Globalisation of Industrial Animal Agriculture:Implications for South Asiapattrice le-muire jonesGlobal Hunger AlliancePresented at the Sustainable Development Policy Institute’sFifth Annual Conference on Sustainable Development in South Asia02 November, 2002 • Islamabad, PakistanPrefatory RemarksBefore beginning my talk on behalf of Global Hunger Alliance, I must, as I always do these days in internationalvenues, express my personal views as an American against American aggression in Afghanistan and Iraq. I begyou to remember that all of us were disenfranchised when George W. Bush assumed the presidency despitelosing the election. We need the citizens of the world to help us restore democracy to the United States andlimit U.S. aggression abroad. To do this, we must speak in the only language that Bush understands: money.We must withdraw our fiscal support of the corporations that support Bush by refusing to buy their products.At minimum, we must avoid the American products that are bad for us anyway. That means no Coca Cola orother sugary soft drinks, no McDonalds or other fatty fast food, no American cigarettes, and no agrochemicalsor patented seeds vended by corporations based in the USA. Again, that is my personal position and does notnecessary reflect the opinions of the partners in GHA.IntroductionI would like to thank SDPI for inviting me to participate in this very substantial and stimulating conference. Irepresent the Global Hunger Alliance, which is an international network of research, advocacy, education, andactivist organizations. I draw your attention to the document listing the Global Hunger Alliance Statement of Principles (see Appendix) because it contains important information that I will not repeat in this talk.In this talk, I shall discuss the detrimental impacts of industrial animal agriculture at every level, moving fromthe local to the global. Much of this presentation will be taken up by a factual accounting of the actual social,economic, and environmental consequences of industrial animal agriculture. However, since the audience forthis paper is so very intellectual, I shall close the talk with some very interesting theoretical questions worthy of further inquiry. I’ll also be including some very practical suggestions for future action.StandpointSince you will be hearing all of this filtered through my perceptions, you deserve to know where I’m comingfrom. I live in the rural region where industrial animal agriculture (also known as factory farming) was firstinvented. Our landscape is littered with long, low buildings, each of which contains tens of thousands of chickens. Inside the buildings, dying and dead birds in various stages of decomposition lie side by side withthe live birds destined to be made into McDonalds chicken sandwiches. The birds never see the sun or breathefresh air and go to painful and terrifying deaths at only six weeks of age.

The children in my county grow up in the shadows of acre upon acre of genetically modified maize and soyabut sometimes do not have enough to eat. Their parents may be farmers or workers for the poultry industrybut in either case do dangerous work for low pay and may be in a form of debt servitude to the industry. Manyof us cannot drink the water from our wells, thanks to the animal wastes, pesticides, and chemical fertilizersthat have seeped into our groundwater. What was once a lush region of incredible natural fertility nowstruggles with water shortages and soil sterility.And now, the corporations that are responsible for this sorry state of affairs want to export their destructivetechnologies to South Asia and other regions already struggling with poverty and environmental distress. So,I’m here to issue a warning. I’ll do so by discussing the impact of factory farming at every level, from the mostlocal to the most global. I’ll use the poultry industry as my example, trusting that you will understand that thedynamics are much the same for related industries. I’ll then talk about what we can expect if these industriesexpand as they would like to do.Current Consequences of Factory Farming(1)

On animals:

When speaking of the harms inflicted by factory farming, we must not forget that the mostdirect victims are the animals themselves. Industrial animal agriculture is industrial precisely because it treatssentient creatures as if they were insensible objects. From battery cages for laying hens to gestation crates forpregnant pigs, the merciless technologies that have been invented to maximize profit regardless of painsubject our fellow beings to levels of trauma that most of us cannot even imagine. Like most politicalquestions, this is a moral issue that cannot in good conscience be ignored.(2)

On local farmers:

The farmers who “grow” animals for the poultry industry do so under contract to largecorporations like Tyson and Perdue. The farmer has no control over the process and is essentially a hired handon his or her own land. The prices paid by the corporations are so low that most farmers end up earning farless than the legal minimum wage for their labor. Factory farming is a capital intensive industry. Farmersgenerally must borrow the money for their buildings and equipment from the corporations for whom theyraise the birds. Thus, even if they become dissatisfied with the arrangements, they often cannot withdraw dueto their outstanding debt.(3)

