Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Exporting Factory Farms

The global expansion of industrialized "meat" production

More than 50 billion land animals are killed for food worldwide every yearand that number is expected to double by 2050 as consumers in rapidly-developing societies strive to emulate Western-style eating habits. Blatantly disregarding ethics, environmentalism and farming communities, agribusiness has already hatched a plan to profit from this rising demand for more animal products. That is, multinational corporations like Tyson and Smithfield Foods are actively establishing large-scale factory farm operations in India, China, South America, and other economically-emerging countries.

You can read more about this issue in a website article I recently wrote for the Food Empowerment Project, a non-profit organization that "seeks to create a more just and sustainable world by recognizing the power of one's food choices (and) encourag(ing) healthy food choices that reflect a more compassionate society by spotlighting the abuse of animals on farms, the depletion of natural resources, unfair working conditions for produce workers, and the unavailability of healthy foods in low-income areas."

READ THE ARTICLE

3 comments:

  1. Anonymous12:01 PM

    Great article (albeit depressing), thanks! Which came first, the desire for the westernized meat-loving diet, or the advertising for it? To relate meat-eating to being upwardly mobile doesn't make sense when they eat at McDonald's. Do the Golden Arches symbolize the "Mountain of Gold" that lured so many to the U.S. in the 1800's (now it's the Mountain of Stuff)? I am not disagreeing with you, but I just wonder how much advertising pressure was launched by the corporations to convince the local populations that "you too can be like a wealthy, healthy American if only you ate more meat" prior to expanding their global reach (versus the actual demand being their incentive).

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  2. For more information on this subject, visit www.brightergreen.org

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  3. Hi, Really great effort. Everyone must read this article. Thanks for sharing.

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