COK Talks with Mia MacDonald

While most farmed animal advocacy organizations in developed countries primarily focus outreach efforts at home, animal consumption is dramatically rising in the developing world, as is the move toward Western-style factory farming. Changing eating habits and agricultural production methods in the developing world are quickly overshadowing progress for farmed animals being made in Europe and, potentially, in the United States and Canada.

Q. Please describe the "Livestock Revolution" occurring in developing countries.

A. This is the transformation from small-scale raising of farm animals often in backyards as part of a mixed system—animals and crops—to the heavy mechanism and intensification seen in factory farms, where the numbers of animals 'produced' is often huge. Most factory farmed animals are intended for export to global markets. As with the "Green Revolution" in agriculture that took place in the1960s and 70s, yields vastly increase with industrial production, but with considerable costs. In the case of the Green Revolution, this included a massive increase in fertilizer use and loss of many food crops and seeds. In the case of factory farms, the downsides are many: widespread use of antibiotics to counter the diseases that spread in the confined areas that house animals, significant air and water pollution, negative impacts on small-scale producers of livestock and also, of course, intense cruelty to the animals. Also, many small-scale farmers in poor countries are women. When agriculture is intensified, women almost always lose out. Their products and labor are crowded out of the market and they rarely own or control the large operations like factory farms.

Q. Can you discuss the relationship among human population growth, income growth, and animal consumption?

A. A strong trend around the world is a rise in income leading to an increase in the consumption of animal products, both meat and dairy. In many societies, meat (and to a lesser extent, dairy) is a luxury good that people can only afford to consume when times are good. So, as what's called the global consumer class grows—it's about 1.7 billion people now, most in the industrialized world, but with millions in developing countries, too, especially India and China—it's inevitable that demand for meat will rise. While human population growth is slowing, it's still growing by about 74 million people a year, and the UN expects it to reach about 8.9 billion people by 2050. That's about 2.5 billion more people than are alive today, so it's a huge number. Almost all of the new people will be born in the developed world. Incomes in these countries are unlikely to reach Western countries' levels by mid-century, but the Western lifestyle, especially the United States', is being exported and madly marketed in poor countries. That's going to have an impact on food preferences as well as on what's available. McDonald's, KFC, and other U.S. fast-food companies are expanding quickly in much of the developing world, meaning more and more people are going to have access to cheap meat, especially in cities, which are also growing fast.

It's a combustible situation. By 2020, it's projected that the average person in a southern (developing) country will eat about 39 kilograms a year of meat (that's about 86 pounds), up from 28 kilograms a year now. But people in the industrialized world will still out-consume them significantly: We now eat about 80 kilograms a year; by 2020, that's expected to be 100 kilograms! At the same time, deep poverty persists. Over 800 million people right now are undernourished. That number may well grow as populations rise.

Most researchers say that it's just not possible with the Earth's resources to feed 9 billion people on a Western-style diet heavy in meat and dairy products. What may be stretched beyond its limit first is water. A study presented at a conference in Stockholm in August for World Water Week found that due to water shortages, the projected growth in meat and dairy consumption is simply unsustainable.

Q. Which developing countries are embracing factory farming practices the most vigorously?

A. The spread of factory farms is the fastest and most intense in Asia: Taiwan, China, Thailand, and, more recently, the Philippines, as well as others. Danielle Nierenberg of Worldwatch wrote a great cover piece for World Watch magazine (May/June 2003) on factory farming going global. It focused on the situation in the Philippines where there are still lots of small-scale farmers, but concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs, a U.S. term) are growing fast. Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina have factory farms (development of them may have been accelerated by NAFTA) and so does South Africa, although no other African countries that I know of do. But that may be changing as (or when) those countries look like better investments to agribusiness. Most of the world's population growth is in Asia and Africa so the markets are there, but whether the water, land, and popular support for factory farms are is a question we don't really know the answer to yet.

