is one of, if not the solution.
- So now we talk about regenerative grazing,
formerly known as grazing, and it tries to spin
what they're doing as something completely different.
"Oh, we're restoring the ecosystem.
We're restoring soil carbon by grazing the land."
No, you're not.
In fact, there is a study;
it was a meta-analysis of 300 studies from around the world
which looked into this question
and found there wasn't a single instance
of grazing storing more carbon
than the greenhouse gases which the animals were producing.
It's what's called the "carbon opportunity cost"
and the "ecological opportunity cost."
Because it's not just that livestock farming
is a massive contributor to greenhouse gas emissions,
it's also the biggest cause of ecological destruction.
- [Tom] I thought the main benefit of rewilding
was the increased biodiversity.
And while it's undoubtedly incredible to see
the thriving ecosystems at Dunsany Castle,
it seems the greatest gain in rewilding of forests
and wetlands across our continent and beyond
is the opportunity it provides
in drawing carbon from our atmosphere and sequestering it.
It was starting to become clear why the science says
that plant-based diets can reduce emissions by up to 73%.
Today's global farming model
is a Neolithic production system
that simply wasn't designed to feed
in excess of eight billion people.
It just isn't sustainable.
There was so much to digest.
I felt like I hadn't scratched the surface.
One thing really bugging me
was the level of emissions created from farmed fishing.
[tense thoughtful music]
For years, oily fish has been regarded as a health food,
in part because it contains
the long-chain omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA.
But is it possible to get omega-3 fatty acids
from plant foods?
- I recommend that it's wise for plant-based eaters
to have a couple of servings of omega-3-rich plant foods
such as walnuts or a couple of tablespoons of ground flax
or chia seeds.
- [Tom] It turns out that a number of plant-based foods
contain a short-chain omega-3 fatty acid called ALA,
which the body then converts into EPA
and DHA when readily available.
But what about people who worry about the price
of ALA-rich foods or that perhaps they couldn't eat enough
to meet the conversion rate?
Are there EPA and DHA sources for vegans?
- A lot of people don't realize
that actually omega-3 is made by algae,
and it comes from the algae, not from the fish.
So you could actually cut out the middleman
and go straight to the algae.
Just take a good-quality DHA
and EPA supplement if you're concerned.
- [Tom] With the pescatarian diet
being the most expensive dietary pattern,
this is an instance where supplementing
or using the ALA sources would actually be cheaper.
- I would say that fish isn't necessarily
the health food that it used to be
because we are polluting the oceans
with environmental plastics and heavy metals, dioxins,
and PCBs, which then bioaccumulate in the fish.
And of course, when we eat them, we are also bioaccumulating
those toxins within our own bodies.
- Pregnant people are required not to have more
than two servings of oily fish a week
because of the levels of mercury
and other heavy metals present.
So, with a food that comes with a health warning,
why take the risk?
- [Tom] I was curious about the current state of our oceans.
How were the fish levels?
After all, it absorbs around 30% of all global emissions.
The number of fish killed each year
dwarfs that of land animals.
Anywhere from 0.8
to 2.3 trillion wild fish are killed each year.
So why are fish offered such little protection
under law compared to land animals?
Especially when we know fish are sentient beings,
they feel pain.
- With fishes, I feel like, and aquatic animals,
you know, that they seem so unfamiliar to us.
And so, I think that perhaps it's harder
to bridge that disconnection
than it might be, for, you know,
the connection between humans and dogs and cats.
- [Tom] One method used in the fishing industry,
to me, at least, seems particularly reckless.
Bottom trawling involves dragging huge nets
along the ocean floor and damaging it in the process,
and it scoops up anything in its path.
Every year, 300,000 dolphins
and whales are killed as bycatch,
wiping out species with huge carbon capture potential.
And it's not just what we're taking from oceans,
but what we're adding.
- Fish stocks have depleted 90%.
And the biggest source of ocean plastic
is fishing nets that have been discarded.
- Global wild marine catch for fish peaked 20 years ago.
Since it's been declined.
But meanwhile, we have invented a thing
called aquaculture.
That's why there is fish still in the supermarkets.
- [Tom] The overfishing and destruction of our oceans
has forced us into creating a farmed fishing system.
