The industrialised food system harms the environment and animal welfare, but new ways of farming are now addressing these issues and further change is coming.
THE industrialised food system is approaching a crossroads. Though it undoubtedly produces more than enough food, it is butting up against ethical and environmental limits. The system, especially factory farming, is doing great damage to the environment, biodiversity, water resources and animal welfare. It is also ultimately self-defeating as soils can’t sustain it for much longer – by some estimates we have just 60 harvests left.
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But environmental and ethical concerns sometimes come into conflict. As the influential philosopher Peter Singer points out in our feature “Peter Singer on animal rights, octopus farms and why AI is speciesist”, it is arguably ethical – from an animal welfare point of view – to eat pasture-raised beef, but the greenhouse gas emissions are still huge.
There are two basic options to change this. One is futuristic: increased intensification of arable farming on smaller areas of land, and technological advances such as precision fermentation to provide animal protein. The other is to revert to ways of the past and rebuild systems known as regenerative farming.
Opponents of the latter claim that this would lead to food shortages. But there is evidence that regenerative agriculture can be as productive as industrial farming – without its environmental toll or harm to animals. And while the industrial system produces enough food to feed 10 billion people, we waste about a third of it.
There are already farming systems that address all of these issues. It is now possible to buy cheese from a carbon-negative farm where the cows live long, contented lives. A type of chicken farming, where the birds run free among trees, has been shown to work in Latin America and Canada and is being trialled in the US. The resulting products are pricier than factory-farmed versions, but reflect the true cost of production. We may have to swallow it.
These are baby steps towards the systemic change required. But change is coming. Regenerative farming deserves a fair hearing. Until then, food writer Michael Pollan‘s advice is best: “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.”