We intended to bring (& expand) our sanctuary of rescued farm animals onto land which could help sustain our mission. We also intended to support the land towards later succession, and managed grasslands are the most prime for making these leaps, especially when extraction pressure is removed.

Our perspective from the start was to remove the extractive pressures of conventional hay management and hunting. We recognize that true regeneration comes from careful consideration of the individuals and ecosystems in which they reside because real regeneration isn’t just about soil or ecological succession, it’s about renewal, repair and growth for the land and the individuals living on it.

Our farm is located in an area where extraction has been the default for at least two centuries: the southeastern US. This area has a long history of soil and land degradation at the hands of agriculture systems that prioritized exploitation, which is in contrast to how the Catawba and Cherokee, who managed this land for generations before colonization, related to it as something to be lived with rather than extracted from.

The land we found was what many semi-managed farms in the south look like: singular crop systems, low diversity, crowded forests, eroding and degraded soils.

The dominant worldviews treated land, animals, and labor alike as resources to extract, valued only for economic yield. The result: soil degradation and ecological harm we're still living with.

Our intentions for the land were different. We wanted to integrate with the existing ecosystem and lives already here. We didn’t start with “we’re going to fix this”, we first asked: who is already here? We observed. We set wildlife cameras and walked the land, taking notes of different individuals and species which were already calling this place home.

These observations helped us to build our farm in a way that works with the individuals already here and the systems on which they rely, with plans to improve the ecosystems by supporting habitat creation and ecological succession.

When we take the lives of all individuals seriously, our actions must respect their existence. Both the rescued animals in our care and the wild animals deserve consideration. That’s why here we farm veganically, practice coexistence over control, and build infrastructure around animal presence rather than against it.

There is a growing Veganic farming movement as well as more support for compassionate conservation, emboldened by the simple idea that all sentient life deserves respect and consideration.

The regeneration on and of our land is happening. We can see it here in the diverse food forest, the forests and creeks, and the grazing pasture of rescued farm animals.

When we recognize that other species are residents, individuals with inherent value, resources cannot be the correct word for them.

- Ben

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Let’s keep growing together.

Grief is an inherent part of caring for others, and one of the most difficult parts of animal rescue. Each relationship we foster will ultimately come to an end, but that doesn’t make the processing of loss any easier. Each grieving is different because each relationship is different. Some losses are expected or anticipated, whereas other times they completely blindside us.

My struggle with the aging and loss of two childhood companion dogs, Jessie and Rambo, was what first brought me into animal rescue, many years before going vegan. Being purebred labs, they experienced health issues as they aged, results of their genetics. Learning about the state of animal shelters and how many dogs were in need of homes is what changed my mind about breeders and the stray animal crisis. Rescuing Hurley from a local shelter was one of the best choices I ever made. He helped me through some of the most difficult times in my life, and early on I knew I would risk my life to save his. One day a pedestrian jokingly called him from across a busy road, and that night I dreamed of throwing myself into traffic to reach him. That dream told me something true about who he was to me. Not “just a dog,” but my friend.

Farmed animal rescue has deepened my relationship with grief in ways I didn’t expect. Some losses we can see coming. Others arrive before we’re ready. And all of them raise the same quiet, difficult question: what does it mean to grieve someone the world refuses to recognize as someone?

When we heard Saoirse’s story, we knew we had to help. Blind, weak, and struggling to feed, she was born on a ranch where her future was dark, but kind people were able to step in and help her find sanctuary. We committed ourselves to her recovery and adapted our lives to support her needs. She initially required around-the-clock supervision and specialized care: feedings every two hours, day and night. After weeks of care she was doing better and her future looked bright. She eventually moved from her medical area into her own barn and began meeting other rescues at the sanctuary. Her mobility improved steadily, she learned to navigate her new space, and she formed close bonds with her caretakers and the other animals around her. She seemed to be on track for a healthy life.

But something changed. She stopped eating and became lethargic. After multiple vet visits there was no clear diagnosis. She was treated for pneumonia, but within a few hours she collapsed and was unresponsive. She passed away surrounded by those who loved her most, in the arms of her caregivers.

Saoirse’s life mattered, to her and to those who knew her. The same goes for all of the animals used by humans each year.

Grieving someone the world refuses to recognize as someone carries a unique kind of pain. We mourn the individual we lost, and we feel the weight of how many others remain unseen, because empathy is so often narrowed by habit, tradition, and emotional distance. Compassion begins when we choose to see individuals where we were once taught to see categories.

Grief in sanctuary, for me, is a reminder of the importance of empathy and connection. It deepens my commitment to animal liberation and to providing sanctuary to those in need. Every loss makes that work feel more urgent, and more necessary.

Yesterday, May 18th, would have been Saoirse’s one-year rescue-versary.

In memory of Saoirse.

Over time, I realized this perspective is incomplete.

Ecosystems are never static; they are dynamic, shaped by climate, disturbance, and human activity. Many so-called “invasive” species are simply early colonizers of disturbed areas, reflecting the human systems that created these conditions, not ecological collapse. Focusing only on species removal can give the illusion of progress while ignoring the root causes.

This realization is more important than ever. Purity narratives, rigid nativism, and even human carnism in environmental thought can hinder ecological and climate goals. They distract from systemic interventions that restore soil health, habitat complexity, and resilience to climate stressors. Conservation should be focused on the human-altered systems we have direct influence over, not just on managing the symptoms of those systems.

Challenging these biases is not anti-conservation.

It’s pro-reality.

It’s about recognizing the Anthropocene context, designing solutions that work with dynamic ecosystems, and aligning conservation and environmentalism with ecological and ethical truth rather than fear, anger, or nostalgia.

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References

• Davis, M., Chew, M., Hobbs, R., et al. (2011). Don’t judge species on their origins. Nature.

• Hobbs, R. J., Higgs, E., & Harris, J. A. (2009). Novel ecosystems: implications for conservation and restoration. Trends in Ecology & Evolution.

