Welcome to our website. Ethical Farming Ireland is a new group established to campaign for improved conditions for farm animals that also benefit our environment. Our mission is to promote sustainable, ethical farming methods whilst standing against animal cruelty, specifically factory farming and live animal export.
Our food system is broken. Since the end of the second world war, farming has become more intensified with little regard to either the welfare of the animals being farmed or the devastating impact on our planet.
Half of the world’s wildlife has been wiped out in the past 40 years and two thirds of this loss is driven by food production, with animal agriculture being a major contributor to greenhouse gases worldwide. Mega crops are grown to feed farmed animals, food that we could eat ourselves. Large swaths of the Amazon are being cleared to grow these crops and also for cattle to graze. Run off from fields heavily sprayed with artificial fertilizers and pesticides are creating huge ‘dead zones’ in our oceans and lakes.
This article by The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) sums up well what is wrong with industrialised farming https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/10-things-you-should-know-about-industrial-farming
However, all is not lost and there is a growing movement of farmers who want to bring about change by regenerative farming. They are generally small scale livestock and crop farmers who use their animals and other farming methods to rejuvinate and rewild the land. We can rebuild our soils and with a move towards more plant based farming and agro-forestry we can slow down global warming. We need to greatly cut down our consumption of meat, dairy and fish and must support small, sustainable farms, avoiding intensively farmed produce, whether we are vegan, vegetarian, flexitarian or meat eaters. If you want to learn more about this here are some good examples of regenerative farms: https://www.farmingfornature.ie/
All animals deserve a life free of pain and stress and they should be able to fully carry out all their natural behaviours, including caring for their young. This means getting animals out of the factories and back into the fields where they belong. It also means an end to long distance transport and live export.
We have to change our mindset and stop expecting cheap food, all purchased in one location. There is no such thing as cheap food, there is always a cost, we just can’t always see it.
For full disclosure I am not from a farming background but I have always had an interest in animals and the environment. I first became aware of and interested in farm animal welfare after working on a kibbutz in Israel as a student, where I was put to work in the hatchery and the dairy farm. What I witnessed was horrific and as soon as I returned to the UK, where I am from, I started researching how animals are farmed. This was pre internet so it wasn’t easy!
I live in a rural area surrounded by sheep and cattle, I have friends and neighbours who are farmers of varying degrees, all small scale, extensive systems working to enhance biodiversity and soil health. I firmly believe this is the way we need to go and industrialised systems have to end, which means a change in our diets and a change in the way we view food.
Caroline Rowley
Founder and Director
Courses undertaken:
Animal Welfare and Behaviour: University of Edinburgh Coursera course