Meat Industry Forecast: Cloudy with a Zero Percent Chance to Sustain

Gene Baur, President and Co-Founder of Farm Sanctuary, is part of Change.org's Changemakers network, comprised of leading voices for social change.

In February of this year Smithfield Foods’ CEO, Larry Pope, spoke with meat processors at the National Meat Association’s annual conference. His presentation was recounted in an article by Tom Johnston in meatingplace.com, an ag industry trade outlet, where I often keep tabs on the industry’s latest movements. In this article, Pope “pointedly expressed a grim outlook for the industry’s future.”

He expressed concerns about agribusiness’ poor economic performance and growing worries about issues like swine flu and a “deteriorating public image.” Amid a growing popular awareness and concern about factory farming’s cruel treatment of animals and irresponsible practices that harm the environment, it is telling that titans of this industry are beginning to acknowledge problems. During his presentation, Pope stated: "Just this week I promoted somebody — and I can't even believe I'm saying this word here, folks — to a chief sustainability officer."

Pope pointed out that processed meats had been profitable, but is concerned that the current situation would not continue long into the future. The article went further to explain: “Meat processors have been benefitting from producers' woes, which have afforded them plentiful raw materials at bargain prices.” Referring to people who raise the animals, Pope says, "When you see the losses that are going on in live production, these folks are not going to be able to continue operating like they are.”

Our animal-based factory farming system is wasteful and unsustainable, and it has only been profitable because of billions of dollars of tax payer subsidies. With our current economic situation, there will be more attention to growing food in an efficient and sustainable manner, and that means moving away from animal farming and toward plant-based agriculture.

Photo credit: Farm Sanctuary