• Richardson, D. M., & Ricciardi, A. (2024). Rethinking invasive species policy in the Anthropocene: Beyond binary classifications. Elsevier Environmental Science & Policy.

• Sweeney, J. D., & Johnson, K. (2023). Bradford pear and its spread: The role of birds and cross-pollination. Illinois Extension, University of Illinois.

• NC State Extension. (2025). Callery pear: History, identification, and management. North Carolina State University.

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Cover crops. Compost. Rotational grazing. Carbon sequestration.

Ecologically, regeneration means restoring degraded land. But regeneration isn’t just about land. It’s about relationships. Right now, our crisis is not only ecological. It’s relational.

🪱 The Soil Is a Mirror

Industrial agriculture didn’t emerge because we forgot how to grow food. It emerged because we learned to treat land as an object. A unit of production. A resource. A commodity.

The same logic shows up elsewhere:

• Animals reduced to inputs.

• Workers reduced to labor costs.

• Forests reduced to board-feet.

• Communities reduced to markets.

• People reduced to political leverage.

Degradation is not just a physical process. It is a moral pattern.

When we dominate, extract, and externalize costs, we degrade ecosystems.

When we dominate, extract, and externalize responsibility, we degrade each other.

The soil crisis is inseparable from the compassion crisis.

♻️ Regeneration Beyond Ecology

True regeneration restores function. But it also restores relationships. In ecology, that means rebuilding:

• Soil microbial communities

• Nutrient cycles

• Water retention

• Biodiversity

In society, regeneration means rebuilding:

• Trust

• Accountability

• Moral recognition

• Shared responsibility

We cannot regenerate landscapes while maintaining extractive relationships with animals, with workers, with marginalized communities, or with one another.

That’s not true regeneration.

🌱 The Regenerative Shift

We can regenerate our planet by changing what we eat and how we farm.

But we regenerate ourselves by changing how we relate to those over whom we hold power.

That includes:

• Animals in our food system

• Workers in our supply chains

• Neighbors in our communities

• Opponents in political discourse

Regeneration is not simply restoring land productivity. It is restoring moral coherence. With that shift, ecology, ethics, and liberation converge.

Regeneration begins with participation.

Follow my work.
Support veganic farming.
Choose plant-based food systems.

Let’s regenerate the land — and our relationship to power.

https://www.bentheveganfarmer.com

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A place for healing. A place for stories. A place for people who couldn’t handle activism.

But that framing misses something fundamental.

Sanctuary work is animal liberation—just at a scale where every individual has a name.

Liberation Begins With Who We Choose to See

Sanctuaries do something quietly radical: they refuse abstraction.

In a world that treats animals as units (stock, biomass, population pressure, yield), sanctuaries insist on individuality. They force us to slow down enough to learn personalities, preferences, fears, friendships, and grudges.

Not animals. Someone.

This matters more than most want to admit because systems of exploitation depend on distance. Distance from suffering. Distance from consequence. Distance from the moral discomfort of seeing who is harmed so others can benefit.

Sanctuaries collapse that distance. They are living counter‑arguments to commodification.

You don’t debate the ethics of using animals in the abstract when you’re caring for one who flinches at sudden movement because humans taught them fear.

You don’t argue about “humane systems” while treating conditions caused by selective breeding.

You don’t talk about “necessary harm” when the individual harmed is waiting for you to come back with their favorite snack.

Sanctuary is not symbolic resistance. It is embodied resistance.

Compassion Without Coercion

One of the most misunderstood aspects of sanctuary work is its tone. It isn’t loud. It isn’t optimized for outrage. It doesn’t scale neatly into slogans.

And that’s exactly why it works. Sanctuaries change people not by shaming them, but by disarming them. Visitors arrive curious, skeptical, or defensive. They leave quieter. More reflective. Sometimes unsettled in a way they can’t yet articulate. Because compassion, when witnessed rather than demanded, bypasses ego.

There is no argument to win when a rescued chicken chooses to sit near you instead of running away.

Sanctuary doesn’t tell people what to think.

It invites them to feel responsibly.

That invitation plants seeds activism alone often cannot.

Why Sanctuary Still Matters

Sanctuaries won’t dismantle animal exploitation alone. But no liberation movement that forgets individuals will ever truly succeed. Sanctuary work keeps liberation honest.

It keeps compassion specific.

And it reminds us that a world worth fighting for is one where care is not considered naive but necessary.

If you’ve ever wondered whether this work matters: It does. Even when it hurts. Especially then.

Stay Connected to the Work

If you want to see what sanctuary work actually looks like beyond polished posts and soundbites, we share regular, honest updates from the ground at Wild Pines Sanctuary.

Our Patreon is where we post:

• day-to-day sanctuary updates

• behind-the-scenes care work

• reflections on rescue, grief, and joy

• the realities that don’t always fit on social media

Supporting there isn’t just financial help. It’s a way of staying in relationship with the rescued individuals and the work.

Sanctuary Patreon

If this piece resonated with you, consider subscribing here on Substack.

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You can also find more about our projects, sanctuary work, and writing at BenTheVeganFarmer.com.

Thanks for being here and for taking the time to think more deeply about how we relate to other animals.

Not just in theory, but in practice. Not in slogans, but in who we’re willing to protect when it becomes inconvenient.

Across conservation, immigration, food systems, and political violence, the same pattern keeps repeating: harm is reframed as necessity, and individuals are erased in the name of stability, security, or progress. Suffering becomes administrative. Violence becomes policy. And compassion is treated as a liability rather than a responsibility.

This is the tension at the heart of everything we’re working on here.

Whether we’re talking about wildlife management, animal agriculture, border enforcement, or environmental protection, the ethical question is consistent: Who counts, and who gets sacrificed to make the system run smoothly?

When conservation forgets individuals, it begins to mirror the very extractive logic it claims to oppose. Animals become units. Landscapes become resources. Harm becomes acceptable so long as it is justified as management.

Immigration discourse follows the same script. People are reduced to flows, threats, or costs rather than individuals responding to instability, violence, and climate collapse. Harm is framed as deterrence. Exclusion as protection.

