The Dilema Between Vegan Ethics And Artificial Fertilizers

My recent project growing a raised bed vegetable garden started me thinking about the role of artificial fertilizers in feeding the burgeoning global population.  This, in turn, led back to a question my wife and I debated a few weeks ago on the subject of vegan ethics.  Is it more “ethical” to be vegan, from the standpoint

Vegan Ethics And Artificial Fertilizers

Since I started my journey to get in shape and live a healthier lifestyle, I’ve gained a new appreciation for fruits and vegetables I once would have ignored (like asparagus), which have become an integral part of my diet.  But I’m still a meat eater, both because I like it, and because I see practical health benefits, for a variety of reasons.  But over the years, I have considered the question of going vegan.  I have also found myself in debates over the ethics of going vegan with friends and family.  One of the ethical arguments often made in favor of the vegan movement centers on the question of sustainability – the argument that vegan eating is a more “sustainable.”  There are others, but this is the one I’m interested in today.

Why?  I think this question bears investigating.  Although there have been many documentaries made on the subject of the global meat packing industry, yet far less attention has been paid to the impact of plant-based food production.

A brief review of the history of global food production provides some insight.  In the early 1900′s, the European scientific community had a growing concern about the global population.  With global population standing at about 2 billion people, there was a fear that mankind had reached a plateau for population growth, and the planet could not sustain more people.  There were warnings of mass starvation and famine, as arable cropland was being depleted.  The problem was nitrogen, and the nitrogen cycle.  There just wasn’t enough.

Nitrogen makes up 78% of the earth’s atmosphere, in an inert, unusable form, and the ability of plants to grow is limited by the amount of nitrogen available for growth.  At this point in human history, the need for fertilizers to improve crop yields had been recognized, and naturally occurring fertilizers were used regularly in crop production.  However, sources of nitrogen at the time were limited to “organic” materials.  Specifically, sources of nitrogen included manure, certain legumes, and to a lesser extent, lightning.  And farmers were rapidly approaching the limit to how quickly they could replace the nitrogen used by the crops they were growing.  We had reached the threshold of sustainability.

The Invention Of Artificial Fertilizers

Prior to 1913, by virtue having tons bird guano (read:  poo) on its shorelines, Chile was the world’s largest supplier of nitrogen.  Being the supplier of nearly 57% of the nitrogen to the globe made them a strategic target.  Not only because of the importance of nitrogen as a source of fertilizer, also for the production of gunpowder.  This strategic importance led to the first naval battle of World War I being fought off the coast of Chile, as Germany sought to secure their nitrogen supply.  Unfortunately for the Germans, the British Navy reigned supreme and effectively cut the Germans off from their supply of nitrogen.

With a single stroke, most experts believed Germany should have exhausted its supply of nitrogen by 1916, which should have effectively brought an end to the war.  Hampered by their ability to feed their population, and produce munitions, they should have been starved into submission.  However, there’s a reason most chemistry texts from the early 1900′s are written in German, as they were the leaders in the field of chemistry at the time.

Working together, two patriotic German chemists, Fritz Haber and Carl Bosch successfully commercialized the production of artificial fertilizers, after finding a way to “fix” nitrogen from the atmosphere, and collect it in the form of ammonia.  Their process for producing ammonia went to full-scale production in Germany, thereby allowing the war effort to proceed, as officials could continue the production of munitions and supply food to the populace without the need for Chilean guano.

Artificial fertilizers had arrived.  By 1934, their process had swept the globe, and Chile’s exports of guano plunged.

Fritz Haber, a Jewish chemist, went on to further refine his process, and advance his understanding of ammonia and other toxic gases.  In 1915, he directed the first gas attack in history, and developed Zykon B, which the Germans used liberally in World War II.  He was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1920 for his contribution to the process for producing artificial fertilizers.  Talk about ironic.

It has been said the process for fixing nitrogen, which allows for the production of artificial fertilizers, is the most important discovery of the 20th century.  This process is responsible for tremendous improvements in crop yields, which by some estimates is the entire reason 40% of the people currently alive on our planet were ever born.

As you can see, the history of nitrogen and artificial fertilizers is dark and tainted.  And even though our ability to produce artificial fertilizers has allowed our population to swell, it hasn’t come without cost.

Sources

Chemical Engineering