Large-scale production
Farm animal production, she said, provides a “safety net” for millions of vulnerable people. However, she says that production often takes place on factory farms, or CAFOs, concentrated animal feed operations.
“The demand is being met by industrial animal operations or factory farming. This is a style of farming that really originated in Europe and the United States in the 1950s and 60s, where thousands or even tens of thousands of the animals are confined in huge barns or sheds,” she said.
She said this type of mass animal production can need a lot of resources or inputs to operate.
“They require a lot of fossil fuel energy for heating and cooling. They require tremendous amounts of soy and corn for animal feed. They depend on antibiotics to keep these animals healthy because again they’re in really confined, crowded, often dirty conditions and so animals tend to get sick when they’re altogether without fresh air like that,” Nierenberg said.
The Worldwatch Institute report says factory farms produce huge amounts of waste, which can contaminate ground water. And it says farm animal production accounts for about 18 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, especially methane and nitrous oxide.
Health concerns
There’s also concern that such farming practices will lead to the extinction of indigenous cattle breeds, as production centers on just a few breeds like the Holstein and Jersey. But the indigenous breeds may be more tolerant of heat and drought and less susceptible to climate change.
最新
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25