Food systems, too, are insulated by abstraction. Industrial animal agriculture relies on distancing between consumer and animal, between harm and accountability. Efficiency replaces care. Tradition replaces scrutiny. And the individual disappears entirely.

These are not separate ethical failures. They are expressions of the same moral fragmentation.

Total liberation isn’t about collapsing every struggle into one. It’s about refusing to compartmentalize compassion. It’s about recognizing that systems built on domination depend on the same loophole: some lives are framed as expendable so others can remain comfortable.

Ethical consistency doesn’t mean rejecting ecological thinking, policy, or complexity. It means refusing to let “the greater good” become a shield for avoidable harm. It means asking harder questions: Who bears the cost of this decision? Who benefits? And who’s suffering has been made invisible to make it acceptable?

This year, those questions matter more than ever.

As fear is leveraged against us, individual rights are treated as optional and extended only when convenient, revoked when uncomfortable. But rights matter most in moments of instability. Vulnerability does not reduce moral worth; it increases responsibility.

Care is not naive. Solidarity is not impractical. And insisting that no one is disposable, human or nonhuman, is not radical. It is foundational.

My goal isn’t volume, outrage, or viral clarity. It’s coherence. It’s building an ethical framework that holds across issues instead of collapsing under pressure. It’s showing that conservation can exist without cruelty, food systems without exploitation, borders without dehumanization, and resistance without losing our humanity.

In a time when harm is increasingly normalized and outsourced, ethical consistency becomes a quiet form of resistance. Steady. Unflashy. Relentlessly human.

And maybe that’s where real change begins. Not with control or exclusion, but with the refusal to accept that anyone is expendable.

Ben the Vegan Farmer

www.bentheveganfarmer.com

Today is Giving Tuesday, and we’re asking our community, people who care about justice, rights, land, and life, to stand with us.

At Wild Pines Sanctuary, every single resident is here because someone cared enough to intervene. They’re not “resources.” They’re not “stock.” They’re individuals, each with a story, a name, a face, and a will to live. And every day, we show them what it looks like when humans choose compassion over domination.

But we can’t do it alone.

🌿 Why Your Support Matters Today

This year pushed us harder than ever.

We rescued individuals who arrived scared, hungry, injured, or abandoned. We expanded habitats, repaired enclosures, and continued the slow work of turning this land into a veganic refuge, living proof that agriculture and compassion don’t have to be in conflict.

And today, your support goes twice as far.

💚 A generous donor is matching all contributions up to $1,500.

That means your $20 becomes $40.

Your $50 becomes $100.

Your $200 becomes $400.

Every gift today unlocks another layer of care, protection, and freedom for the individuals who rely on us.

👉 Donate here:

https://donate.stripe.com/5kA3ftdDfgFl7CweUU

🐥 This Year’s Rescues: Lives Changed Because People Cared

2025 has already brought new rescues, each one arriving with their own trauma, their own story, their own need.

Some were abandoned.

Some were surrendered after neglect.

Some were pulled from situations where their lives were treated as disposable.

But here, their story doesn’t end in exploitation. It begins in safety.

Your donation today directly fuels our mission.

🌱 What Your Gift Supports

Because we practice veganic land stewardship, your donation doesn’t just help individual rescues—it strengthens an entire model of ethical care.

Your support helps us provide:

Feed and fresh bedding for rescued residents

Medical care and preventatives

Safe housing, fencing improvements, and enrichment

Habitat restoration through rewilding and veganic food-forest expansion

A living example of compassionate, non-exploitative agriculture

This is what compassionate conservation looks like.

This is how we protect life without taking life.

💚 Stand With Us Today

Wild Pines Sanctuary exists because people believe animals deserve more than survival, they deserve rights, safety, and lives free from harm.

Today, you can make twice the impact.

👉 Donate here and help us unlock the full $1,500 match:

https://donate.stripe.com/5kA3ftdDfgFl7CweUU

Every share, every dollar, every voice matters.

Thank you for standing with us for the land, for the residents, and for a future of total liberation.

— Ben

Wild Pines Sanctuary 🌿🐾

This article is a brief look into how these dynamics show up, especially around sanctuaries, rescue work, and debates about language.

🧠 Moral Absolutism Masquerading as Ethics

Some individuals turn veganism into a personal purity project rather than a commitment to liberation. Their behavior often includes:

• Policing others’ choices or language to maintain a sense of moral superiority.

• Rejecting nuance and demanding rigid, context-free moral rules.

• Shaming rescuers when reality doesn’t align with their idealized fantasy of compassion.

This isn’t ethical clarity, it’s insecurity disguised as morality.

🐾 How This Harms Sanctuaries and Rescuers

Sanctuary workers make difficult decisions every day. They rush injured animals to emergency care, navigate trauma, and often face heartbreaking outcomes.

Yet when an animal dies, moral absolutists show up with cruelty dressed as concern:

• “You failed the rescue.”

• “Your grief is exploitation.”

• “Posting their story is objectification.”

These accusations ignore context, medical realities, and the fact that the true harm happened long before the animal reached safety.

This behavior isn’t activism, it’s emotional manipulation.

🧩 The New Purity Test: “All Objectification Is Unethical”

A recent trend is the claim that any abstraction (environmental arguments, ecological discussions, systemic analysis, etc) is inherently unethical because it “objectifies” animals.

This collapses basic distinctions between:

• Ethical abstraction (understanding systems of harm)

• Instrumental objectification (using someone as a tool)

Without abstraction, we couldn’t talk about:

• climate impacts,

• industrial agriculture,

• speciesism,

• conservation,

• or even the existence of animals as a group.

Silencing systemic analysis doesn’t protect animals, it isolates the movement.

🗣️ The Battle Over Language (and Why Absolutism Fails)

Language matters. Anti-speciesist and decolonial approaches to language can help challenge hierarchy and restore dignity.

