From liz.worth at larkford.com Thu Jul 10 10:54:01 2008 From: liz.worth at larkford.com (Liz Worth) Date: Thu, 10 Jul 2008 10:54:01 +1000 Subject: [Transitiontown] Livestock impacts on climate change Message-ID: <48755DA9.70401@larkford.com> This is one of the best, most easily understood by non-climatologists, explanation of the impact of livestock on climate change I have seen. Relatively short and to the point, it is written by three credible scientists. As this has a potentially huge impact on farmers in the Bega Valley it is very important that we think about how to deal with this. My knee jerk reaction was to think to myself that I'll become a vegetarian for the next 20 years. But if everyone does that how do we ensure people manage the nutrition appropriately in a restricted diet for their families? What happens to the local farmers and their families? What happens to land values? What happens to all the people with associated jobs that wouldn't exist without the beef and dairy industries? http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/the-missing-link-in-the-garnaut-report-20080709-3cjh.html?page=-1 Most importantly how do we make a transition to a future where we have a solution to these problems or at least manage them better? Regards, Liz From gary at spiritude.net Thu Jul 10 13:32:30 2008 From: gary at spiritude.net (Gary Hooley) Date: Thu, 10 Jul 2008 13:32:30 +1000 Subject: [Transitiontown] Livestock impacts on climate change In-Reply-To: <48755DA9.70401@larkford.com> References: <48755DA9.70401@larkford.com> Message-ID: <1215660750.5871.22.camel@Hooley01> Thanks Liz for bringing this article to our attention. For me your "knee jerk reaction" was probably a good one. However, other alternatives for meat are available, both native and exotic. For example on ABC's Landline 6/7/08 Professor David Farrell, from the University of Queensland promoted poultry as an efficient alternative to other sources of meat, and said "Now, obviously, feed is the major cost, and the fact is that the broiler chicken can convert feed to meat at a ratio of about 1.7:1. Now that is far greater on the next species which is pigs, about 2.2, and, then, of course you go out to ruminants such as beef cattle and feedlot, and that blows out to 7:1. I, mean it's going to be very soon either very, very expensive meat or the whole feedlot system is going to be unprofitable. " The dairy industry around Australia is contracting at such a rate that many communities where dairies once flourished have barely one or two left, and they are struggling to compete in the "open market" with rising costs and climate changes. I trust farmers will change there practises to meet the challenges of environmental decline, climate change and input costs. Intensive agriculture, growing food crops, small animal husbandry and harvesting native species, potentially provides more "job" opportunities than contemporary agricultural practises. Our local food supply is under stress challenges mention above, and the rapidly rising cost of transport and inputs due to Peak Oil will cause further disruptions. We as a cohesive community must increase our local food production and resolve transport issues, to ensure the broadest range of produce can be made available to the broadest range of people in our community. The bigger the community network the better. Best Regards, Gary Hooley On Thu, 2008-07-10 at 10:54 +1000, Liz Worth wrote: > This is one of the best, most easily understood by non-climatologists, > explanation of the impact of livestock on climate change I have seen. > Relatively short and to the point, it is written by three credible > scientists. As this has a potentially huge impact on farmers in the > Bega Valley it is very important that we think about how to deal with > this. > > My knee jerk reaction was to think to myself that I'll become a > vegetarian for the next 20 years. But if everyone does that how do we > ensure people manage the nutrition appropriately in a restricted diet > for their families? What happens to the local farmers and their > families? What happens to land values? What happens to all the people > with associated jobs that wouldn't exist without the beef and dairy > industries? > > http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/the-missing-link-in-the-garnaut-report-20080709-3cjh.html?page=-1 > > Most importantly how do we make a transition to a future where we have a > solution to these problems or at least manage them better? > > Regards, > Liz > > _______________________________________________ > Transitiontown mailing list > Transitiontown at australiancommunities.org.au > http://lists.australiancommunities.org.