European Livestock Voice : for the preservation and promotion of the multiple benefits of livestock farming
Euro Foie Gras is one of the members of the European Livestock Voice (ELV), a group that brings together European organizations active in the European livestock sector. In the face of unfounded criticism and misinformation, the objective of the ELV is to bring back a balanced debate on the European scene around this essential sector. Livestock is crucial in terms of food security, the preservation of Europe’s rich agricultural and culinary heritage, but also in economic, social and environmental terms.
The ELV wrote in an article: “Today livestock farming is a key part of rural Europe. Livestock is present in almost all regions of Europe in a wide variety of production systems depending on the local economic, geographical, and sociological contexts. The livestock sector contributes substantially to the European economy (168 billion euros per year, 45% of total agricultural activity), to the trade balance and creates jobs for almost 30 million people. Without cattle, the rural exodus will increase, creating additional pressure in our cities, and a greater disconnection with nature and with our cultural heritage. Land abandonment would also lead to an increased risk of forest fires in a context of global warming. »
Livestock is vital from an environmental point of view since it contributes to the regulation of ecological cycles and in particular to the fertility of the planet’s soils. With the supply of organic matter through manure as well as the existence of permanent grasslands, livestock farming contributes to the storage of carbon in the soil and therefore to the mitigation of greenhouse gases. The end of livestock farming would inevitably lead to the disappearance of grasslands that would no longer be useful. Thus, the development of fallow land replacing managed grasslands would cause a huge loss of biodiversity. It should be stressed that European permanent grasslands contain 50% of European endemic plant species.[1] Therefore, the preservation of livestock is also crucial for the conservation of biodiversity and the protection of land in Europe.
Euro Foie Gras will continue to work in favor of preserving of European livestock farming and promoting its numerous benefits in partnership with the other member associations of the ELV.
[1] A world without livestock farming makes no sense from humanitarian, economic, ecological and agronomic point of view – Euractiv