But some individuals weaponize these ideas to shame others, insisting that:

• kinship terms (“baby,” “mama,” “my boy”) are always oppressive,

• any deviation from their preferred language is unethical,

• disagreement equals harm.

In sanctuary contexts, kinship terms are often restorative, reflecting real relationships and rejecting agricultural commodification.

Language absolutism replaces relational ethics with rigid enforcement, turning tools of liberation into tools of control.

🌿 Liberation Requires Nuance, Not Purity

Veganism is not a contest to see who can perform the most rigid version of morality. It is a commitment to justice that requires:

• context,

• relational understanding,

• ecological awareness,

• healthy boundaries,

• and compassion for rescuers and caregivers.

Purity culture, whether about behavior, grief, language, or linguistics, undermines the movement from within.

Veganism is a commitment to justice, not a competition of virtue.

💛 Final Thought

If we want a world where all beings are respected, we must reject the pull toward moral narcissism and linguistic absolutism. Liberation requires humility, understanding, and the willingness to hold nuance, not punish it.

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At Veganic Summit 2025 (Nov 7–9, online), you’ll be immersed in a vision of agriculture that honors those relationships. This is farming grown in living soil, without the sprays or shortcuts, the same foundation we live by on our farm.

Why this weekend matters

If you care about food sovereignty, soil health, or ethical sustainability, veganic agriculture offers a model where ecological science and moral clarity converge.
And this weekend’s summit is the best chance to connect with that movement and to hear from farmers, scientists, and advocates proving that compassion is the missing ingredient in the regenerative conversation.

Learn more and register free:
🌍 veganicsummit.com
📖 More info via Gentle World and Biocyclic Vegan Network.

Closing Thought

Regeneration isn’t about doing less harm, it’s about cultivating systems that allow all beings to thrive.
If we’re going to call something regenerative, let it be a system where no one is bred for use, no one is commodified, and abundance arises through cooperation, not control.

That’s what veganic agriculture stands for and this weekend, you can be part of the movement shaping a truly compassionate, regenerative future.

- Ben the Vegan Farmer

How do we foster life, not manage it through domination?

That same question needs to be asked of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), which has approved a plan to kill up to 450,000 Barred Owls, including their hybrid offspring with Northern Spotted Owls, across the Pacific Northwest over the next three decades.

Officials claim it’s an act of “conservation,” designed to protect the threatened Northern Spotted Owl from being out-competed by its close relative, the Barred Owl. But what this plan really exposes is the deep philosophical divide between invasion biology and emergent ecology.

What is the moral cost of a worldview that still sees violence as the path to balance?

🌿 Invasion Biology vs. Emergent Ecology

The Two Worldviews Behind the Owl Kill Plan

Invasion biology treats ecosystems as static systems with clear “natives” and “outsiders.” In this model, if one species moves into new territory and out-competes another, it’s framed as an invasion, a threat that must be controlled, often lethally.

This thinking underlies the owl plan. The USFWS argues that the Barred Owl “invaded” the Pacific Northwest, expanding from its historical eastern range. Because Barred Owls are generalists, able to live and hunt in many forest types, they’ve been labeled a danger to the more specialized Northern Spotted Owl.

But emergent ecology tells a different story: ecosystems aren’t static. They evolve, adapt, and reorganize in response to changing conditions, especially human-driven ones. The westward expansion of the Barred Owl wasn’t an invasion; it was an adaptation to human-altered landscapes: logging, fire suppression, monoculture replanting, and climate change all helped create new corridors and habitats for the species to move through.

From this lens, the problem isn’t that Barred Owls exist in the Pacific Northwest.

The problem is that human systems keep choosing lethal control over ecological humility.

📊 What the Science Actually Shows

The data that justify this plan are often cherry-picked. Here’s the full picture:

• Population decline: Spotted Owl numbers have dropped roughly 2–9% annually in long-term monitoring studies, a pattern tied to habitat loss, fragmentation, and logging far more than competition alone. (Forsman et al., Biological Conservation, 2021)

• Removal studies: In some experimental zones, removing Barred Owls did slow Spotted Owl decline but only marginally, and only while removals continued. Once killings stopped, Barred Owls recolonized, erasing gains. (Diller et al., PNAS, 2021)

• Hybridization: The so-called “sparred owls”, hybrids of Barred and Spotted, do exist, but genomic studies show hybridization rates are low and may represent natural adaptation, not collapse. (Hanna et al., Genome Biology & Evolution, 2021)

• Cost: The program’s estimated price tag sits near $1.3 billion, or roughly $3,000 per owl, not including ongoing ecological impacts.

If the goal is real conservation, imagine what $1.3 billion could do for habitat restoration, corridor creation, and climate resilience instead of bullets.

🧬 The Moral Cost of “Management”

Calling this a conservation effort hides the violence beneath it. The plan allows professional marksmen to lure owls with calls and then shoot them, tens of thousands per year, for decades. Even hybrid and unidentifiable individuals are slated for killing.

This is what happens when we reduce moral worth to taxonomy.
The Barred Owl is native to North America, just not to the “right” part.

This arbitrary boundary is being used to justify one of the largest wildlife extermination programs in U.S. history.

From my standpoint, that’s not stewardship; it’s speciesism. It’s a colonial mindset that insists ecosystems must conform to our aesthetic of “purity,” rather than embracing their living, evolving complexity.

🔍 Empirical Patterns: Habitat Loss, Not Species Arrival

The root cause remains clear in the data:

• Logging and fragmentation have removed most old-growth nesting habitat for the Spotted Owl.

• Fire suppression and monoculture replanting have homogenized forests, making them ideal for generalists like the Barred Owl.

• Climate change has shifted prey distribution and forest composition.

Killing hundreds of thousands of individuals won’t undo any of that. It just creates the illusion of control, the ecological equivalent of spraying chemicals on a field instead of building soil health.

🦉 Hybridization and “Purity”

The plan even includes killing hybrid offspring between the Barred and Spotted Owls, the so-called “sparred owls.”
That decision exposes an obsession with maintaining “genetic purity,” echoing the outdated belief that species integrity must be defended through violence.

