Cheap meat is costing us our health and trillions in damages, says new research
New research by World Animal Protection released today, marking World Health Day 2022, has highlighted five ways in which cheap animal products are harming public health and costing governments trillions. Image: World Animal Protection
SPECIAL REPORT: Released on World Health Day, new research by World Animal Protection into the negative public health and cost implications of cheap meat, fish and dairy has proved to be a damning indictment of the industries responsible. Claire Hamlett reports.
Industrial meat production is making the world sick. On World Health Day, a new report lays out the worst health impacts of factory farming, how rising demand for meat will only exacerbate them, and how governments are ignoring this public and planetary health crisis.
On average, global meat consumption has doubled in the past 30 years and by 2030 is projected to rise further still, with the biggest increases expected in Africa (a 30 per cent rise) and Asia-Pacific (an 18 per cent rise). With the vast majority of farmed animals reared in factory farms to produce meat as cheaply as possible, these increases would force billions more animals into lives of suffering and worsen human health globally. The Hidden Health Impacts of Industrial Livestock Systems, a report by World Animal Protection, highlights five key health impacts of this kind of meat production, building on previous work by the World Health Organization (WHO).
1. Malnutrition and obesity
Feeding crops to animals instead of humans undermines nutrition and food security, while overconsumption of cheap meat is one of the four leading risk factors for chronic illness.
2. Superbugs and diseases
With three-quarters of all antibiotics used on farmed animals to prevent illness, promote fast growth, or treat disease, the emergence of antibiotic-resistant superbugs is a serious concern and could make even a simple visit to the dentist a dangerous thing in future.
Aquaculture is one of the sectors with growing antibiotic use, particularly in Asia. More than a million people are already killed each year from antimicrobial resistance, with as many as 10 million predicted to die from this cause by 2050. Zoonotic diseases, for which factory farms are excellent breeding grounds, are an additional risk to public health.
3. Foodborne illnesses
The stress caused to animals by factory farm conditions can leave them vulnerable to bacteria or parasites that can then result in foodborne illnesses in people, such as Salmonella. An estimated 35 per cent of all foodborne diseases globally are linked to meat, dairy or eggs.
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4. Illnesses from environmental contamination
Air and water pollution from factory farming is significant and is very bad for people’s health. Research shows that livestock waste and the heavy use of fertilizers on crop fields is the biggest source of fine-particulate air pollution across Europe, the United States, China and Russia, causing at least 3.3 million deaths each year globally from heart and pulmonary diseases. The usually low-income communities living near factory farms are the most impacted by this pollution.
5. Physical and mental impacts for workers
People working in factory farming, particularly in slaughterhouses and processing and packaging facilities, often do so in poor conditions for little pay. They frequently suffer from physical injuries and mental health issues.
“On the surface, factory-farmed meat, fish and dairy products seem cheap,” said Jacqueline Mills, Head of Farming at World Animal Protection. “But they are costing us our health and governments trillions of dollars each year to mop up the damage.”
The report lays out systemic changes needed to change the trajectory of factory farming, including redirecting subsidies towards humane and sustainable practices, improving the affordability of plant-based foods, and providing transition support for farmers no longer wishing to engage in factory farming.
“There is no future for factory farms,” said Mills. “We need a moratorium on factory farming. The food industry needs to embrace a humane and sustainable future where we consume predominantly plant-based diets, and remaining farmed animals are kept in genuinely high welfare systems where they can have good lives.”
Claire Hamlett is a freelance journalist, writer and regular contributor at Surge. Based in Oxford, UK, Claire tells stories that challenge systemic exploitation of and disregard for animals and the environment and that point to a better way of doing things.
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