Sustainability in Food Now for a Future Tomorrow!

Livestock

Imagine spending the majority of your natural born life in a cage so restrictive that you are incapable of standing up or even lifting your arms to shoulder height. A space that not only restrains you from the most natural of movements, but forces you to abide by the daily regimen of force-fed corn blended with powerful antibiotics, all while wallowing amidst your own excrement. The vast quantities of corn that your captors force you to eat has been grown with the waste of your short-lived ancestors, combined with millions of tons of chemical fertilizer. When you meet your end it will likely be a welcomed fate, releasing you from the prison of the corporate farm to the liberation of the American dinner plate.

Sound pleasant?—didn’t think so. Yet this is the fate of millions of farm animals (mainly pigs and chickens) bred for their meat in the United States of America. A growing portion of America’s livestock lives in these impressively inhospitable conditions, surviving until the animal—be it a chicken, pig or otherwise—has reached a size deemed appropriate for slaughter. That size being a predetermined capitalization point, thereby ensuring maximum profit and turnover for the farm’s ever-increasing bottom line. So what fuels this excessive, inhumane and abusively capitalistic industry?—we do.

Halfway Humane Pig Farm

The American obsession with “cheap meat” has not only brought undue harm to the animals that unwillingly partake in it, but it has done increasingly irrefutable damage to our health and our environment as well. American’s consume the highest-calorie, protein rich diets in the entire world, and while these diets are delicious, they are also deadly. The United States has significantly higher rates of heart disease and obesity than any other nation on the planet. Given that Republicans and Democrats are currently screaming at each other regarding the best way to implement healthcare reform, they might want to pay attention to the fact that the American diet accounts for nearly $150 billion dollars in healthcare expenses annually. By remodeling the American diet around the notion of quality, while simultaneously redirecting government subsidies from the farming of feed-corn to the farming of fruits and vegetables, we could not only save dollars, but save lives.

Obesity - A Growing Risk

An even more frightening scenario comes as doctors across the country bear witness to an increasing number of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The packed, unsanitary quarters that permeate the world of corporate farming greatly perpetuate the development of disease and infection. As such, animals are—quite literally—pumped full of antibiotics so that they can survive an onslaught of germs until they are ready for slaughter. Yet this overuse of pharmaceuticals in an effort to keep livestock commodities viable has played a major role in the development of the drug-resistant bacteria that are beginning to plague hospitals nationwide.

Immediate health risks aside, a reduction in meat consumption would also vastly aid our environment and help to cap the expenditure of our dwindling natural resources. As it stands today, 19% of the fossil fuel guzzled by the US is done so by the sapping agricultural industry. The emissions released from said fossil fuels, in conjunction with the tons of greenhouse gasses discharged into the atmosphere via our excessive quantities of livestock, make the US’ overarching role in global warming undeniable.

Greenhouse Gas Emmisions

Furthermore, current methods of “corporate farming” are simply not sustainable in the long term. Not only have we nearly drained some of the Mid-West’s major aquifers, but years of excessive tilling have eroded a significant portion of the United States’ workable soil. Given the steady decline of fertile ground, farmers have been forced to supplement their lands with tons of industrially produced, nitrogen-rich fertilizers. Aside from the fact that these fertilizers cannot supplement the loss of fertile ground forever, they also have a dramatic (and often disregarded) impact on local ecosystems. Whenever the fields become excessively saturated (by the farmer or by Mother Nature) these fertilizers—and their concentrated nitrogen—run into local waterways asphyxiating any aquatic wildlife caught in the runoff.

At the end of the day, the global demand for farm-raised meat is expected to increase 25% over the next two years and the United States needs to start looking at farming options that can support our booming population, rather than our demand for meat. As a social and economic world leader, the United States can pave the way for a global progression towards the sustainable cultivation of foodstuffs. For instance, we can start this process by socially and federally discouraging “corporate farms” while encouraging “small business farms”. Only by supporting these smaller, local farmers can a viable movement away from excess planting, harvesting and ranching take place. Undoubtedly the average American would experience an initial spike in the price of meats and produce, but the ultimate payoff would significantly outweigh any early struggles.

America must rid itself of the fatuitous and gluttonous lifestyle it has promoted since the end of World War II. Now more than ever, we must make the sacrifices necessary to remain relevant as a nation in a world that wishes to rapidly pass us by. Hopefully we can take the first of many steps in that direction by redefining the way we eat, farm and—ultimately—live.