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/transitiontown -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.australiancommunities.org.au/pipermail/transitiontown/attachments/20080710/3e8caafe/attachment.htm From liz.worth at larkford.com Thu Jul 10 15:04:37 2008 From: liz.worth at larkford.com (Liz Worth) Date: Thu, 10 Jul 2008 15:04:37 +1000 Subject: [Transitiontown] Livestock impacts on climate change In-Reply-To: <1215660750.5871.22.camel@Hooley01> References: <48755DA9.70401@larkford.com> <1215660750.5871.22.camel@Hooley01> Message-ID: <48759865.2050900@larkford.com> An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.australiancommunities.org.au/pipermail/transitiontown/attachments/20080710/83d640c4/attachment.htm From annmont at bigpond.com Thu Jul 10 17:35:56 2008 From: annmont at bigpond.com (Ann Montague) Date: Thu, 10 Jul 2008 17:35:56 +1000 Subject: [Transitiontown] contact References: <48755DA9.70401@larkford.com> <1215660750.5871.22.camel@Hooley01> Message-ID: <003201c8e25f$9722a620$6402a8c0@D7XBVD1S> Hi, I need to change my email address - in future please use montague.ann at gmail.com. Thanks. The discussion on farming is interesting. Cheers Ann -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.australiancommunities.org.au/pipermail/transitiontown/attachments/20080710/23e77c8a/attachment.htm From liz.worth at larkford.com Sun Jul 20 08:58:02 2008 From: liz.worth at larkford.com (Liz Worth) Date: Sun, 20 Jul 2008 08:58:02 +1000 Subject: [Transitiontown] Livestock impacts on climate change In-Reply-To: <2F7AEEE66E6649AAA11E3C9D5028194D@povel> References: <48755DA9.70401@larkford.com> <1215660750.5871.22.camel@Hooley01> <48759865.2050900@larkford.com> <2F7AEEE66E6649AAA11E3C9D5028194D@povel> Message-ID: <4882717A.3090103@larkford.com> An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.australiancommunities.org.au/pipermail/transitiontown/attachments/20080720/37857783/attachment.htm From liz.worth at larkford.com Sun Jul 20 09:04:11 2008 From: liz.worth at larkford.com (Liz Worth) Date: Sun, 20 Jul 2008 09:04:11 +1000 Subject: [Transitiontown] Communication Message-ID: <488272EB.2020605@larkford.com> Just a note in case there are other people like me who have been reading the general TT email list and thinking not much is really happening... I recently went to the website and found meeting minutes and other items that show that the steering committees have indeed been busy. http://nswcommunities.org.au/setts.html I know everyone is really busy with all their volunteer work as well as their own lives but perhaps a quick note to the mailing list when major items are added to the website to remind us to go and look would be good? Cheers, Liz From gary at austcom.org.au Thu Jul 31 20:31:07 2008 From: gary at austcom.org.au (Gary Hooley) Date: Thu, 31 Jul 2008 20:31:07 +1000 Subject: [Transitiontown] Interesting Resources & Projects building in Canberra Message-ID: <1217500267.7477.19.camel@Hooley01> Hi All, While researching a group called See-Change ( http://www.see-change.org.au/index.php ) based in Canberra, to whom Austcom offered support today, I found the parent Group - Nature & Society Forum - to be very interesting. I recommend taking a look at the website for Nature & Society Forum: http://www.natsoc.org.au/ Also, Canberra Environment and Sustainability Resource Centre at this site :- http://www.ecoaction.com.au/ Their Mission : To support the community of Canberra and the South East region in the advancement of the principles of ecological sustainability and environmental protection through knowledge, education, information and practical application. Our Mission, along with all projects developed and implemented by the Centre are underpinned by the Earth Charter. Its All Happening Gary H. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.australiancommunities.org.au/pipermail/transitiontown/attachments/20080731/8c103076/attachment.htm