25 signatures reached
To: Federal and provincial governments
End subsidies to animal agriculture and help farmers transition to sustainable practices
Federal and provincial governments give huge subsidies to animal agriculture, taking hard-earned tax dollars from Canadians away from much-needed health, education and social services programs across the nation.
Animal agriculture is the leading cause of species extinction, because of habitat loss. About 80% of farmland is dedicated to raising crops to feed livestock and for grazing cattle.
Animal agriculture is also a leading cause of greenhouse gas emissions, related to cattle's nitrous oxide flatulence and the lost carbon sink when fields replace tree-filled forests.
It is incredibly difficult to make a living as a small-scale farmer, and subsidies typically benefit Big Ag. Help small-scale farmers transition to sustainable agriculture, mainly grains, vegetables, legumes and fruit, for human consumption.
End subsidies in Canada, which are making those at the top of Big Ag richer while propping up a planet-destroying, resource-intensive and failing industry.
For information on subsidies to animal agriculture in Canada, see https://nationrising.ca/information-subsidies/
Why is this important?
If we don't stop subsidies to animal agriculture, we won't have a chance of reversing species extinction or climate change, both of which are truly apocalyptic scenarios. There is a mountain of science that tells us we need to change the way we do things or the Sixth Mass Extinction will accelerate and we will reach tipping points in climate change that will change the world into an uninhabitable place for future generations.
Biodiversity loss is a crisis. Wildlife has nowhere to live and their numbers are dwindling. They are part of the web of life, which is getting weaker. Ecosystems are falling apart.
At the same time, droughts, forest fires and hurricanes--extreme weather of all kinds is increasing as climate change progresses.
The first and obvious step is to stop subsidies to a polluting, destructive industry, animal agriculture.
If we could get the 80% of land used for animal agriculture back, we could convert the land currently used to grow crops for animals and grazing to ecologically rich forests for wildlife. Some 60% of animals have been lost in the past decades, largely related to habitat loss. We could turn back the clock on climate change, and get greenhouse gas emissions related to animal agriculture--14.5% of total emissions, not to mention the carbon sink that are trees.
We need to save the planet for future generations and the non-human animals with whom we share the planet.