We feel that these multiplayer farming simulations are crying out for a makeover – the games could help to educate people about better farming methods and make it second nature to buy and eat less but better meat.

Gameplay could involve winning bonus points for sensible farming methods that nurture animals and the land, including: keeping free-range chickens and pigs, and grass-fed cattle; introducing crop rotation, to improve soil quality; retaining hedgerows, to improve diversity on the farm; implementing organic farming practices; and feeding pigs waste products from the farm kitchen, instead of throwing it into landfill.

In a similar way, points might be lost for keeping livestock indoors for long periods, cramming too many animals into a small space, making fields too large and using fertilisers (dubbed "instant grow" in FarmVille).

As long as these better-farming rules function within the existing structure of a game, it shouldn’t affect enjoyment. In fact, they could be introduced subtly – but after hours of play, it’s likely that some of the messages would begin to filter through and positively shape attitudes towards food and farming.

From pixel to pasture

As a slight aside, it was interesting to see that FarmVille inspired a real-life farm-management scheme known as My Farm Experiment in 2011. More than 10,000 "farmers" worked together through a digital portal to help run a large National Trust estate in Cambridgeshire, voting on issues affecting the day-to-day running of the business. The project is a fascinating example of the potential interest among people to get involved in agriculture through digital technologies.

Game for change

The gaming industry could play a vital role in feeding responsible farming messages back into society and influencing the outlook and behaviours of their devoted fans.

Who knows whether such a new feature would go down well with gamers, but the idea that games developers might begin to build ethical signposts into their products, which are so voraciously devoured by the Facebook Generation, is an exciting one. It could be the start of "game over" for factory farming.

Video games and the future of farming