And just like pasture-fed beef,
farmed fish is also incredibly environmentally destructive.
For every 10 calories farmed fish provide,
they're given 100 calories themselves.
And what about the environmental impacts of cheese?
Cheese is the single biggest reason I ever hear
as to why vegetarians could never go vegan.
And I get it.
I mean, I've tried some vegan cheese
that tasted like it was created by the devil
in the deepest, darkest pits of hell.
But I've also eaten absolutely amazing vegan cheese.
And environmentally, vegan cheese has a significantly lower
climate impact to that of dairy cheese.
But aside from the environmental impacts,
I know very little about the cheese and dairy industry,
despite eating copious amounts of it as a youngster.
The only thing I do know is that cows would explode
if we didn't milk them,
because nine people have actually said this to me
during my journey.
Turns out those nine people were misinformed.
Much like humans, cats, and dogs,
cows also produce milk after giving birth.
So, what else does the dairy industry not tell us?
[cow mooing] [gentle somber music]
[cow mooing continues]
[cow mooing]
- [Tom] I was shocked to learn that 1/2 of all beef
comes from the dairy industry.
[cow mooing]
But if the mothers need to give birth to produce cow milk,
what happens to their babies?
- [Tom] Hypothetically, let's pretend we stop this.
That cheese isn't a thing anymore.
Neither are slaughter dealers,
rounding up baby calves for a few quid.
And that the majority of land used
for cheese production is rewilded.
What would happen to the farmers?
I think there's a misconception that vegans hate farmers.
From my experience, that couldn't be further from the truth.
My uncle was a farmer, and I liked him a lot.
He was incredibly hard-working,
and frankly, he had very little to show for the long
and enduring work he undertook,
like most farmers I've spoken to.
So, what could a shift to a plant-based diet
and the mass rewilding of land mean for farmers right now?
- I see opportunities here to bring people into farming,
not drive them out.
We don't wanna see livestock farmers driven out of farming.
We wanna see them thrive and develop.
And change their systems to suit,
they're gonna needs, help, and support.
There's potentially a whole lot of new jobs
waiting to be had here as the economy changes.
Livestock doesn't produce any jobs,
hardly at all, certainly not on the farm.
- [Tom] Of course, we wouldn't need all the land
freed up from animal agriculture for arable farming,
so if it isn't suitable,
this is where the work of people like Randal comes in.
We pay trillions a year in taxpayers' money
to prop up a broken food and farming system
when that money could instead be used
to work with the local farmers, communities,
and Indigenous people to work together with their land
to help fight the climate emergency on the ground.
If more of us move towards a plant-based diet
and the land no longer needed for farming
is returned back to nature, we'll be able to remove billions
of metric tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
And from an employment perspective,
one study found that rewilding projects
have resulted in a 54% increase
in full-time equivalent jobs.
Simply put, removing farmland and giving it back to nature
doesn't lose jobs; it creates them.
Then there's completely new sectors opening up.
Innovations that are creating more jobs, more opportunities,
like cultivated meats or fermented proteins.
Solar Foods in Finland is creating what they call solein,
a protein out of thin air.
It's not from a plant or an animal;
it originates from a single-cell organism
that's put through a fermentation process.
- What we're trying to achieve as a company
is to disconnect food production from agriculture
and go really to the root cause of problems
in what comes to food production on this planet.
The environmental impact of solein compared to meat
is about 1% and about 1/10 compared to that of plants.
- [Tom] I do wonder how people will react
to this sort of innovation.
- Ultimately, it's the taste and texture, convenience,
experience that is a decisive factor.
- I'm not gonna lie, that's exactly what I wanted to know.
Mm!
That's good.
I felt like I was in a science-fiction movie.
Mm, that's really good.
But there was no denying it looked and tasted amazing.
The climate benefits are undeniable,
and along with the transition for livestock farmers
to a more environmentally friendly form of arable farming
or to land managers paid to rewild,
this alternative fat and protein sector
could create an endless possibility of foods and jobs.
Climate change, the environmental crisis,
the sixth mass extinction,
the collapse of our planet's life support systems,
however, you wanna phrase it,
it's a complex issue that cannot be fixed
by dealing with industries in isolation.
