Towards Happier Meals: The Problem of Factory Farming in a Globalized World

Worldwatch Live Online Discussion

Danielle Nierenberg: Worldwatch Research Associate

October 6, 2005 - 2:00pm EDT

The emergence of diseases that can jump from animals to humans—such as avian flu and mad cow disease—has been treated as a natural disaster by public health officials, veterinarians, government officials and the media.††Mounting evidence, however, shows these are actually symptoms of a larger change taking place in agriculture: the spread of factory farming.† The greatest rise in industrial animal operations is occurring near the urban centers 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 cycle between small farmers, their animals and the environment is being broken, causing collateral damage to human health and local communities.† What are the causes of this dangerous trend and what can be done to reverse it?

Steve Conklin, Worldwatch Institute: Welcome to Worldwatch Live! Worldwatch Research Associate Danielle Nierenberg is joining us today to discuss her recently-released Worldwatch Paper, Happier Meals: Rethinking the Global Meat Industry. Welcome, Danielle!

Danielle Nierenberg: Thank you Steve. I'm glad to be here.

Washington, D.C.: First of all thank you, Ms. Nierenberg, and to the Worldwatch Institute for this latest timely and well-written report documenting the critical global public health implications of today's industrial animal agriculture. How, though, can we blame in part the post-WWII global intensification of poultry production on the increased risk of avian influenza causing human pandemics, when the worst well-characterized pandemic seemed to appear in 1917-18, presumably before the rapid global increase in poultry trade and production?

Danielle Nierenberg: That's a good question. You're absolutely right, scientists have recently proven that the 1918 influenza pandemic was probably caused by an avian flu virus, long before factory farming was established in the U.S., Europe, or other parts of the world. Avian flu has been around for centuries and is usually spread from wild birds to domestic chickens. Factory farming may not be the direct cause of the most recent outbreak of avian flu, but it is likely one of the many factors that has led to the disease's rapid spread and virulence. According to the United Nations Food and agriculture Organization, because of the massive geographic concentration of domestic birds in Asia--in southeast Asia there are at least 6 billion birds being raised for domestic consumption--the growth in industrial chicken production, and the close proximity of both factory farms and backyard poultry to large cities, may be leading to the spread of avian flu and other diseases that can be spread from animals to humans. Rising demand for meat has led to the growth of factory farming not only in the West, but in developing nations as well where unsanitary conditions and lack of veterinary services can lead to the spread of disease very rapidly. Many countries in Asia, including Thailand and Vietnam are implementing restrictions on backyard poultry production and recommending more factory style production methods in an effort to prevent avian flu. These measures, at least for now, may be the one of the only ways to keep the disease from spreading further

Des Moines, IA: Is it good enough to eat organic, locally-produced meat? With population growth, is eating meat a viable, environmentally-healthy option?

Danielle Nierenberg: According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, our food choices rival transportation as the human activity with the greatest impact on the planet. Factory farmed meat and other animal products are very resource intensive, using massive amounts of grain, water, andtibiotics, etc. Pasture-raised livestock, on the other hand, usually require very few additional inputs and provide an important source of fertilizer for mixed farming systems. Eating locally grown meats also helps keep small farmers in business. While the poor in developing countries may actually benefit from the additon of small amounts of meat in their diets, people in the industrial world will need to eat less meat and different kinds of meat than they currently eat. Consumers need to reconsider the place of meat in their diets. Reversing the human health--obesity, cardiovascular disease, cancer--and environmental effects of our appetite for modern meat will by necessity mean eating fewer animal products. Animals raised on pasture do not mature as quickly as feedlot animals do, and rangelands support fewer total animals than can be squeezed into feedlots. Consumers can also add more vegetarian and vegan meals into their diets.

Mexico City, MÈxico: Hi: In adittion to the avian flu and mad cow disease, we have a big problem with the meat and chicken because cows and chicken are raised with a lot quantities of hormones and these hormones are eliciting an aceleration in children'development provocating that puberty is presented in children with 7 or 8 years old, but these childen do not have mental age for those changes, What can we do?

Danielle Nierenberg: Hormones are used in factory farming to increase animal weight cheaply. Unfortunately, the residues of these drugs can end up in the meat and milk people consume, leading to a variety of health problems, including some experts suspect premature puberty and breast and instestinal cancers. As a result the European Union has banned their use since 1988 and has prohibited imports of U.S. and Canadian beef, which still contains the drugs. The best way to avoid exposure to hormones in meat, consumers can buy meat and milk from organic producers.

Winchester, Massachusetts: Don't you think that some of these issues are caused by the way we are treating the animals, and feeding them things they would not naturally eat? For instance...Cows are vegetarian, so why are we feeding them animal garbage?

