Biocyclic Vegan International at Biofach 2024 (World´s Leading Trade Fair for Organic Food) in Nuremberg/Germany.
During his tour of the trade fair, Cem Özdemir, German Federal Minister of Agriculture, and his entourage had the opportunity to visit the stand of the German biocyclic vegan association “Förderkreis” and gain an impression of how biocyclic vegan agriculture offers a practicable contribution to the transformation of the food and agricultural system.
At a time when the reduction of livestock is increasingly being discussed, biocyclic vegan agriculture shows ways in which farming can be practised successfully in a purely plant-based way without farmed animals and without animal manure.
We are pleased that biocyclic vegan agriculture is increasingly being recognised at a high political level as a real alternative, especially for farms that are already operating without livestock and for farmers who are thinking about phasing out animal husbandry for economic or ethical reasons.
A paper that summarises five key aspects of biocyclic vegan agriculture was handed over to the Minister:
- Vegetables do need animals: diverse soil life, pollinators etc.! But no “farmed animals” and, above all, no manure of animal origin!
- Organic farming with purely plant-based fertilisation is possible and has been practised successfully for decades. Cycles can also be closed with plant-based methods!
- Biocyclic vegan agriculture sees itself as a complementary option to traditional organic farming, especially for many organic farms that are already operating without livestock, but also for farmers who are considering phasing out animal husbandry for economic or ethical reasons.
- Biocyclic vegan agriculture fills a gap that was previously unfilled.
- Since an increasingly plant-based agro-food system inevitably entails a much more extensive form of animal husbandry in organic farming (with reduced animal numbers, increased grazing, etc.), less manure of animal origin will also be available in the foreseeable future. Organic farming as a whole will therefore have to deal more intensively than before with the question of how dependence on animal fertilisers can be overcome and how the farm cycles can be closed in a purely plant-based way, as is already being successfully practised by biocyclic vegan operations in many countries.
