Worldwatch slams meat factory concept

Since the latest outbreak of avian flu in Southeast Asia in 2003, public health officials, farmers, veterinarians, government officials and the media have referred to the threat as a 'natural' disaster.

However, avian flu, mad cow disease, and other emerging diseases that affect humans from animals are symptoms of a larger change taking place in agriculture "" the spread of factory farming.

An article in the latest release from the Worldwatch Institute, titled 'Happier meals: Rethinking the global meat industry', research associate Danielle Nierenberg describes how factory farms are breaking the cycle between small farmers, their animals, and the environment, with collateral damage to human health and local communities.

Over the last half century, the human appetite for meat, milk and eggs, has soared in both industrial countries as well as developing countries. Globalised trade and media, lower meat prices, and urbanisation have helped make diets that are high in animal protein a near-universal aspiration.

The article admits one benefit: the world price of beef per 100 kg has fallen by roughly 25 per cent of its value 30 years ago.

From the early 1970s to the mid-1990s, meat consumption in developing countries grew by 70 million tons, nearly triple the rise in industrial countries.

Industrial systems today generate 74 per cent of the world's poultry products, 50 per cent of all pork, 43 per cent of beef, and 68 per cent of eggs.

While industrial countries dominate productions, it is in developing nations where livestock producers are rapidly expanding and intensifying their production systems.

Today, confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs), or factory farms, account for more than 40 per cent of world's meat production, up from 30 per cent in 1990.

The greatest rise in industrial animal operations is occurring near urban areas of Asia, Africa, and Latin America, where high population densities and weak public health, occupational and environmental standards are exacerbating the impacts of these farms.

The number of four-footed livestock on Earth at any given moment has increased 38 per cent since 1961, from 3.1 billion to more than 4.3 billion, while the global fowl population has quadrupled since 1961, from 4.2 billion to 17.8 billion birds.

Although India is thought of as a predominantly vegetarian country, especially because of Hindu beliefs in the sacredness of cows, production of non-beef animal products is growing rapidly. For example, India now ranks fifth in the world in both broiler and egg production.

Much of this production is occurring in large factory farms near densely populated cities, exacerbating concerns about health and environmental risks.

Addressing the ill-effects of factory farming will require a different approach to the way animals are raised.

Positive initiative include educating consumers about the benefits of organic and grass-fed livestock and of vegan and vegetarian diets, supporting small-scale livestock productions, encouraging producers to adopt alternative production methods, and improving occupational and welfare standards for both animals and industry workers.

In response to intensifying consumer demands and other factors, several food companies and international policymaking and funding institutions are exploring new approaches to the business of food.

In the United States, two major food companies have introduced more comprehensive animal welfare standards in the past decade.

In 2001, the World Bank reversed its previous commitment to fund large-scale livestock projects in developing nations, acknowledging that there was a significant danger of crowding out smaller farmers, eroding the environment, and threatening food safety and security.

In June 2005, the 167 member countries of the World Organisation for Animal Health unanimously adopted voluntary standards for the humane transportation and slaughter of animals.