Author: Paul Bootsma - Policy Advisor
“ From the agricultural perspective, there is a general understanding that all things work together for success.”
From the agricultural perspective, there is a general understanding that all things work together for success. When it comes to farming, livestock and crops go hand in hand to gain success. Animals feed the soil to produce crops, and the crops feed the animals, it’s a cycle that brings about sustainability and keeps the earth healthy.
At CFFO we believe the earth was created for humans to live on, enjoy, and populate, but also to manage and make it prosperous. (Gen. 1:26-31) This requires work, which needs to be stewardly and responsibly. Over the centuries, the earth has provided for the human race.
This is part of God’s plan.
Agriculture, the growing and harvesting of foodstuff, is a biblical ordinance, it is the first and therefore the oldest of occupations. Adam and Eve spent their days gathering their food requirements.
Biblical living, recognizes that what was created good, according to God’s standard, was ruined when sin entered the world, impacting everything in our day to day living. It changed how nature responds as well. The bible records several times that God gave everything that moves for food for people to sustain themselves. And God gave man the ability to think, discover, experiment and make corrections.
As the human race advances, new methods, more understanding of all the factors of growing our food, through proper care, the earth continues to provide for the global population. Again, at CFFO we believe that this is the purpose of the earth.
Today, there are many different opinions of how that is to be practiced, the earth providing food for the human race. A lot of this depends on the type of diet people want for their personal health. And in today’s society, one’s voice can be heard around the world.
But it still does go back to the beginning, and the basics, we are required to be stewardly and responsible in how we manage the earth and that includes the soil from which our food derives. Whether that is from vegetation or from meat consumption, since the beginning, meat has been an important part of our diet.
Today there are those who claim that the healthiest diet does not include meat, that all the nutrition a human body requires can be derived from plants. That is a matter of opinion, not necessarily that of the CFFO.
Many of our members are involved in livestock farming and will tell you the benefits that come from livestock farming, to the soil where plants grow. How animals have a positive impact on soil when they walk and graze over fields, how their manure is the best source of fertilizer to renourish the soil and prepare it for another crop of plants.
But there are those who claim that animals are the cause of the widespread degradation of critical ecosystems and argue that the world needs to end animal agriculture. Time and time again, the evidence shows that without animals, the earth cannot sustain itself.
The Plant Based Treaty is a grassroots initiative to end animal agriculture, because the thought is that we humans can be healthy on a plant-based diet and because agricultural animals are considered a problem. This raises some questions such as, is there a difference between the effects of wild animals versus domesticated animals?
Does this mean a water buffalo or a deer or a moose in the wild is just as big a problem as a dairy or beef animal on a farm? Is a sheep or a goat domestically a problem, but a mountain goat or a bighorn sheep not a problem? How does this make sense when the argument is that animals are the problem for the environment?
This treaty is a concern for our farming members, and they need to be aware of this as it is being adopted at the municipal government level. Municipal councils should not be catering to a select few but need to govern in a way that gives all people the opportunity to be successful in their vocation. Personal perspectives need to be managed carefully, so as not to force lifestyles on others.
At CFFO, we will continue to defend an agricultural system that includes the proper balance of livestock farming with cropping, a biblical approach to managing the soil. As stewards of the earth, we practice farming with a view to the future, ensuring that the generations to come, will be able to successfully grow and gather food for the nations.
For the beauty of the earth, for the beauty of the skies,
for the love which from our birth over and around us lies:
Christ our God, to thee we raise this our hymn of thankful praise.
For the beauty of each hour of the day and of the night,
hill and vale, and tree and flow’r, sun and moon, and stars of light:
Christ our God, to thee we raise this our hymn of thankful praise.
Long-Term Thinking for Today’s Issues
The CFFO Commentary represents the opinions of the writer and does not necessarily represent CFFO policy.