Danielle Nierenberg: That's one of the problems with factory farming. Producers want animals to gain weight as quickly and cheaply as possible, so they often feed livestock the ground up bits and pieces of other animals. Scientists suspect that this practice led to the formation of BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy), or mad cow disease. Although regulations in the United Kingdom where BSE was discovered prohibit feeding cattle meat and bone meal, in the United States it is legal to feed cattle cow's blood, chicken, chicken manure, feather meal, and pigs.

San Francisco, CA: Hi Danielle - I'm sure you're familiar with the FDA announcement yesterday, as published in the NYT, "To Prevent Mad Cow Disease, F.D.A. Proposes New Restrictions on Food for Animals", which essentially weakens rules proposed last year on animal feed. I am curious to know your reaction to the argument that it is more environmentally harmful to dispose of waste than it is to have animals consume it, as per the following: "Getting rid of the vertebrae, spines, spinal nerves, eyes, intestines and other potentially infectious parts of all cattle - including the meat that nerves remain attached to - would create more than two billion pounds of waste, which he said would be an environmental problem and a big expense for the industry." Thank you!

Danielle Nierenberg: That's a really hard question to answer. Waste is a big problem in all segments of industrial meat production--from the tons of manure created each year to the waste from slaughterhouses. However, the solution should not be to feed livestock the wwaste from other livestock, which could potentially spread disease. It seems to me that there has to be a better way to "dispose" of these unusable animal parts other than feeding them back to other livestock.

Boise, ID: You mention that the growth of factory farming as a cause of a possible Avian Flu pandemic, yet you state that Asian countries are getting away from backyard poultry operations to more factory-style operations, and that this might be one of the only ways to stop the spread of the Avian Flu. What does factory farming provide in flu prevention that small operations lack?

Danielle Nierenberg: Factory farms have the money to invest in biosecurity measures, such as requiring all workers to disinfect before entering facilities, and because they are enclosed they can prevent domestic birds from coming into contact with wild birds who can carry avian flu. Factory farms can also have veterinarians on staff that can spot diseases early and treat birds. Factory farms because they are usually owned by a large company can afford to cull or kill a flock of birds if they do become infected, while small farmers do not have the money to do that.

New Delhi, Delhi, India: I am from New Delhi, India. The isuue of the discussion is really interesting for us as here in India it is the time of Navratri, when even non-vegeterians avoid meat. Most of Indians are basically vegetarian, as you have also observed. But now meat consumption in India is on rise. What are the reasons of this rise in domestic consumption? Are majority of Indians becoming non-vegaterian?

Danielle Nierenberg: The rise in meat consumption in India and other developing countries is partly due to rising incomes and urbanization. One of the things people do when they get extra money is spend it on food, particularly animal products.Despite Hindu beliefs in the sacredness of cows, production of non-beef animals is growing rapidly. India also ranks fifth in the world in both broiler chicken and egg production. In India, milk production has also grown rapidly thanks to Operation Flood, a program that helped small-scale milk producers increase production in the 1960s. Now Indis is the largest milk producer in the world.

Edmonton, Alberta: What is the truth about milk? Most ethnic groups are lactose intolerant, it creates a mucus environment conducive to colds, flu, bronchitis, it contains IGF1 which stimulates cancer cell growth, it is loaded with saturated fat and cholesterol. If all these things are correct, as I believe them to be, whu is cow's milk still regarded as an essential nutrient?

Danielle Nierenberg: One reason for the belief that milk is an essential part of the diet is because of the influence of the dairy industry. They spend a lot of money convincing people that they need to drink milk and cheese to get the protein, calcium, and vitamin D they need. What they don't tell you is that factory farmed dairy products are often high in saturated fat, cholesterol, and can contain residues of hormones and antibiotics. Pasture raised dairy products, on the other hand, don't contain antibiotics or hormones and are higher in Omega 3 fatty acids, the good fats that prevent heart disease and cancer. People can also get all the calcium, vitamin D, and other nutrients present in milk form plant based sources.

Letchworth, UK: In the book "Natural Capitalism", the author mentions how there is a ratio of 1:20 between the weight of the natural inputs provided to a cow and its output say, 1 pound of beef. The ratio drops to 1:2 for 1 pound of pig meat, but it still highlights the disparity between the input to the animal and its output in terms of meat for human consumption. The question for you then is: is it really necessary to allocate so much natural capital for this purpose or would it be feasible to consume the natural capital directly, basically eating only veggies and animal products such as cheese and eggs?

Danielle Nierenberg: Producing meat on factory farms is an inefficient use of resources. Animals raised on pasture are much more efficient at converting low quality biomass, such as grass, into protein. Choosing to eat animals raised on pasture or adopting vegan and vegetarian diets are =much more efficient use of resources than eating meat produced on factory farms.

Steve Conklin, Worldwatch Institute: Thanks for joining us today, Danielle!

Danielle Nierenberg: Thanks Steve!