But hybridity is a form of resilience. It’s how nature experiments, adapts, and survives environmental stress. In emergent ecology, hybridization isn’t a crisis, it’s evolution in motion.

🧭 Ethics

BVF’s veganic and rights-based ethic begins with a simple premise: individual lives matter, and ecosystems are not our property to engineer through killing.
We believe conservation must evolve beyond utilitarian “balance by bullets” models and embrace coexistence, adaptation, and restoration.

To put it plainly:

• Conservation cannot be built on corpses.

• Ethics don’t disappear when a species is labeled “invasive.”

• Killing is not management; it’s avoidance of responsibility.

Just as we reject animal exploitation in agriculture, we reject it in conservation.
The future depends on developing coexistence strategies that respect the autonomy of nonhuman life such as habitat restoration, corridor protection and rewilding projects.

🌎 Toward Regenerative Conservation

True conservation doesn’t mean deciding who gets to live, it means rebuilding the conditions where life can flourish without our interference.
If we treated forests like living soils, we’d ask:

“How do we restore the system’s health so it doesn’t require us to play executioner?”

$1.3 billion could protect millions of acres of old growth, restore riparian buffers, or fund fire-resilient forest mosaics that benefit both owl species.
Instead, it’s being funneled into the same logic that caused the crisis: control, extraction, domination.

We see this as part of a larger ethical pattern: agriculture, wildlife management, and industry all share the same flawed assumption: that humans have the right to take life to maintain comfort, control, or profit.

Our mission is to expose that illusion and offer a different path:
Regeneration through compassion, coexistence through understanding, and restoration through humility.

🕊️ Final Reflection

Killing owls to save owls is not conservation — it’s confession.
A confession that we still haven’t learned how to live without control.

The future of conservation depends on ending the cycle of domination and learning to trust the intelligence of living systems.

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This conversation dives into the moral, environmental, and social implications of how we treat the beings we share this planet with.

Why This Debate Matters
The world is facing climate breakdown, mass extinction, and ethical challenges unlike anything before. Our daily choices shape lives, landscapes, and the future of our shared home. This isn’t just about what we eat. It’s about justice, coexistence, and whether “management” of animals must involve violence.

🌍🐾 We can choose a future built on compassion rather than domination.

Join the Discussion
💬 I want to hear from you. Drop your questions, insights, and real experiences in the comments. Challenge ideas. Share your perspective.

The goal here is curiosity, not conflict.

Thank You for Being Here
🙌 Your views and support help push these conversations into the mainstream. Every voice matters in building a more ethical and sustainable world. So let’s explore what true conservation and respect for life could look like together.

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Most of us are taught that tomato hornworms are “bad news.” They’re notorious for stripping tomato plants of their leaves overnight, and the knee-jerk reaction is to kill them on sight. In conventional farming, they’re met with pesticides. Even in small gardens, they’re often crushed between fingers.

But here at Wild Pines Farm, we see things differently. This week, I found hornworms feeding on our production tomato plants. Instead of destroying them, I gently relocated them to a nearby area we’ve set aside as intentional habitat. There, they can feed without competing with our crops.

It might sound like a small act, but it carries a bigger lesson: we don’t need to treat every being we share space with as an enemy.

🦋 What Hornworms Teach Us About Biodiversity

Hornworms are more than just hungry caterpillars. Their presence is part of a much larger ecological story:

• Nutrient Cycling: Their frass (droppings) breaks down quickly, enriching the soil with organic matter that microbes and fungi depend on.

• Plant Health Dynamics: When hornworms chew, they trigger plants to activate chemical defenses. This not only strengthens the plants but can also influence the surrounding ecological community: from soil microbes to pollinator visits.

• Pollination Contributions: Many hornworms grow into sphinx moths, important night-time pollinators. These moths visit flowers that bees and butterflies often miss, making them key players in biodiversity.

• Indicators of Ecosystem Balance: Because hornworms thrive where nightshades grow, their presence is a sign that ecological relationships are active and intact.

Hornworms are also simply beautiful. Their bright green bodies, horned tails, and eventual transformation into large moths ( are reminders of nature’s artistry. They carry evolutionary stories of adaptation alongside nightshade plants, a co-evolution stretching back millennia.

🌱 Why Veganic Agriculture Handles This Differently

Veganic agriculture means farming without chemical pesticides or animal-derived fertilizers, but it’s more than a list of “don’ts.” It’s about how we relate to life in our fields and gardens.

Instead of treating hornworms as disposable pests, we recognize them as beings with a role in the ecosystem. By relocating them, we protect our crops while still honoring their right to exist. This simple practice demonstrates that productivity and compassion can coexist.

Veganic farming thrives on biodiversity: from cover crops, to pollinator habitats, to the wildlife corridors that thread through our pastures. Seeing insects like hornworms not as enemies but as participants helps maintain that diversity.

🐜 Moving Beyond the “Pest” Mentality

Labeling a creature a “pest” reduces them to an inconvenience, erasing their individuality and ecological significance. It’s a mindset rooted in domination: “if they competes with us, they must be eliminated.”

But this mentality is shortsighted. Ecosystems don’t thrive by erasing complexity. They thrive through interaction, balance, and coexistence. By shifting our perspective, we create systems that are resilient, abundant, and far more ethical.

Hornworms challenge us to ask: do we want our agriculture to be about control and conquest, or about relationship and reciprocity?

🌿 Conservation Lessons from the Garden

What happens in a tomato bed can also be a mirror for broader conservation. Too often, conservation has taken the form of culling, eradication, or domination over species deemed “invasive” or “undesirable.”

But just as in the garden, there are alternatives. Habitat creation, coexistence strategies, and respect for non-human beings can guide us to healthier ecosystems without resorting to violence. Farming and conservation don’t need to be about managing life through harm. They can be about fostering life through compassion.

🌟 Closing Reflection

Relocating hornworms instead of killing them might not save the world on its own. But it’s a daily practice of compassion that reflects a larger truth: every being matters, not only for what they contribute to us but for who they are.

