Bucolic fairytales are a threat to life on Earth. By George Monbiot, published in the Guardian 26th May 2023 No issue is more important, and none so shrouded in myth and wishful thinking. The way we feed ourselves is the key determinant of whether we survive this century, as no other sector is as damaging. […]
farming
Sewage pollution by the water companies is just one of the deadly attacks on our rivers. By George Monbiot, published in the Guardian 3rd May 2023 I can’t help feeling a small surge of gratitude every time an environmental issue breaks the surface. That the state of England’s rivers seems at last to have become […]
Claims that cattle ranching sequesters carbon and restores ecosystems have been used in highly effective marketing campaigns by the livestock industry. Just one problem: they’re greenwash. By George Monbiot. This is an extract from my book Regenesis: feeding the world without devouring the planet. I’ve been prompted to publish it here by a new phase […]
A gulf in public understanding prevents us from seeing how and why our food supply is at risk. By George Monbiot. This is my written submission to the Environmental Audit Committee’s inquiry on Environmental Change and Food Security, 3rd March 2023 References are numbered and appended to the bottom of the document. 1. Food security […]
There’s a legal means of creating a pandemic that could kill millions. By George Monbiot, published in the Guardian 8th February 2023 If you wanted to kill as many people as possible, deniably and with no criminal consequences, what would you do? You’d do well to start with a bird flu. Bird flus are responsible […]
Those who dismiss this solution to the greatest threat to Earth systems have a duty to propose a better one. So where is it? By George Monbiot, published in the Guardian 1st February 2023 Do you hate the idea of animal-free meat? Many people do. Unsurprisingly, livestock farmers are often furiously opposed. More surprisingly, so […]
The world’s most damaging farm products? Organic pasture-fed beef and lamb. By George Monbiot, published in the Guardian 16th August 2022 Perhaps the most important of all environmental issues is land use. Every hectare of land we use for extractive industries is a hectare that can’t support wild forests, savannahs, wetlands, natural grasslands and other […]
As environmental breakdown threatens to render large parts of the planet unfarmable, how can mass starvation best be averted? By George Monbiot, published on monbiot.com, 22nd August 2022 This is my response to the open letter from my friend Jyoti Fernandes, published on the website of the Landworkers’ Alliance. Dear Jyoti, I’m not sure whether […]
Livestock farming is responsible for more greenhouse gas pollution than all the world’s transport. Yet governments won’t touch it. By George Monbiot, published in the Guardian November 9th 2022 There are just two actions needed to prevent catastrophic climate breakdown: leave fossil fuels in the ground and stop farming animals. But, thanks to the power […]