On local workers:

Workers in the poultry industry do dirty, dangerous, and demoralizing work for very lowpay. The so-called “chicken catchers” who load the birds onto the transport trucks breathe in the ammonia inthe air — which is so concentrated that many of the birds go blind — and are often scratched and bitten bythe terrified birds. These workers are the least skilled and least educated. Many are not literate and have noother options. Often, they end up in debt servitude to the “crew chiefs” who lend desperately needed moneyin advance of earnings, ensuring that the workers cannot quit. Workers in slaughter and processing factoriessuffer the highest rate of on-the-job injury of any industry. Most of these workers are women of color and theyare often subjected to deeply humiliating conditions of work.Both the farmers and the workers may experience demoralization or dissociation from treating animals inways that are not consistent with their own moral beliefs. I have heard farmers talk about willfully supressingtheir feelings and factory workers talk about being sickened by what they see on the killing floor. Most seem toperceive their participation in the industry as an economic necessity rather than a free choice.

(4)

On local economies:

When a major multinational industry such as the poultry industry moves into a ruralregion, it will tend over time to dominate the economy of the region. This is extremely dangerous. Of course,it’s never a good idea for a region to become dependent on a single industry. This is particularly true for animalagriculture, which is a particularly unstable industry. At any point, a disease outbreak or change in the globalmarket can drive the industry into decline, dragging the local economy with it. In the past year alone, avian fluand Russian reluctance to import chicken legs have threatened the economic stability of U.S. regionsdependent on the poultry industry. The other tendency that occurs when big corporations take over rural regions is neo-feudalism. Where I live,many people are very afraid that any expression of discontent will result in loss of livelihood. People who don’teven work for the industry themselves will hesitate to voice a criticism in private conversation, for fear that theirrelatives with jobs in the industry might be punished. These fears may be justified. When the workers for onebig poultry corporation tried to join a union, the head of the corporation solicited the aid of organized crime instopping the organizing drive.(5)

On local environments:

Industrial animal agriculture both depletes and pollutes natural resources, especiallywater. Adding up all of the water used — including drinking water for the animals, water used to grow thefeed for the animals, water used to wash away animal wastes, and water used in the course of slaughter andprocessing — animal agriculture uses more water than all other human uses combined. Worldwide, animalagriculture is the number one cause of water pollution. A single intensive confinement and feeding facility forpigs can easily produce more waste than an entire city full of people.(6)

On local citizens:

Local citizens bear the burden of the environmental problems associated with intensiveanimal agriculture, either living with pollution or paying to clean it up. Where I live, the water table is dropping,in part due to climate change but mostly due to overpumping associated with animal agriculture. Heavenknows what we will do when the water runs out. Local citizens can also suffer health problems associated withindustrial animal agriculture. A recent research project turned up some very scary results in my region. Thebodies of one hundred percent of the citizens sampled had been colonized by campylobacter, a microbialpathogen that causes mild symptoms of food poisoning in healthy adults but can lead to serious injury oreven death in infants, the elderly, and people with compromised immune systems. Even in healthy adults,colonization of the body by this bacteria can lead to serious health problems. We don’t know for sure whycitizens who don’t have direct contact with chickens carrying the bacteria have been colonized but my guessis that it has found its way into the water.(7)

On domestic farmers:

The negative consequences of factory farming are not confined to the regions inwhich intensive animal agriculture is concentrated. The fortunes of all farmers who grow maize (corn) or soya(soybeans) are significantly impacted by the meat, dairy, and egg industries. Because most of the maize andsoya grown in the USA is used as feed for animals, the animal agriculture industries control the markets forthese basic commodities, often driving prices below the cost of production. Government aid appears tosupport the farmers who cannot get a fair price for their crops. In fact, these subsidizes support thecorporations, by helping to lower the cost of their most expensive input. Government incentives encouragefarmers to continue to grow unprofitable cash crops rather than healthy food for the people in their