The Holistic Future Network and I recently interviewed Stephen Walsh Ph.D. after his keynote speech at the Brighton, UK eco-veggie fayre. I was more than familiar with Dr Walsh’s work as a writer, researcher and commentator on food and health. Dr Walsh is a scientist, only swayed to propel ideas which hold under the rigours of scientific scrutiny. In this end he’s unwavering and admirably disciplined, often criticising even those claims which may progress his own interests. His work with the Vegan Society is a perfect example, as he soberly dissects claims which look to strengthen the vegan movement but which he feels must be exposed as to leave only arguments built to last on firm scientific ground.

I love an issue which gives us an opportunity to expand our “holistic perspective”, and my conversation with Dr Walsh led right into one of those. Environmentalism and the subject of sustainability are often highlighted by those promoting the movement away from animal based food consumption. Some ideas may be thrown against that motion such as the statistics of soy production and it’s almighty stamp on the use of arable land, but a prolific resource centre like Dr Walsh can sideline those kinds of claims with some extra information to put that idea into context, the truth being that “90% of soy is produced for consumption by livestock”. Soy is favoured for it’s protein profile and tendency to promote swift and maximal growth, an ideal for getting the most food out of animals. So that’s one idea neatly “statisticked”.

The genuine problem arises from a legitimate idea. If sustainability were our only motivation in food production, then it could lead down a path of strongly compromising the welfare of livestock even further, perhaps to degrees we couldn’t look away from… perhaps. If space and efficiency were our only goals, then a solution could be to severely factorise conditions for harvesting animals. But this idea would contradict an ever emerging concern for animal welfare, an awareness which was resurrected in western culture when Darwin put pay to our claims of divine right and Lordship over our newly realised fellow animals. As the man himself emphasised in “The Descent of Man” differences between us and non-human animals, are differences of degree not of kind. Regardless of what we know, the tide of the status quo grows on but so too do perspectives of rationality and compassion, an emergence of change which although confused and sedated by a profoundly indifferent and dis-compassionate food industry, is on a course of evolution significantly effected by the genesis of Darwinism, and which is guiding a great many shifts in consumer demands today. The food revolution in regards of compassion, reason, and also health, for many already has it’s torch’s lit.

So what is our motivation? What are we hoping to sustain and to propagate for our future? There is a direction which feels for more and more of us to be aligned with our truly loving and compassionate nature, to re-connect with the human animal who is from every perspective disposed far towards gathering than hunting, and consequently towards an indifference if the kill is being made on our behalf. There is at the core of our culture a simmering hypocrisy, one which condemns cruelty to animals designated as pets, but celebrates the ritual of cruelty inflicted on the billions upon billions of sentient, feeling, thinking creatures designated as food. This is an imbalance I only settled in myself a little over a year ago, and my key motivations at that time were the health benefits. The freedom from an underlying and subdued hypocrisy was as I discovered, just as healing.

The move to condition the terms with which we govern other animals further from the aspirations of respect and compassion would contradict this ever emerging expression of continuity between our thoughts, feelings, and our behaviour. This is where a holistic perspective eases it’s way between the issues and gives us pause for sobering breaths. Moving further towards dis-compassionate animal farming as a solution to sustainability creates an ethical issue which leads us away from the course of appreciating, aligning with, and celebrating our humanity. So as ever, although the solution may not be easy in it’s application, it is simple, and as accessible as choice. And when the balance of what we know is weighed, it generally settles neatly in line with how we feel. Our food choices make enormous impacts on our health, on our culture, and on our planet. I include culture because a world which is compassionate to animals is a world being compassionate to itself, and compassion is always a catalyst of healing. It just so happens, that singular lifestyle decisions can practically and powerfully benefit all, as well as potentially making us feel entirely wonderful.

An indifference to the future wont stop it coming, and for us to move into a future which promotes the most enjoyable and most productive human experience, the need is to nurture a think and feel synergy which appeals to our whole human journey. One which sees the biggest picture and guides us to a harmony, coherence and celebration with the details. Efficiency isn’t an end in itself, it’s a means to productivity. So if the nature of what we’re efficiently producing is unnaturally destructive – to our health, to our culture, and to our planet, it’s time to look at more productive choices rather than sink our ships deeper by breaching the hulls more efficiently. This holistic perspective I talk about and present as the solution to our future, is not a faith in human destination, it is a calm and celebratory exploration of human potential. A potential which when explored should not lack faith. The holistic perspective is a guide to help us activate the journey which makes most sense for us, lest our future be automated – designed without our conscious consent, and fulfilled with complete disregard for our whole selves.