12/11/2013

A survey carried out for the European Commission has shown that people across Europe are well aware of the effect intensive farming is having on biodiversity.

The latest Eurobarometer survey results show that 94% of EU citizens consider intensive farming, along with over-fishing and deforestation, to be a threat to biodiversity.

It’s good to know that the message is getting through to the overwhelming majority of Europe’s citizens in recognising just how serious a threat factory farming is to the biodiversity of our planet. Without biodiversity in ecosystems, the ability of future generations to feed themselves is seriously compromised. The argument that we can simply intensify production to feed our growing population is nonsensical.

Industrial farming does not just affect the ecosystem in the area surrounding individual farms. Soya used to feed industrially-reared livestock drives deforestation in places which have ecosystems vital to the planet, such as the Amazon Rainforest, where trees are cleared to make way for vast tracts of soya.

We need action to ensure we are able to feed the world’s growing population in a sustainable way and that means without destroying the delicate ecosystems that our food system is built on. A start would be to stop feeding huge quantities of soya to animals, make sure ruminants, such as cattle, are raised on the fields not in sheds and feed appropriately treated food waste to pigs and poultry, nature’s natural recyclers.