Cows Have Always Been Our Companions. Here's Why That's Key to a Sustainable Future.

Humans have a lot to learn from cows, according to Werner Lampert, an organic farming and sustainability expert in Austria and the author of a new book called The Cow. 

Cows embody benevolence and live in harmony with those around them, only taking what they need to survive and approaching the world with a gentle curiosity. 

If humans approached the world in similar ways, the global environment would begin to regenerate. After all, mitigating climate change and biodiversity loss really is as simple as living in harmony with ecology. Doing so would also help eliminate poverty and all of its causes and consequences — all arbitrary, manufactured problems, as Nelson Mandela once observed.

But cows have lost their status as companions in many parts of the world, according to Lampert. They’re not just overlooked, they’re actively harmed by human systems. Most cows live on “factory farms,” where they’re abused and killed for their meat and skin. 

In the US alone, 41 million cows are killed annually by factory farms, operations that release enormous amounts of greenhouse gas emissions, while polluting local environments, according to the National Humane Education Society.

Ending the global reliance on factory farms is key to building a more sustainable future and countless people are working toward this goal. 

Lampert is a leading voice in this space, and The Cow is a glorious tribute to cows and humanity’s relationship to them, featuring more than 480 photos of cows from around the world. 

“Did you know that when a person forms a close bond with a cow, both beings produce oxytocin?” Lampert told Global Citizen. “Just like in a human-to-human relationship. Isn’t that fascinating? I cannot emphasize it enough: cows are genius, endowed by Creation with the capacity to be our readymade companions.”

Lampert recently discussed his love for cows, his ideas around organic farming, and his hopes for the future in an interview with Global Citizen.

Global Citizen: What drew you to cows from an early age?

Werner Lampert: I was fortunate to grow up in the Alps, where my grandparents had a farm. Cows played many important roles in my life. To me they were companions, therapists, partners in crime, and much more. I was out with cows the first time I smoked lianas, which made me really ill, by the way. When my heart was broken for the first time, I told the cows. I even used to read them poems or sing songs to them and pretend to be a young man of the world. Cows are incredibly gentle, they made me feel strong and protected.