When we break away from the “pest” mentality, we begin to see life differently. A hornworm isn’t just a tomato-eating bug. They are part of biodiversity, a future moth, a soil-builder, a teacher of resilience. They are neighbors.

And farming, at its best, is about learning how to be good neighbors in the ecosystems we share.

Ben the Vegan Farmer

👉 What do you think? Have you ever found yourself rethinking your relationship with a so-called “pest”?

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You’ve probably heard the term “invasive species” used to describe everything from kudzu to feral pigs to zebra mussels. It’s a phrase that’s become so normalized in conservation and agriculture circles that few stop to question what it actually means — or what it implies.

But here’s the thing:

What if “invasive species” is not a neutral ecological term… but a moral judgment dressed in scientific clothing?

From the BVF (Ben the Vegan Farmer) ethical framework — which centers rights-based ethics, ecological humility, and nonviolence — we’re starting a deeper conversation around this loaded concept. Not just as a thought experiment, but as a real shift in how we engage with nonhuman life.

And right now, that conversation feels more urgent than ever.

This week, headlines emerged showing the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture proudly posing with the corpse of a murdered Burmese python in Florida. It’s being celebrated as a symbol of invasive species control — but what it really reveals is just how deeply normalized domination, fear, and violence have become in the name of “conservation.”

This is what we’re up against: a worldview where killing displaced beings is framed as environmental virtue.

We need to talk about this.

Questions I’m raising:

Is calling a species “invasive” a reflection of ecological understanding — or of our discomfort with change?

Who decides who “belongs” in an ecosystem — and based on what timeline?

Why are we so quick to justify eradication campaigns, poison drops, and mass killings in the name of protection?

Can we shift from a narrative of invasion to one of emergence, adaptation, and coexistence?

This isn’t about denying that some species cause disruption. It’s about asking:

What ethics do we bring to the land?

Are we building systems of care — or rebranding control?

I’d love to hear from you:

👉 What do you think about the phrase “invasive species”?

👉 Have you seen cases where so-called invasives actually restore function or fill ecological roles?

👉 Does the language of “invasion” shape how we treat nonhuman life?

👉 Want to join this conversation live or collaborate on content?

If you’re a conservationist, land steward, farmer, ecologist, or just curious — your voice matters here.

I’m planning a TikTok Live debate, content series, and future collaborations on this topic. If you’d like to be involved — as a guest, co-creator, or commentator — reply or email me directly. Or drop your thoughts in the comments.

Let’s shift the frame. Let’s end ecological xenophobia. Let’s imagine something better.

✊🌱

— Ben the Vegan Farmer

But sometimes, specific projects call for a little extra support. This season, we’re dedicating part of our gardens to growing out Hjerleid Blue corn for seed — a beautiful heritage variety that deserves careful stewardship. To give it the best chance for strong stalks, deep roots, and a good seed set, we decided to amend the beds with a small amount of plant-based fertilizer: a calculated mix of cottonseed meal and alfalfa pellets.

🌾 Why Not Conventional Fertilizers?

Most conventional farms — and even many “organic” operations — rely heavily on fertilizers that come from animal slaughter byproducts (like blood meal, bone meal, feather meal) or synthetic nitrogen fertilizers produced from fossil fuels. While these might provide short-term boosts to crops, they come at a steep ethical and ecological cost.

Animal byproducts sustain an industry built on exploitation and immense suffering.

Synthetic fertilizers contribute to greenhouse gas emissions, degrade soil life, and fuel runoff that pollutes waterways.

Our approach avoids both. By choosing veganic inputs, we ensure that no animals are harmed for the sake of our soil fertility — and we also support the kind of living soil systems that regenerate health over time.

🌿 Busting the Myth: “There Are No Vegan Fertilizers”

We often hear skeptics claim it’s impossible to farm without animal-based inputs. But this is simply untrue. Plant-based fertilizers like cottonseed meal, alfalfa meal/pellets, soybean meal, and green manures are excellent sources of nutrients. They also feed the microbial life that makes minerals available to plants, building stable organic matter and enhancing water retention.

What’s more, veganic systems can achieve comparable or even superior soil structure and fertility over time, thanks to their emphasis on biological health rather than just chemical nutrient numbers.

🌍 Ethical Farming is About More Than Inputs

For us, farming ethically means more than avoiding certain products. It’s about deep respect for all beings, human and nonhuman. It’s about protecting soil as a living community, not treating it like a sterile medium for inputs and outputs. And it’s about moving beyond exploitative paradigms — whether that’s conventional industrial ag or organic systems that still rely on slaughterhouse waste.

By using carefully chosen veganic amendments for our corn project, we’re showing that it’s entirely possible to farm with compassion and grow nutrient-rich, resilient crops.

💬 Let’s Keep Learning Together

We’ll be sharing more results from this project soon — so let me know if there's anything specific you would like to learn about. If you’re interested in following along, or if you have questions about veganic soil practices, drop a comment or reply.

Thank you for supporting a vision of farming that respects life at every level. 💚

Ben the Vegan Farmer

It’s been a while since I’ve shared an update here on Substack — but not for lack of exciting things to share. Life has been full of growth, care, and change in the best possible ways.

First and foremost, a lot of our time and energy has been devoted to new rescues at Wild Pines Sanctuary. These incredible individuals — many of them with heartbreaking backstories — have joined our growing family and are now experiencing safety, compassion, and the freedom they deserve. It’s been beautiful, emotional, and at times overwhelming… but always worth it. We’ll be sharing more on their stories soon, so be sure to follow Wild Pines Sanctuary on social media.

On the farm side, we’ve launched several new projects to build out more regenerative, veganic systems — from expanding our no-till beds to experimenting with companion planting, rewilding projects, and strategic cover crops. There’s a rhythm forming between restoration and productivity that we’re excited to continue exploring.

And despite the chaos, we’ve kept up a steady presence at our local farmers market, where our veganic produce continues to gain traction with folks looking for something grown ethically, sustainably, and with real care for all beings. The support has meant the world.

