CHAPTER 31

The Role of Animals in Local Food and Agriculture

One of the great dilemmas to be addressed in the development of local food systems is the role of animals in local food and agriculture. Here we find a heated debate—ranging from vegans, who insist that humans should not exploit animals in any way, to practitioners who contend that animals must be an integral part of any food production system.

In this debate, we should all beware of statistics that do not distinguish from industrially produced meat and meat that comes from small, conscientious, and compassionate producers who hold themselves to high standards.

Some scientists claim that the current industrial animal-agriculture system is the single greatest human cause of climate change on the planet. That’s worth considering, and it raises deep and difficult questions. In Meatonomics, David Simon frames the challenge well. “Compared to plant protein, raising animal protein takes up to one hundred times more water, eleven times more fossil fuels, and five times more land. Animal food production now surpasses both the transportation industry and electricity generation as the greatest source of greenhouse gases. Even worse, the system fosters financial incentives that encourage the relentless destruction of land and the routine contamination of air and water. Without dramatic reform, the end game in the conflict between fixed resources and ever-increasing demand is likely to have a group of clear losers—the planet’s inhabitants.”167

Given that meat consumption is rapidly increasing throughout the world, particularly in China and India, this constitutes a nightmarish dilemma. To meet this demand, producers are raising animals in concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), which rely on copious amounts of antibiotics, chemicals, and GMO corn and soybeans to keep costs low and profits high. Such systems externalize costs, making it difficult for smaller producers who care about quality to compete.

Industry consolidation has exacerbated the situation. Reportedly, four corporations now own 83 percent of the beef market; the top four firms own 66 percent of the hog industry; and the top four firms control 58 percent of the poultry industry. These corporations are far more interested in profits than they are in human health or environmental integrity, and government regulations are skewed in their favor.

Recently a major Chinese processor, Shuanghui International, bought Smithfield Foods, the largest pork producer and processor in the world. At the same time, the USDA has approved U.S.-grown chicken to be shipped to China for processing (without benefit of USDA inspection), then shipped back to U.S. markets for sale.

Local food planners will need to determine the extent to which animal production should be a part of their agricultural mix. Integrating grass-fed bison, cattle, sheep, and goats; pastured poultry; and forest-raised pigs provides numerous economic incentives for producers, but it also raises issues that must be carefully dealt with to manage carbon and waste outputs, as well as health impacts for the local population.

Allan Savory tells vegans that he doesn’t care whether they eat meat, but that they should feel compelled to actively support the holistically managed grazing of livestock to restore grasslands, end desertification, save water, and sequester carbon.

I’ve heard ranchers say, “Our animals only have one bad day in their lives.” Is it compassionate to allow our livestock to die of illness or old age? Or is it more caring to ensure that they have a full and natural life and, without stress or pain, gently end their lives when we decide it’s time.

What is the appropriate role of animals in our local agriculture and in our diets? Every one of us—and all of us together—will need to evolve our own answer to this question.