Taking Meat Out of the Factory

With a growing taste for meat spreading to countries around the world, many believe that it would be impossible to move away from industrial livestock practices and still meet the demand for a steady supply of cheap and accessible animal products.

However, at a panel discussion hosted by Animal Welfare Approved -- a nonprofit organization that promotes animal welfare standards in agriculture -- in Washington, DC this week, a group of sustainable food advocates discussed problems associated with the industrial model of raising animals and debunked the myth that sustainable livestock production cannot be an efficient, profitable and environmentally-friendly enterprise.

Of all the panelists, Carole Morison -- the former Perdue chicken farmer profiled in Food, Inc. -- was the one that had the most impact on me. When discussing her experience as a contract poultry grower, she said that industrial farming techniques necessitated by her contract with Perdue forced her to "be something that was not a farmer." She did not own any of the chickens she raised, meaning that she could not even eat the animals on her farm. If her family wanted to eat chicken for dinner that night, they had to go down to the grocery store and buy one from Perdue -- a prime example of how industrial farming practices divorce some farmers from their animals completely.

Dr. Patricia Whisnant shared her experience as a Missouri rancher and discussed how difficult it is for farmers who want to produce meat in a sustainable manner to get started in the business. The biggest challenge seems to be a lack of infrastructure, particularly processing facilities. When large agribusiness companies either own or control slaughterhouses, they are able to keep smaller farmers out. Without access to processing facilities, these farmers have no way to get their animals from the farm to the market.

Nicolette Hahn Niman, a vegetarian rancher, surprised many in the audience by saying that she supports agricultural subsides, but thinks they should be taken away from the country's large commodity producers and instead used to "incentivize the kind of agriculture we want." She suggested the government subsidize farmers who want to transition to pasture-based livestock systems, or from traditional growing methods to organic.

David Kirby, author of the eye-opening book Animal Factory, concluded by reminding the audience that no one knows for sure what pathogens are continuing to emerge on factory farms across the country. Even though the diseases caused by contamination in the industrial livestock model (i.e., Mad Cow disease, Avian Flu, the H1N1 virus) to date have proved to be less serious than some experts have predicted, the next super-bug could be just around the corner.

All of the panelists agreed that the key to a sustainable meat future is consumer choice and education. Because, in the end, change will only come to the meat industry if consumers demand it.

Photo credit: sneakerdog