There’s so much more to share — stories, garden tips, thoughts on conservation, and reflections on ethical land stewardship. I’ll be diving back into regular posts soon, so stay tuned. Thank you for being part of this journey.

With gratitude and hope,

Ben

Ben the Vegan Farmer

🌱 bentheveganfarmer.com | wildpinessanctuary.org

I had the opportunity to meet with Jimmy Videle and other members of the North American Veganic Certification Standard (NAVCS) team to discuss our farm’s certification process. This is a major step forward for Wild Pines Farm as we continue to grow using veganic agriculture—prioritizing soil health, biodiversity, and sustainability while avoiding all forms of animal exploitation.

We Won the 2025 NAVCS Grant! 🎉

In addition to moving forward with veganic certification, I’m thrilled to announce that Wild Pines Farm was awarded this year’s NAVCS grant! This grant will help us expand our fruit tree plantings and rewilding projects, supporting our mission to regenerate land and create a thriving ecosystem.

This marks a big milestone in our journey, not just for the farm but for the broader veganic movement. Every step towards certification, education, and outreach helps make plant-based, regenerative farming more accessible and recognized as a truly sustainable alternative.

I’ll be sharing more about our certification process in the coming months, along with updates on how we’re using the grant to improve our farm and sanctuary. If you’re interested in veganic farming, sustainable food systems, or just want to follow along with our journey, make sure to subscribe!

💬 Have questions about veganic certification? Drop them in the comments—I’d love to discuss!

The dominant narrative tells us that animal agriculture is essential for healthy soil—that without manure and grazing, the land will degrade. But when we look deeper, we see a different story. Soil health thrives in diverse, plant-based systems, and regenerative agriculture doesn’t require animal inputs to be successful.

So, let’s break it down: What does a vegan approach to soil health look like, and how can it help build a more regenerative, sustainable future?

The Myths of Animal Agriculture and Soil Health

A common argument in favor of animal farming is that livestock contribute to soil fertility through manure, grazing, and rotational practices. But there are serious trade-offs that rarely get discussed:

• Soil Erosion & Compaction: Heavy grazing, especially by cattle, destroys root systems, leading to soil degradation, runoff, and compaction.

• Loss of Soil Microbial Diversity: Many animal-based systems promote monocultures of pasture grasses, limiting the complexity of fungal and microbial life that true soil regeneration requires.

• Biodiversity Decline: Grazing systems typically clear forests, prairies, and wetlands, reducing natural habitat for pollinators, birds, and native species.

While manure does return organic matter to the soil, it’s not the only way to build fertility—and it comes with risks like antibiotic residues, E. coli contamination, and nutrient imbalances that can harm ecosystems.

How Do Vegan & Veganic Systems Build Soil?

Instead of relying on grazing and manure, plant-based soil regeneration prioritizes natural cycles and soil-building practices that don’t require animal inputs. Some of the most effective methods include:

🌱 Cover Crops & Green Manure: Instead of importing fertility from animals, plants like clover, vetch, and peas fix nitrogen naturally while improving soil structure.

🌾 Mulching & Organic Matter Cycling: Using straw, leaves, wood chips, and spent crops creates carbon-rich, moisture-retaining soil that mimics a forest floor.

🍄 Fungal & Microbial Partnerships: Healthy soil is built through mycorrhizal fungi, decomposer bacteria, and native plant root systems—not just fertilizers, whether synthetic or animal-based.

🫘 No-Till & Minimal Disturbance: Tillage destroys soil life, so many vegan growers focus on no-till and low-till systems to preserve soil structure and increase carbon sequestration.

These techniques don’t just replace animal-based fertilizers—they outperform them in terms of long-term sustainability, soil resilience, and biodiversity.

Beyond Soil—Rewilding, Pollinators & Ecosystem Health

Soil health isn’t just about fertility; it’s about the entire ecosystem. Many people don’t realize that animal agriculture (even small-scale grazing) often harms biodiversity by replacing wild habitat with fenced pastures and monocultures.

On the other hand, veganic and plant-based farming encourages biodiversity by:

🐝 Providing Pollinator Habitat: More diverse plantings mean more flowers, nectar sources, and nesting areas for bees and butterflies.

🌳 Rewilding & Perennial Cropping: Instead of clearing land for grazing, plant-based approaches often incorporate food forests, agroforestry, and native plant restoration, which increase biodiversity rather than reducing it.

🦊 Wildlife Corridors & Carbon Sequestration: Forested and mixed-use landscapes store more carbon, provide shelter for wildlife, and allow ecosystems to recover from past damage.

In contrast to animal-based models that prioritize a few species (cattle, sheep, chickens, etc.), a plant-forward approach restores natural balance.

Let’s Talk—How Do You See Veganism and Soil Health Connecting?

We know that veganism isn’t just about avoiding animal products—it’s about building a system that respects and restores the planet. The way we grow food matters, and veganic and regenerative plant-based farming offer a viable, soil-enriching alternative.

Now, we want to hear from you:

💬 Have you used plant-based methods to improve soil health?
🌿 What’s your experience with no-till, cover crops, or composting?
🌎 How do you see veganism intersecting with land stewardship and conservation?

Drop a comment and let’s get the conversation going!

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• YouTube: Ben the Vegan Farmer

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• Sanctuary Website: Wild Pines Sanctuary

Let’s keep growing together.

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A History of Digital Rights Erosion

In my earlier Medium articles, I delved into key moments that have set the stage for where we are today:

1. Net Neutrality’s Repeal and the Loss of Online Equality
   In Net Neutrality’s Importance Today, I outlined how the repeal of net neutrality by the FCC in 2017 enabled internet service providers (ISPs) to throttle, block, or prioritize traffic based on corporate partnerships and profit motives. This shift fundamentally undermined the principle of an open internet, where all data is treated equally.

