The intensive livestock farming carried out by macro-farms “threatens & rdquor; the environment, human health, rural economy and animal welfare, according to the British primatologist Jane Goodall (Prince of Asturias Award winner and prominent ethologist), regarding the debate in Spain on this model.
Goodall, a celebrity in the world of conservation since working and living with chimpanzees in Tanzania in the 1960s, has alleged that he follows a “mostly vegan” diet since he learned about the socio-environmental impact of industrial meat production and the “Cruel confinement of dairy cows and laying hens & rdquor ;.
In a letter that she has written about this controversy, the 87-year-old primatologist claims to have read about the debate that is taking place in Spain around the environmental, social and climatic impact of intensive livestock farming, and has spoken about it through the Spanish affiliate of the organization that bears her name, the Jane Goodall Institute, which has issued a statement.
The full content of his writing is as follows:
“I have read that there is a debate in Spain, as in fact in many countries of the world, about the impact of intensive livestock farming on the environment, biodiversity and climate change. When I first learned about some facts about industrial agriculture in the late 1960s, I was shocked. I had grown up in a world where farm animals grazed, frolicked, or cackled outside. Then I looked at the meat on my plate and I thought “This represents the Fear, Pain and Death of each animal“. This is how I became a vegetarian and, after learning about the cruel confinement of dairy cows and laying hens, I am now mostly vegan.
These debates taking place around the world are timely. We are facing, in addition to the Covid-19 pandemic, the twin threats of climate change and biodiversity loss, and intensive agriculture contributes to both problems. For example, intensive livestock farming involves:
one) Threats to the environment. The billions of animals on factory farms around the world must be fed. Vast tracts are deforested to grow feed grains, a huge amount of fossil fuels is used to transport grain to animals, animals to slaughter, and meat to the table, contributing to higher CO2 emissions. A lot of water is needed to transform vegetable protein into animal protein. Animals produce large amounts of methane, a greenhouse gas, during digestion. The use of chemical pesticides, herbicides and artificial fertilizers on farmland has a serious adverse effect on biodiversity. Animal slurry stored in open-air rafts emit harmful gases, including ammonia, and there are discharges that pollute land and water. In fact, this continues to be a major problem in Spain, one of the world’s leading pork producers.
two) Threats to human health. The standard use of antibiotics in factory farms, simply to keep animals alive, allows bacteria to develop more and more resistance; many antibiotics are no longer useful for treating human diseases. Our disrespect for animals has also led to wildlife trafficking: animals are often sold and confined in unsanitary conditions in wildlife markets where a pathogen can jump from an animal to a human; if it binds to a cell in the human body, a new zoonotic disease can occur. Covid-19 almost certainly started in a Chinese wildlife market. But many zoonotic diseases also originate from factory farms where animals are herded. The health and safety of those who work on such factory farms are often affected, particularly those who work in slaughterhouses. Finally, nearby communities are affected by odor and pollution.
3) Threats to livelihoods in rural areasSince large factory farms displace small farms that carry out extensive ranching, and because many companies are automated and companies compete to produce cheap food using few low-paid workers, generate fewer jobs in general.
4) Threats to animal welfare. Science has now conclusively proven that cows, pigs, poultry, and all other farm animals are sentient beings, capable of feeling emotions like despair, fear, and of course, pain. In fact, by the vast majority the Spanish Parliament has just passed a law that recognizes that domestic animals such as dogs or cats are sentient beings, but this is true for other animals as well, such as exploited pigs, cows or birds, or bulls still tortured at certain “shows & rdquor; traditional. The magnitude of her suffering is almost unimaginable & mldr; billions of animals unable to express their natural behavior or escape the cruel fate imposed on them.
Fortunately, More and more scientists, associations, citizens and responsible politicians are warning about the dangers of this type of livestock farming.. Perhaps Spain could take a leading role in banning factory farms and create campaigns to educate all citizens to understand their negative impact on the environment, human health, the economy and the well-being of billions of people. sensitive animals, each of which is an individual with a personality and feelings similar to our “pets“, Our dear cats and dogs.
I hope that more and more politicians and authorities from different countries will speak out against intensive livestock farming and climate change. The time to act is now. & rdquor;