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Environment Issue - Mass Production of Meat
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In the 1930s and 1940s the poultry industry started the industrial process of growing vast numbers of animals in heavy concentrations. Other production areas dedicated to grow pig, dairy, cattle and dairy quickly adapted the same industrial procedures. The adoption of concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFOs) was largely used to grow mass amounts of animals to market weight.
These animals were later being slaughtered in order to supply the demanding food industry established around the world.
To these days, aside from the mass productions of meat, CAFOs heavily contribute to a mass amount of animal waste to the environment. Manure, carcasses, excess feed, feathers and urine are just part of the waste being dumped on waters and lands, killing animal life and contaminating earth's resources.
Industrial animal production created a total of 1.4 billion tons of waste in 1997, this corresponds to about 5 tons of animal waste per each person in the United States of America. Pigs alone produce close to 4 times more solid waste than an average person. Now, imagine a CAFO pig population of about 5,000 pigs, this is practically equivalent to about 20,000 average people living in a city with no sewage treatment plant.
Public Health Implications:
There are several public health implications of the industrial agricultural systems, particularly IAP (Industrial Animal Production). More information now is available as the growing concerns for environmental protection become a global issue. Workers, consumers and community members are being affected from chemical fertilizers, antibiotic-resistant organisms, respiratory irritants and work related injuries.
The contamination of the water resources has increased since the proliferation of CAFOs around the world, putting at risk the earth's ecosystems and killing thousands of aquatic animals, this is the result of consistent polluting produced by animal waste during the mass industrial production.
Additionally, CAFOs unsustainable use of natural sources causes the degradation and loss of soil and consumption of fossil fuels. Agricultural supplies of fertilizers and arsenic as well as other metals from animal feeds pollute the underground streams of water supplies.
The public health situation is caused by the high demand of animal related aliments, economical interests preceding public and environmental health, and bureaucracy of current governmental systems. Even while producing mass amounts of meat, there should be a better alternative to supplying the demand without causing the marked damaged to the environment and communities.
It is naive to believe that in some time soon, the population will be educated enough to globally reject the consumption of meat products. But it is safe to hope that with the help of the growing population of environmentalists and vegetarians, educating and demanding for better ways, we will one day push for a more cautious and environment-friendly method to producing meat for meat eaters.
Ref:
Invited paper, public health implications of meat production and consumption |
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Posted on 12/10/2007 7:43:52 PM by
Victor Winfrey
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About The Author:
Health enthusiastic living as a vegetarian since 1998. In the process of writing a book about vegetarian family life, based on the values of health, environmental care and animal life respect. |
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