If a middle-aged man has a heart attack
and he smokes, drinks excessively, is stressed,
doesn't exercise, and eats poorly, then what caused it?
We should think of the chronic disease
our planet has right now in the same way.
But where we have little say in how we currently heat
or power our homes,
we do have much more control over the foods we eat
and the environmental impact that comes with it.
Which is why the single biggest thing we can do
to reduce our environmental impact
is to reduce or remove animal-based products from our diet.
So, let me get this straight: we forcibly impregnate a sow.
When she gives birth, we barely allow her to move,
whilst we fan her piglets up for a few weeks
until they're taken away and the process for her repeats.
Once removed,
we spend a few more weeks fattening the piglets up.
And it's a similar process for other farm animals,
one which requires huge amounts of water and feed,
which a large chunk is grown in parts of the world
using deforested land,
thus increasing our risk of zoonotic diseases
and releasing carbon into the atmosphere.
All around the world,
these animals are pumped with antibiotics,
a large chunk of which are vital for human health,
creating a greater risk of death from antibiotic resistance,
which is already killing millions of people.
The manure from the animals damages the soil,
runs off into the rivers, polluting our water,
and affects human health.
When it makes it into the sea, it forms dead zones,
killing further planet aquatic life.
Parts of the ocean not affected are frequently overfished,
resulting in millions of additional sea life killed
accidentally as bycatch
while simultaneously damaging the ocean floor
and releasing even more greenhouse gas emissions.
While all that's going on,
billions of land animals around the world
are sent to slaughter,
in units hidden away from the public's view,
in countries where not a single one
has been awarded an A rating for its farming practices.
These animals are killed in ways
that are deemed humane by governments.
The meat is then sold to the public,
of which a huge percentage
has been proven to be infected with different bacteria,
increasing the risk of foodborne illness.
When it finally reaches our plate,
and in a world where one in four people
now die from a poor diet, we get to eat a number of foods
that are classified as type one or two carcinogens.
And even the foods that aren't
are proven to have a far higher environmental impact
than their plant-based alternatives,
thus contributing enormously
to the destruction of a planet we,
and our loved ones,
call home.
[deep contemplative music]
What the actual fuck?
[footsteps tapping]
[door clunking]
[door slams] [intense dramatic music]
Sophia's turn to deadlift.
On her third attempt, she's going for a lift
that will not only give her the title if she gets it,
but she'll also smash
her own British deadlift record in the process,
with an enormous lift of 237.5 kilograms.
- [Announcer] If she gets this,
this will be the biggest deadlift
in British powerlifting history for a woman, okay?
So, no big thing, no big stakes,
but this is where it goes down.
237.5 kilos
on the bar for Sophia Ellis!
[rousing orchestral music]
[rousing orchestral music continues]
[audience yelling]
[audience cheering]
[announcer drowned out by audience applauding and cheering]
[Sophia screams] [audience cheering]
You have just won this in three!
[rousing orchestral music continues]
[crowd cheering] [crowd applauding]
- [Bystander] Whoo-hoo!
Whoo!
[group cheering]
- [Tom] Thank you.
- It was her who signed him up.
- 84 years old, he's done this race today.
[crowd cheering]
Doing press-ups at the age of 84.
- [Announcer] Sophia Ellis!
[audience cheering] [audience applauding]
[group laughing]
- Hey! - Yeah, mate.
- Cheers.
- Well done, mate. - Thanks, man.
- It was a pleasure doing that with you. [laughs]
- Yeah.
Oh, oh!
Yeah, Chan. Hello!
[phone line ringing]
[light uplifting music]
- [Tom's Mum] Hello?
- Hey, Mum. It's Tom again.
Really, I just wanted to call and say thank you.
Thank you for everything.
[light uplifting music continues]
- Well, this is up to us.
Whether we turn it around or not is up to us.
It's up to our commitment;
it's up to the numbers we can mobilize.
It's up to whether we can make sure our voices become louder
than the lobbyists for the old legacy industries.
And whether we can promote
and press for the new industries and new change
and new ways of producing food,
which are essential to protecting the living world.
- [Tom] So, can we turn this around?
- [George] We can turn this around.