2. Corporate and Government Surveillance
   My article Save the Internet highlighted how the encroachment on digital freedoms isn’t just about net neutrality but also about the broader surveillance apparatus built through partnerships between corporations and government entities. The lack of transparency in how data is collected and used makes it increasingly difficult for individuals to maintain autonomy online.

3. Tracking, Throttling, and Blocking
   Tracking, Throttling, Blocking emphasized how ISPs have wielded their unchecked power post-net neutrality to manipulate traffic and exploit user data. These actions disproportionately impact smaller creators and dissenting voices, pushing them further to the margins of the digital space.

The TikTok Ban in Context

The potential TikTok ban follows this pattern of eroding digital rights but shifts the conversation to a global stage. Proponents argue that TikTok poses national security risks due to its ownership by ByteDance, a company based in China. However, the precedent it sets raises questions far beyond TikTok’s specific case:

• Selective Enforcement: If TikTok is banned, it opens the door for the government to arbitrarily target other platforms under the guise of security concerns.

• Chilling Effect: A ban signals to creators and users that the platforms they rely on for expression and livelihood are vulnerable to government interference.

• Global Perception: While criticizing other nations for authoritarian control of the internet, the US risks adopting similar practices by leveraging bans as a tool for political maneuvering.

Impacts on BVF, the Vegan Movement, and Justice Movements

For content creators like me at BVF, this erosion of digital rights creates unique challenges:

1. Censorship Risks: Content that challenges dominant systems—like factory farming, animal exploitation, or unjust agricultural practices—is at greater risk of being deprioritized, flagged, or even removed under ambiguous "security" or "community standards" policies.

2. Access to Platforms: TikTok and other platforms have been invaluable for activists spreading awareness about veganism and justice movements. A ban on TikTok, or the normalization of such bans, would silence key voices in movements advocating for systemic change.

3. The Algorithmic Divide: As I’ve discussed in other content, platforms already favor corporations and mainstream creators. Small voices, like BVF’s focus on veganic agriculture, often struggle to reach audiences without the benefit of paid promotion or viral trends. A less open internet exacerbates this divide.

4. Intersectional Justice Movements: The erosion of digital rights impacts all justice movements. Environmentalists, racial justice advocates, labor organizers, and others often rely on digital spaces to organize, educate, and build solidarity. As the government and corporations tighten control over these spaces, their ability to mobilize and resist oppression is diminished.

What Can We Do?

As I’ve written before, preserving digital rights requires more than resisting individual policies—it demands systemic change. For BVF, the vegan movement, and broader justice efforts, this means:

• Advocating for Fair Digital Policies: We must push for a Digital Bill of Rights that protects freedom of expression, equal access, and privacy online.

• Supporting Alternative Platforms: Exploring decentralized platforms like DTube, Substack, and Mastodon can help us create and share content in ways that aren’t solely reliant on corporate-controlled algorithms.

• Building Resilient Communities: Leveraging tools like Discord for activism (as I plan to with BVF) allows us to foster meaningful discussions and organize effectively outside mainstream platforms.

The Fight for Digital Rights Is the Fight for Justice

The erosion of digital rights is not a niche issue—it’s a justice issue. An open internet is foundational for challenging oppressive systems, whether they involve factory farming, climate destruction, or systemic inequality. The fight for digital rights is a fight for the future of activism itself.

If we don’t take a stand now, the internet as we know it—open, creative, and free—may soon be a thing of the past. The TikTok ban is just one more step down this road. Let’s make it a turning point instead.

🌱 Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed this post, please consider sharing it with others who care about digital rights, justice movements, and building a better future.

💌 Stay connected: Subscribe to this Substack to get updates on vegan activism, veganic farming, and more straight to your inbox.

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✨ Support the mission: By sharing, subscribing, or engaging with this content, you’re helping amplify the fight for justice and sustainability.

🌐 Follow my work: Explore BenTheVeganFarmer.com for more resources and updates on veganic agriculture, activism, and regenerative practices.

Let’s keep growing, together. 🌾

Andrew and I covered a range of topics, starting with the foundational principles of veganic agriculture. For those unfamiliar, veganic farming is an approach to growing food that avoids animal-derived inputs, such as manure or blood meal, focusing instead on plant-based and sustainable methods to build soil health and support biodiversity. It's a cornerstone of my mission to create an ethical and regenerative farming model.

We also explored the rise of H5N1 and its implications for farmers. This issue is at the forefront of discussions about sustainable agriculture, and we discussed how farmers can adapt to these challenges without compromising ethics or sustainability.

Another highlight was our conversation about the work happening at Wild Pines Sanctuary, our nonprofit dedicated to rescuing animals and restoring ecosystems. Located in South Carolina, our sanctuary is a haven for animals who would otherwise be forgotten and a hub for environmental stewardship. I shared some behind-the-scenes stories about our rescue operations, the challenges of managing a sanctuary, and how we’re working to inspire others to take action in their communities.

We touched on creative, non-lethal methods for predator management, emphasizing how coexistence is possible without resorting to lethal control. From guardian dogs to thoughtful habitat design, these methods are integral to maintaining harmony on the farm while protecting vulnerable species.

Key Takeaways from the Interview:

1. Veganic Farming is the Future: The importance of transitioning away from systems that rely on animal exploitation and towards truly regenerative and ethical agriculture.

2. H5N1 is a Wake-Up Call: Understanding how global issues impact local farming and what we can do to build resilience.

3. Conservation Must Evolve: Highlighting the flaws in traditional conservation models and advocating for coexistence with all species.

4. Creativity as Activism: Using humor, storytelling, and education to spark conversations and drive change.

If you missed the interview, you can watch it here:

I’d love to hear your thoughts on the topics we discussed—feel free to leave a comment or share the episode with anyone who might find it inspiring.

Thank you to Made of Plants for hosting me and giving me the platform to share my passion and vision. Together, we can continue building momentum for a better, kinder world.

Join the Conversation

Want to stay updated on BVF projects, tips for veganic farming, and insights into ethical living? Subscribe to this Substack and let’s keep the conversation going!

BenTheVeganFarmer.com | WildPinesSanctuary.org