ThinkConstructive

The first recorded examples of animal domestication for meat is from about 10000BC, with sheep, goats and pigs.

Since then, animal farming has become more systematic, and now we reached a state of intensive animal farming. The case of poultry and intensive animal farming is quite well-known. What’s happening with intensive hog farming?

Tracy Worcester, an eco-campaigner, spent the last four years investigating the hidden costs of intensive pig farming. The result is a film-documentary called Pig Business, which covers the detrimental effects to humans and the environment. Pig business will be broadcast by More4 (UK) in January 2009, as part of the True Stories strand.

Pig Business covers many issues relating to intensive pig farming. It targets specifically Smithfield Foods Inc., which is the biggest hog producer and processor in the world. This company started massively intensive pig farming in the US in the early 90s, and in 1999 it entered Poland. The film focused on the effects in both the US and Poland.

One important issue with pig farming is what you do with the fecal matter. The cheapest solution is the unprocessed disposal to the environment. The proper solution is to process the fecal matter, and this is what happens in European countries such as Denmark, one of the traditional pork meat producers. What Smithfield Foods does is the cheapest solution. It appears that through lobbying, they manage to avoid legislation that would force them to process the fecal matter.

Unprocessed fecal matter pollutes the environment. In intensive farming, there are huge quantities that is difficult for the environment to One of the side effects is that it produces harmful gases that affects the health of the people that are located near the factory. For pig, the type of fecal matter makes it much more difficult to use as manure.

Sows spent all their life in crates that are small enough just to fit the animal standing. The animals stand on cement instead of hay that one would expect in traditional farming. During the gestation period (almost four months), the sows remain in these crates, unable to move.

Intensive pig farming threatens the traditional farming. In terms of the consumer choice, there is minimal distinction between products that where produced with intensive pig farming and those with traditional. The effect is that traditional farming is dying out. In the case of Poland, where a sizable percentage of the population works in the farming sector, the society is affected severely. Those unemployed farmers will end up in the cities, and many of them will make the emigration to other countries of the European Union.

Why is this happening? How can Smithfield Foods get away with this? It appears that this company, due to the big size, is able to and does indeed drag their heels in attempts to protect the environment, the people and the welfare of the animals. So far attempts to regulate were countered with intensive lobbying.

What actions should be taken?

• If a company is involved in intensive pig farming, they must treat the fecal matter.
• The food labeling must include details of the farming process. Considering that there might be little space on the product for concise labeling, it is possible to add an ID that one can look up on the Web and retrieve the full information. Such a measure should give the opportunity to traditional farmers to differentiate their products from those of intensive farming.