This essay still needs a bit of work, but I hope you will read it all the way through and give opinions/suggestions.

I write about nomadic lifestyles a fair amount and the two issues frequently raised by others are sustainability and stability. In other words earning a living and finding a safe place to park. This essay is my suggested solution:

Animal sanctuaries are usually hard up and the biggest cost in most cases is food. In an unrelated problem the world’s most famous vegan food tofu is made in a process which creates the by-product okara. Although okara is perfectly fit for human consumption it’s lack of popularity (or even awareness of it) means it is used mainly for animal feed. Therefore by buying tofu vegans unwittingly assist in supplying farmers with a cheap animal feed making their businesses more profitable.

A simple solution to this would be to make your own tofu and learn about okara recipes so you can use its by product. However another problem is that tofu is made from soya milk so all the soya milk vegans use also produces okara which again is used by farmers. So if you were producing your own tofu and soya milk you would end up with huge amounts of okara that you would be unlikely to use. On top of this other soya products such as tvp and soya sauce also produce by products that end up as animal feed.

So how could these products be produced without contributing to the farming industry?

In an ambitious (but I hope realistic) attempt to solve several problems at once

i.e.

-       where do nomads stay

-       how do they earn a living

-       how do animal sanctuaries become more prosperous

-       how to prevent cheap animal feed for farmers

I propose the creation of the Animal Sanctuary Business Network.

Although farm animal sanctuaries lack funds they certainly do not lack the odd bit of space. They have more than enough to park a few motorhomes or even set up a few tents.

The first proposal on the business front would be that sanctuaries buy large amounts of soya beans. (How this will be funded will be discussed later). Wholesale websites such as tradekey and alibaba advertise many companies selling whole soya beans. The more you buy the better value you get. A single shipment could be split between two or more sanctuaries.

Then the sanctuaries provide an area where soya products such as tofu can be produced. This could be a building already there or it could be a shed or heavy duty tent. Or it could be done in nomadic accommodation such as a motorhome or caravan. Products such as tofu can be produced using basic kitchen equipment. Tofu molds are very cheap to buy and again could be bought wholesale. They can also be made from the cartons of soya milk.

Then vegans can visit the sanctuaries and stock up on cheap soya products. That way they can save themselves money and give sanctuaries much needed support. And the by products such as okara can be used to feed sanctuary animals. Another point is that often whole soya beans are fed direct to animals so boosting human demand for whole raw soya beans will push meat prices up.

RESOURCE ISOLATION

There are many, many other regular vegan products (and not just food products) that produce animal feed. Cooking oil for example is a very big offender on this issue. Sunflower seeds only produce 40% oil and the rest of the seed becomes what is known as seed cake. This cake is a big contributor to animal feed.

Yellow Fields oil company from the north of England for example brag quite openly on their website that they receive £140 a ton for their press cake from an intensive beef farmer. They also strongly recommend sunflower cake as poultry feed due to its high protein values.

They supply many companies with cooking oil but also supply skincare companies such as Natural Empathy. Natural Empathy are very proud and candid about their relationship with Yellow Fields, stating on their website:

“A key ingredient in the Natural Empathy range is produced by a fellow Northumberland based company, Yellow Fields. Alan Brewis and Selby Potts, founders of Yellow Fields, supply their farm's cold pressed extra virgin rapeseed oil for use across the full range of skincare products.”

Natural Empathy are stamped with approval from none other than the British Vegan Society. Their products maybe scientifically vegan but are they morally?

COTTAGE INDUSRIES AND TRADING NOMADS

Just about every food that isn’t a wholefood is likely to have a by-product that is used as animal feed. And as demonstrated above many non-food products are affected in this manner as well. Keeping track of them all would be impossible. However keeping track of what you and likeminded people produce would be very easy especially if it is all done in the same vicinity. I personally feel one decent sized room (which could be a shed or any of the other possibilities mentioned) should be big enough for producing one product perhaps more. These products could be sold through many outlets: at the sanctuaries, at markets, vegan roadshows, wholefood shops, regular shops etc. and used by people who are a part of the project.

This would give nomads the opportunity for income with the number of potential products being endless. People will always need shoes and clothes and other essential items. The animal sanctuaries could provide a safe base for vegan enterprise at low cost.

UNITING SANCTUARIES WORLD WIDE

Animal sanctuaries all the world over are already united by a common purpose. It would be great if there could be a formal agreement from as many as possible to allow trading vegan nomads to stay on their land for a reasonable amount of time before moving on. Animal sanctuaries are often targeted by hunters and other low lives. A concentration of vegans in large vehicles is likely to make them think twice before carrying out their contemptible activities.

Through this kind of project sanctuaries can become places of recreation and trading rather than places of charity.

OPENING UP A POLITICAL FRONT

There will be as always legal barriers. You may be breaking the law without a clue that you are doing it as you aren’t doing anything immoral if fact quite the opposite. There may be (and probably are) laws about staying at such places with your mobile accommodation. Sanctuaries will no doubt be obliged to pay tax should they become profitable.

Taxes go towards things that vegans and other ethically minded people find

disagreeable such as factory farming, vivisection and war. As a large part of this lifestyle would be about being eco friendly getting a party like the U.K. Green party to back it would be a good idea.

BECOMING A NATION

Why not? If there are sanctuaries all over the world or even in a single sountry who all have the same lifestyle philosophy then why should they not view themselves as a single nation? The all vegan nation Havenheed suits this idea:

http://havenheed.ning.com/

GENERAL FUNDING

People who are already patrons of sanctuaries may like the idea of contributing towards something that would be profitable. The Havenheed nation is set up in such a way that people can invest in these kind of projects to gain profit in an ethical matter.

TAKING LAND

There is great deal of land in the U.K. and else where that is very cheap to buy due to not being arable or having any building permission. This land is often bought by Farmers for grazing. Although no building permission is allowed, camping, vehicle use and non-permanent structures usually are. And of course so is keeping animals as that is usually what this cheap land is used for.

Websites such as UK Land directory advertise land for sale for as little as £950 an acre. (1 acre is 4046.86 square metres, the size of a football pitch although of course not necessarily the same shape). This kind of land could be bought up and used as animal sanctuaries and nomadic vegan communes. This would give a cheap option for vegan enterprise and make life financially harder for farmers.

NEW TECHNOLOGY

This lifestyle would be greatly aided by emerging technologies. There are three things in particular:

1 - THE ELECTRIC CAR:

The emerging electric car is said to run for under a penny a mile. One of the biggest costs with this lifestyle would be fuel. This option has to be seriously investigated. It is possible to convert regular cars into electric cars. This has been done by many people.

2 - AIR WATER TECHNOLOGY

Air water technology is a method of extracting water from the air. Machines capable of doing this are already used by many different people. From Australian office workers, Indian farmers to the American military in Iraq. This would be an incredibly useful technology that would enhance independence enormously. It would make it possible to set up communes or sanctuaries in parts of the world where it is currently impossible due to lack of water.

3 – SOLAR POWER

USING ANIMAL DUNG AS A RESOURCE

Rather than animals just being an attraction, their dung could be very useful. In Cuba many of their city allotments use cow dung exclusively. There is also the possibility of using animal dung as fuel.