The publication of Silent Spring by Rachel Carson in 1962 first raised the alarm about the perils facing food and the countryside. This book high-lighted the effects of spraying the countryside with chemicals, and over 50 years later the problems that she raised have not gone away; indeed, they now form part of the latest approach to the so-called ‘industrial farming’ business.
Industrial farming has arisen from the large supermarkets’ desire to sell meat (beef, pork, chicken, etc.) at the lowest prices to the consumer. These supermarket chains are very large with a great deal of economic clout; they have the power to drive the agenda around food production and the supply of ‘cheap meat’. However, as with everything in this world, there is a price to be paid for this. The dictates of the low shelf price feed right back along the supply chain to the farmers producing the food, and this relentless pressure to cut costs has led to the development of ‘industrial farming’.
In terms of agriculture, the current trend is to create very large fields. Turning small fields into large ones involves the removal of miles of hedgerows and this has a very damaging effect:
- It destroys the habitats of millions of insects (including bees), birds and small animals, many of which help the growing process. Bees are essential for pollination.
- The hedgerows act as windbreaks, and their removal aids soil erosion.
- The farmer uses heavier machinery which compacts the soil, further promoting erosion.
- The farmer needs to use more fertilizers, weed-killers, etc.
In terms of rearing livestock for food, in those parts of the world given over to industrial farming, the fields contain no animals (cows, pigs, sheep, poultry). Animals are kept under battery farming conditions, penned inside large barns, where they are fed by machines dispensing grain and corn laced with antibiotics. This way a calf can be fattened up ready for slaughter in half the time taken by natural grazing. Huge volumes of manure are generated that have to be stored in ponds, and any leakage can contaminate local drinking water supplies. It has been estimated that sufficient food to feed around two billion people is now fed to farm animals under these conditions. This is done to provide supplies of low-price steaks and burgers for the affluent half of the world, and not to feed the poor.
What can we do? Consumers have certain power, and the simple advice is
- Buy foods from the land – reared on farms, not factories;
- Use leftovers where possible to reduce food waste,
- Choose a balanced diet, without eating too much meat, and especially red meat.
- Avoid labels that say things like ‘farm fresh’, ‘country fresh’, ‘natural’ or just ‘fresh’, they probably come from factory farms.
- In the EU, eggs have to be labelled to indicate their origin, so look out for free range and organic, the hens will have been given access to the outdoors under these terms. ‘Barn’ eggs come from hens kept in barns, and also avoid eggs labelled ‘eggs from caged hens’ or ‘enriched or colony cage’ eggs. These are rare examples of labels that tell you they are factory farmed.
- When it comes to fish, sustainably caught salmon and trout is much better than farmed fish, wild salmon contains up to 60% less fat than the farmed variety.
This is important for several reasons. Firstly, industrial farming reduces biodiversity, this is bad for the reasons given last month. Farm produce should go to feed hungry people, rather than providing luxuries for the affluent. Industrially-produced meat contains more fat and less protein than naturally-reared meat. Factory-farmed meat contains high levels of antibiotics, and factory farming accelerates soil erosion.
John Sturges j.sturges@leedsbeckett.ac.uk
Julia Hyliger Julia.hyliger@hotmail.co.uk
February 2017