Reason 1101 to be vegan? The smell of manure

If you can’t open your windows to let fresh air in because of the smell of manure, thanks the carnivores!

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We are again in the middle of a heat wave, with temperatures 10 to 15 degrees above the norm. #ClimateChange. My morning ritual is to get up at 5AM and open the windows to let some fresh air in the apartment to cool it before the sun rises. It usually is pleasant to step outside on my balcony, coffee in hand. I stretch a little and water my plants while the sky changes color. I enjoy the peace and quiet while sipping my coffee and I simply breathe to welcome the day.

This morning, I had to close the windows right back and stay inside. The title of this piece suggests the reason, but I’ll confirm it anyway. As I stepped outside, the smell of manure instantly filled up my nostrils and was simply unbearable.

Yes, I live in a little town surrounded by fields and forest. Some of you may be inclined to say that I should just live in the city if I can’t handle the “smell of nature”. I’m afraid, it wouldn’t make a difference if I lived in the big city. And I would add, this isn’t the smell of nature.

The country I live in is small and is a patchwork of villages, small cities, fields and forests and there is no place far enough from all the manure to not smell it. It depends of the wind and intensity of use of course but overall, no place is safe 100% of the time.

The other day, to escape the heat, I went for a walk in a forest 10km away. There as well, manure had been used recently and only after I had walked past the hill could I breath again. A couple days before that, in an other area of the country, we had to close the windows at the office I was in. The smell was unbearable but it unfortunately lingered.

So I’ll repeat it: in the country I live in, it really does feel like no place is safe 100% of the time from this stench.

Manure has nothing to do with the smell of nature

Manure is a by product of the meat and dairy industry. It can be from cows, pigs, poultry or any other animals really. In this country, I think it is mostly cows but it doesn’t really matter, it stinks and as the result of intense farming, there is nothing natural about its production.

Manure isn’t a couple cow dung in a field. The smell is nothing like the earthly smell of a forest soil after the rain.

Spreading manure on fields might be considered a sustainable practice but I think this is a misleading argument developed to justify the practice. In reality, there is so much manure and so much spreading that it isn’t done to fertilize the soils, it is simply done to get rid of it.