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PlantEurope

European Network for a Plant-Based Diet

Förderkreis Biozyklisch-Veganer Anbau e.V.

Biocyclic vegan agriculture means purely plant-based organic farming. This form of cultivation excludes all commercial livestock farming and slaughtering of animals and does not use any inputs of animal origin.

Soil, Humus

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What, when and who?

The Förderkreis Biozyklisch-Veganer Anbau e.V. promotes biocyclic-vegan agriculture in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Biocyclic vegan agriculture offers well-proven and practicable solutions to farms that are currently reaching their limits in terms of the environment, climate, animal welfare, health issues etc. and thus offers a perspective for a sustainable reorientation.

Background and goals

Negative environmental impacts of agriculture and the food system currently stem largely from the nature and extent of livestock production and its demand for feed (Poore & Nemecek 2018, Springmann et al. 2018, Schrode et al. 2019); these include emissions of greenhouse gases (especially nitrous oxide and methane), excessive inputs of reactive nitrogen compounds into air, water, soils, and various ecosystems, spread of antibiotic-resistant germs due to excessive use of antibiotics in livestock fattening, increasing land-use changes to obtain pasture and feed (up to and including deforestation of tropical primary rainforests).

In vegan organic farming, the idea of a vegan diet, which until now had been limited to the purely vegetable ingredients of a foodstuff and a manufacturing process without animal additives, is now consistently thought through further to agricultural production. This form of organic farming does without the keeping of farm animals and the use of inputs of animal origin (liquid manure, slurry, manure, commercial fertilizer from slaughterhouse waste such as horn, feather, bone meal, etc.) and relies instead on purely vegetable forms of fertilization. This principle of cultivation thus combines the demonstrated advantages of organic farming and the idea of veganism, opening up a new animal ethics dimension in which the commercial keeping, killing and use of animals is excluded from the outset. Negative environmental impacts associated with agricultural animal husbandry can thus be avoided in principle.

Vegan organic farming has great potential to contribute to a transformation towards sustainability (see Neuropa fact sheet). Since the end of 2017, there has been an IFOAM-accredited vegan organic cultivation standard, Biocyclic Vegan Cultivation, which can be used worldwide, and the "Biocyclic Vegan Cultivation" quality seal, which can be used to label products that have been produced according to the Biocyclic Vegan Guidelines.

By closing organic material cycles (Gr. bios = life and kyklos = cycle) without the detour via so-called farm animals, targeted humus build-up, gentle soil cultivation, mixed cultivation, catch crops, wide crop rotations and the targeted strengthening of plant vitality, biocyclic-vegan cultivation makes an important contribution to the protection of climate, soil, water and the preservation or restoration of biodiversity, in addition to taking into account the needs of animals.

Learning together

What were the biggest difficulties in implementing the project and how did you deal with them?

Financial resources - applying for fundings

Which support is (or has been) essential for the success of the project?

Approval of grant applications, networking, spreading information around the topic, visibility of the organisation and partner organisations

What would you do differently if you had to start all over again?

Formulating grant applications more appropriately

In your opinion, what is the biggest obstacle in promoting a plant-based diet in your country and across Europe?

Awareness raising in politics, education of consumers, pioneer research, adaptation of curricula in agricultural, horticultural and gastronomic trainings

How could scientific researchers support your cause? Which questions have not yet been answered?

Scientific calculation of the potential of carbon dioxide storage in soils by increasing the use of biocyclic-vegan humus soil

Which scientific or political funding possibility would help your project?

e.g. programmes like EUKI, EURENI and others

How can political figures/bodies support your project on a local, national or EU-wide level?

Raising awareness for the climate dimension of agriculture, understanding that sustainable agriculture is only possible ecologically and with as few animal inputs as possible

Exchange and support

We are seeking support for:

scientific accompaniment, increasing the network, fundraising

We are interested in shared activities with other initiatives/projects:

stockfree agriculture, politics for vegan-organic agriculture

Contact

Organization: Förderkreis für Biozyklisch-Veganen Anbau e.V.

Website: https://www.biozyklisch-vegan.org

E-mail: foerderkreis(at)biozyklisch-vegan.org

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