Intensive farming, all the meat is grown here. Even the industries are taking action: Stop the abuses.

INTENSIVE FARMING IN ITALY

When we eat meat, eggs, and in general food that comes from animals, it is good to be aware of the truth: in the vast majority of cases, these are products that come from intensive breedingThose who now, in a world trying to move rapidly along the path of sustainable development, even the large food multinationals would like to somehow bring into line. Avoiding waste, abuse, mistreatment, and the damage that affects animals, but first and foremost consumers, and then, in a knock-on effect, the entire economy, including the environment.

To give an idea of ​​how much intensive farming affects our table, it is enough to remember two data. From these plants comes the85 percent of chickens and 95 percent of pigs (and therefore all its derivatives) that we eat. On the other hand, there are no great alternatives in an agriculture where, and here we are talking about Europe, the 71 percent of the agricultural land It is intended specifically for farms.

ALSO READ: More respect for humans and animals. Less world hunger and less waste for everyone. Our manifesto with our stories.

INTENSIVE FARMING

It goes without saying that those pushing the accelerator of intensive farming the most are the American, with truly impressive results. In 1970, the milk produced by a cow in the United States was 4.122 liters; today it's 10.370 liters. Almost triple. In 1988, the meat obtained from a slaughtered animal was equal to 54 kilograms; now it's 294 kilograms. More than four times.

Without slipping too far into the black hole of useless Manzonian cries, into facile and ideological green rhetoric, once the numbers of the phenomenon are clarified, it is also good to understand the meaning of the term intensive farming. What in America is called "megafarm” (with more than 1.000 cows and 100 chickens) are over 50 thousand, and you will have a hard time finding honest and competent farmers in Italy who completely dismantle, at the root, the need for intensive farming. In general, in the world, intensive farming is done 70 billion animals, and of these 2 out of 3 are raised in intensive farmsClosing them down would only mean destroying agriculture, and increasing world hunger instead of reducing it, as is enshrined in the 17 points of Sustainable Development signed by the UN. The point is how intensive farms are built and managed, what conditions do animals live in? ed what sufferings they are subjected to, which products of the food industry antibiotics and drugs in general are used. What waste is created. Another fact, another scandal: every year, meat equivalent to 12 billion farmed animals is wasted.

ANIMAL CRUELTY IN INTENSIVE FARMING

The facts are known, the complaints are continuous, we have often talked about it on the Non sprecare website, even through horrifying images, the environmental associations carry out a meritorious reporting activitiesAll this cannot be denied by any man or woman of common sense, unless they are particularly ignorant or clearly dishonest. There are factory farms, and unfortunately they are not uncommon, where animals live locked in cages, in tiny, overcrowded spaces. Cattle, for example, are packed together for a specific speculative reason: by living immobile, they gain weight better. The milk that comes from dairy cows, 90 percent of the time, comes from animals that have never grazed. Not even for a second of their lives. In factory farms inspired by a wasteful and predatory idea of ​​this ancient and very modern economic activity, still central to human life, there is a use of drugs and antibiotics truly outside of any rules, crazy, with deleterious knock-on effects on the entire quality of the meat supply chain.

TO KNOW MORE: How is milk produced? By slaughtering cows, making them live five years instead of 25. And stuffing them with soy to make them bloated (video and photos)

SUSTAINABLE FARMING

Faced with abuse, mistreatment, waste, and public outcry, as we were saying, even the large multinationals in the food processing and distribution industry (groups such as Nestlé, Unilever, Ikea Food, Sodexo, and Aramark) have decided not to turn a blind eye and are finally trying to make their voices and influence heard. Thus, a sort of Alliance, "Global coalition for animal welfare (GCAW)", to impose more reasonable standards (with a certain emphasis we speak of “more ethical” standards) in the farm management.

ANTIBIOTICS IN FARMING

These companies' marketing machines have hyped the initiative, so much so that online, in newspapers, and on various television programs—in the media in general—it has been said and written that "The food giants are now on the side of animals." Let's tread carefully. And let's not leap from one exaggeration to another. The alliance between these groups to support less presentable factory farms is a necessary step in a world where sustainability has become the key word. He who stands still is doomed. And so they too have taken at least a first step. A small one. The agreement, in fact, is currently expected to last only three years and will produce a set of "recommendations," with no binding obligations. The measures being requested are very general: fewer cages and more pastures, less overcrowding, reduction in antibiotic use, minimizing the transport of live animals. These are almost obvious things. The risk of "greenwashing" is just around the corner. Therefore, all that remains is to positively acknowledge the pressure from food giants on their suppliers, and to continue to monitor, all of us, with wide-eyed vigilance, the aberrations of intensive farming. The website Non sprecare, from its small observatory and thanks to its large community, will do just that. Every day.

TO KNOW MORE: Sustainable agriculture means less land and water waste. And more healthy food for 10 billion people, the number of people we will have in 2050.

ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE IN INTENSIVE FARMING

In this regard, it's important to provide readers with one last piece of information, very important, regarding the waste associated with intensive farming. Namely, the answer to the following question: What damage does it cause? There's a vast body of scientific research on the declining quality of food (starting with a loss of nutritional value and authenticity). There's not much more to add. Then there's the destruction of natural habitats, and an entire ecosystem coming under pressure. Consider that 18 percent of greenhouse gas emissions come from intensive livestock farming, according to FAO calculations. A huge figure. Much higher than the 13,5 percent reported for greenhouse gas emissions from transportation. Among the wastes associated with intensive livestock farming, one is certainly little known due to its severity, which directly and daily impacts human health: antibiotic resistanceThe more antibiotics are used to inflate animals for slaughter, the more pathogens evolve their resistance. In a word: precious, sometimes indispensable, antibiotics, used at a frenetic rate, end up being ineffective and no longer useful. Even for humans. The shift from animals to humans is linked to the fact that when we talk about antibiotic sales, we primarily refer to those used in intensive farming: they account for 70 percent of total sales of these products in Italy. At this point, the circle closes. The martyrdom of animals, an issue that evokes the fundamental values ​​of human civilization and our "common home," contributes significantly to the deterioration of nature, the environment, and human life. On the contrary, sustainability, and the denunciation of the abuses and damages of intensive farming is a push for asustainable agriculture (this one also carved in 17 UN goals). The one we all want. Also because by 2050, there will be ten billion men and women to feed in the world. And we hope to do so with healthier food, less waste, and better distribution everywhere.

THE STORIES OF THOSE WHO SAVE ANIMALS IN DIFFICULTY:

• Abandoned horses are a massacre. The best volunteer organizations are working to save them. Donkeys are among the victims: discarded like garbage (photos and video)
• Effetto Palla Onlus, the organization that rescues, cares for, and loves abandoned animals at the Due Mari Clinic in Oristano.
• Gattolandia, a shelter for abandoned cats in Monza with no cages or fences. And the kittens are well-fed and pampered.
• Naoto Matsumura is Japan's hero: he stayed in Fukushima to save the animals (photo)