Current levels of consumption and production of animal products in the EU are pushing us towards environmental calamity, jeopardise human health, and cause animal suffering. 

Finding inspiration in Romania, Asger Mindegaard and Simone Lilliu explore ways of making EU livestock farming more sustainable while helping farmers transition to an agroecological future.

Civil society organisations, scientists and citizens have long been calling for a shift in the ways we produce and consume food of animal origin (meat, seafood, eggs and dairy). This does not mean that we all need to become vegans. It means that we need to produce less of these products while increasing their quality, for human health, animal welfare and the environment. 

The debate we need to have in society is about what quantity of animal products we can sustainably consume and how we breed, raise and slaughter these animals. It is about transitioning from the current intensive model of livestock production to one where livestock are part of extensive, circular, and mixed farming systems that preserve our natural resources, support rich biodiversity, protect our climate, and limit animal suffering. Such systems already exist in many places but they remain marginal. 

Roots in the community

In Merești, a small village in the region of Transylvania in Romania, the Sandor family produces traditional Romanian cheese from milk provided by their 40 dairy cows. Some 10 years ago, the family decided to abandon the standard model of selling their milk to the big companies. They now make their living selling cheese, eggs and sausages produced using the local pig breed ‘Mangalica’. The family also runs a small agri-tourism hostel where guests are served food from the farm.  

Read the full article here.