look like if we didn’t eat animals. Lets not be too naive here it is a conversation that we must have. Realistically if animals were free to roam and populate the world animals and humans will be competing for food  in a very short time.

Lets discuss some of the realities

• We already have thousands of domestic dogs and cats who end up in animal shelters for various reasons. What happens to the majority of them?. Yes they are euthanized,
• Less than 6% of Australia is suitable for growing crops. Can we seriously all become vegetarians and share the food we produce with all the animals that will rapidly populate this country if we let them all run free.
• Australia is the driest continent on the earth. There are years and years where farmers struggle to access fodder to feed their sheep and cattle and the only the answer to that is the abattoirs.
• A lot of these animals are carnivores. Who is going to reason with pigs and tell them they cant eat people.
• We just cant feed people everyone from vegie gardens in back yards. Seriously how many people living in urban areas have the time or the desire to go back to their farming roots and hold down 9 to 5 jobs. This is put into perspective nicely here. Can Urban Agriculture Feed the World

Then there is this proliferation of boutique farmers who tell us their style of farming is the only one that is sustainable and big agriculture is bad for the planet . Well is that a myth?  Visit here to get an alternate view that is backed by real science.

Then there is the myth that organic farming is best farming method for the planet. Again this is driven by emotion and media and PR campaigns that promotes organic farming by deriding main stream family farmers and not backed by science. The ABC Checkout program covers this brilliantly here

Never before has it been more important for mainstream agriculture to connect and have conversations with consumers. Never before has it been so important that we give consumers the opportunity to get a balanced viewpoint so they can make food choices that are based on their values backed by real science. This is the ethos behind  Art4Agriculture and the Young Farming Champions program and out next post will share with you the positive impacts our programs are having in schools