In mid-June, the first International Butcher’s Festival, organised by the Herrmannsdorfer Landwerkstätten took place at the organic model farm in Herrmannsdorf, near Munich in Bavaria / South Germany. Visitors from near and far could discover a colourful mix of stands with meat and sausage products, street food, handicrafts, and general information stands. The supporting programme also included workshops, lectures, and panel discussions on animal husbandry, slaughtering, and the butcher’s trade.
From the perspective of biocyclic vegan farming, this was a “no-go event” – right?
But the organisers struck a reflective note in the programme. In addition to the need to reduce meat consumption, combined with a compassionate approach to animal rights up to the point of slaughter (as demanded and promoted by the Schweisfurth Foundation), the question also arose as to whether animal husbandry and the slaughter of animals still have a future at all. The topic of the growing trend towards veganism was deliberately included in the programme. For example, a workshop on preparing a vegan version of the traditional Bavarian white sausages was also offered.
One of the panel discussions, “Respect for Life: From Paleo to Vegan – together for a Viable Future”, was organised by the Schweisfurth Foundation, which is committed to organic and environmentally friendly agriculture and − particularly to natural and species-appropriate animal husbandry. The Schweisfurth Foundation had also invited Axel Anders from the German Förderkreis Biozyklisch-Veganer Anbau e. V. to the podium. Dr Anita Idel, veterinarian and author (“The cow is not a climate killer”), Sven Gabriel, owner of the Bioland farm Gut Fahrenbach, and Amelie Schweisfurth, butcher and granddaughter of the founder of Herrmannsdorfer Landwerkstätten, were also present. Dr Niels Kohlschütter, Chairman of the Schweisfurth Foundation, chaired the discussion.
The panel discussion, which was conducted on a very personal level with great respect and mutual appreciation, showed that this could not be a question of right or wrong but that there should be a mutually shared endeavour towards future-proof, sustainable agriculture based on ethical principles. Everyone is trying to find the best possible solution from their perspective, even if this may be different. It was moving to hear that the farmer and the butcher also find it difficult when the animals, with which they have sometimes built up close relationships, ultimately have to be killed. And Anita Idel, for whom grazing is an indispensable prerequisite for the formation of fertile soils and the preservation or increase of biodiversity, especially in grassland and floodplain areas, welcomes the development of the biocyclic vegan approach for all areas that are suitable for it and has supported it from the outset. Axel Anders was able to demonstrate that, contrary to what is often assumed, purely plant-based fertilisation can lead to promising yields in organic farming and that biocyclic-vegan cultivation represents a natural alternative for many farmers who are increasingly confronted with ethical and economic problems in animal husbandry. Quite apart from this, consumers are also becoming more and more aware that the agricultural production of (purely plant-based) products is often associated to a considerable extent with animal husbandry and suffering and that with the Biocyclic Vegan Quality Seal, they can now be guaranteed a new quality “vegan from the field”.
Even though opinions diverged on the question of whether the killing and eating of animals is ethically justifiable at all, all participants in the discussion agreed that a drastic reduction in the consumption of animal products in line with the EAT-Lancet study and the Planetary Health Diet would bring us a big step closer to the common goal of an ecological and increasingly plant-based transformation of the agricultural and food system.
All in all, a big thank you to the Schweisfurth Foundation and Dr Niels Kohlschütter for stimulating such an open and enriching exchange in this context, which should be continued.
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