Q. What are the factors leading to the international spread of factory farming?

A. One is the markets: The populations are growing and most people have not, historically, eaten very much meat or dairy either due to culture or income. In most of the world, meat is a condiment or an accompaniment to a meal, not the center of the plate. But just as automobile manufacturers want to sell SUVs around the world, so do meat and dairy producers and fast-food restaurants want to expand the markets for their products. It's also cheaper to produce animals in poor countries—and much of that meat is exported back to wealthier countries. Before the recent avian flu outbreaks, Thailand was a major supplier of chicken to Europe. Also, rising animal welfare standards, especially in Europe, are driving producers to shift production to developed countries where such standards are rare, and production and labor costs are much cheaper.

Another factor is demand within southern countries for more and cheaper meat. Suppliers want to fill that demand and are rarely considering the longer-term consequences for the environment, small-scale farmers, public health, or the animals. The United States and Europe also still subsidize meat and dairy products for export, so more of them are getting into poor countries and creating either a taste or a fashion for meat. U.S. and European corporations are also heavily involved in selling the infrastructure to set up new factory farms in developing countries—and are keen to ensure a new market of buyers for their antibiotics, feed products, etc. Also, the institutions that could help stem the spread of factory farms on public health or environmental or agricultural policy grounds are not coordinating their efforts or ratcheting them up enough to match the speed and scale of factory farming's spread.

Q. Are there any examples of developing countries that are not increasing their animal consumption?

A. That's an interesting question. I haven't seen country data on this, although data on countries' production of animals generally shows an upward tick. My sense would be that very poor countries or those mired in war or recovering from conflicts, for example, Liberia or Congo (DRC), probably aren't, at least in terms of farmed animals. But they may be increasing consumption of forest-dwelling animals, what's known as bush meat. In some communities, of course, like the Jains in India, not eating animal products is a central cultural and ethical value, so demand for meat and dairy wouldn't be rising among Jains. And in more and more countries, movements to protect and value local foods, culinary traditions, seed varieties, and farmers producing crops for local markets are active. Vandana Shiva in India is a leader of these. Most of these groups and communities are opposed to factory farming on ecological, public health, cultural, and ethical grounds. But certainly in the two largest countries by population, India and China, consumption of meat and dairy is rising.

Q. How can U.S. citizens help slow and reverse this "Livestock Revolution" and the international spread of factory farming?

A. This is a really important issue and one that isn't sufficiently on the radar screens of policy-makers or activists. While there's a growing movement in the U.S. against factory farms, encompassing animal rights groups, environmentalists, farm communities, and public health advocates, I don't think they weigh in as much as they could on efforts by the U.S. government (including through development aid we give overseas) and private corporation efforts to expand factory farms around the world. Even though the World Bank doesn't appear to be supporting or promoting factory farms actively, they have in the past, and it's important that they don't in future since what the World Bank does or doesn't do has a significant impact still on policies in developing countries. So, I'd say advocates in the U.S. need to let their Congresspeople know they don't want the U.S. government supporting or promoting factory farms overseas (or in the U.S. for that matter) and want, instead, policies and funds to support more ecological and health-promoting forms of agriculture. I also think raising awareness of this issue where people can—e.g., in letters to the editor, correspondence with journalists or opinion pieces—would be useful. Another area for action is private corporations: Find out where U.S. agribusiness giants like Cargill and IBP are investing in factory farms around the world and let them know they should stop. The World Trade Organization (WTO) is also important since it's likely, through trade rules, to create new incentives for intensification of animal agriculture. It's important that U.S. advocates be part of the anti-corporate globalization dialogue to raise awareness of the factory farm issue and link up with other advocates who also oppose the corporatization and mechanization of agriculture around the world.

Q. Is there anything you'd like to add?

A. This really is a critical issue with potentially huge impacts on animals, the environment, and human well-being. I'd encourage U.S.-based groups working on factory farming issues to form links with groups working on this issue overseas, either from Europe (like Compassion in World Farming and the World Society for the Protection of Animals) or in developing countries. Lots of good information could be shared back and forth and strategies developed to more effectively counter globalization of factory farming. I'm not saying it will be easy. It's unlikely to be due to the scale of change—human population growth and the globalization of the Western diet and lifestyle. But factory farming and the spread of a meat- and dairy-heavy diet make so little sense on so many levels. Scientists and environmental and even development groups like Oxfam in the UK are saying it's not sustainable, so there's a lot of opportunity to raise awareness and press for action—the sooner, the better.

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