One is an artisan farmer advocating artisanal and responsible “omniculture”. The other is a vegan and anti-species activist calling for an end to animal exploitation. They cross swords in a biting correspondence, published by Écosociété, in which neither the goat nor the cabbage is spared.
Posted at 11:00 a.m.
Author of The impossible farm and of The artisan farmer, Dominic Lamontagne settled in Sainte-Lucie-des-Laurentides with his spouse Amélie Dion and their children in order to set up a subsistence farming project, that is to say one that feeds the farmer, his family and the community. In addition to market gardening, they raise laying hens and goats from which they consume the milk.
Jean-François Dubé lives in Montreal. He adopted a diet that was first vegetarian, then vegan in 2015. Holder of a master’s degree in political science on the links between the ideas of the animalist and environmentalist movements, he has participated in several awareness-raising and disruption actions. He was present when a group of activists entered the Joe Beef restaurant in 2020, at dinner time.
It was after Jean-François commented on Dominic’s appearance on a Rad program, Radio-Canada’s journalistic laboratory, that the latter contacted him. Not to invite him to dinner – we quickly understand that it would be an impossible meal! — but for discussion.
“I can’t invite him to supper,” said the peasant. But if he wants it, I’ll go! He says he likes food, so we agree on that. »
Opposing points of view
Over a period of two years, they developed their argument in twenty letters grouped together in the essay goat and cabbage. The two men confront each other on three themes: ethics, health and the environment, through scientific studies, philosophical writings, testimonies and peasant intuition. On none they agree. And it goes beyond the love of meat or animals.
If the exchanges are respectful, we also feel, in their writings, as in this videoconference interview where The Press invited them, the impatience, acrimony and emotion that characterize the clash of opposing points of view. “There are limits to a compromise when the other wants to abolish your way of life! “says Dominic Lamontagne. “If we judge that a practice is immoral, we defend its abolition”, replies Jean-François Dubé.
PHOTO ROBERT SKINNER, THE PRESS
On his farm, Dominc Lamontagne raises goats whose milk he and his family consume.
Regardless of the type of breeding, the activist considers it immoral to “objectify” animals, which are sentient beings and therefore have the capacity to feel emotions and suffering. “How can we continue to participate in the exploitation of animals that are ultimately identical to our dogs in what matters, that is, their ability to feel pain? […] This is nonsense when there are alternative ways of feeding. »
Dominic Lamontagne refuses to subject his animals to any cruelty whatsoever. By practicing small-scale agriculture, it is possible “to provide animals with living conditions that are pleasant, even enjoyable”, he argues. A statement that makes Jean-François Dubé smile and shake his head, certainly accustomed to the lyrical flights of his correspondent.
“In reality, you kill animals when you don’t need to do so”, he will reply later when the peasant declares that he creates happiness on his farm.
What Dominic Lamontagne defends is an ecosystem approach to food self-sufficiency in which animal input is essential. “I think that rudimentary, sustainable and therefore ecological means are what should be prioritized. To say that animal protein is unnecessary is a figment of the imagination. You have to live in town and be able to go to the grocery store with a credit card. »
When you’re in an environment where you’re trying to feed yourself, you need to be able to enjoy maximum biodiversity.
Dominic Lamontagne
Because the future is there, according to him. A future where urban dwellers return to the land. Utopian? “We are a majority of people to take care of our diet, he replies. What is happening in downtown Montreal is not typical of what the average human does day to day on Earth to ensure their survival, their food self-sufficiency. We have large unoccupied spaces in Quebec. Reoccupying our territory should be a priority. »
“With a growing population, the solution is not in urban sprawl, it is in densification, with greenhouses on the roofs and urban agriculture, replies Jean-François Dubé. On a small farm, it is even more difficult to assess whether the animals are well cared for. The more there are, the less control we will have. »
In his ideal world, where the vegan diet is widespread, we must continue to rely on industrialization, at least in the short term it is appropriate, to meet the food and protein needs of the population, even to produce the famous ” enriched oat juice” brandished by Dominic Lamontagne on several occasions, as a symbol of the industrialization of this food choice.
Anyone who defends the importance of looking at the global trace of what we consume is convinced that the milk produced by his goats has a lower environmental impact than fortified oat milk, which his co-author opposes. “There are different ways to produce different animal proteins, says Dominic Lamontagne. The figures we often have are amalgams, which include industries that take up a lot of space. »
Moreover, in its most recent report, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) advocates the adoption of a “healthy, balanced and sustainable diet”, which essentially includes plant-based foods. , but does not exclude those of animal origin produced in “resilient, sustainable and low GHG emission systems”. On this, the two authors agree… in their disagreement!
The goat and the cabbage: debate between an artisan farmer and a vegan activist
Dominic Lamontagne and Jean-Francois Dubé
Eco-society
288 pages