Local governments can help create a food system that doesn’t hurt animals
Image from Happy Hen Animal Sanctuary.
I am a Berkeley resident and practicing veterinarian, working for local shelters such as Berkeley Humane and Berkeley Animal Care Services. As a graduate of the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, I learned the importance of the concept of One Health, the idea that human, animal, plant and environmental health are all interconnected. As we emerge from the pandemic, we have to all look at what factors brought us here and how we can build a future with the One Health concept in mind, and how it can all start with the city of Berkeley.
The pandemic began during my 3rd trip to Fiji, where I was spaying and neutering animals in rural villages where they did not have access to medical care. The dog overpopulation problem(1) was leading to a great deal of animal suffering, abuse and neglect. Hopefully, our efforts made a difference in improving their lives and the relationship between the residents and the animals.
While in Fiji, seeing the delicately made dwellings of the villagers, residing so close to the ocean, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of fear for these people and animals who live their lives in peril, so vulnerable to the effects of climate change(2). I flew back home to a changed world here in Berkeley, where we had to halt our own spay and neuter services in order to conserve PPE for critical patients and protect our medical professionals.
While our compassionate group of veterinarians was giving our knowledge and time to help the animals, I couldn’t help but have to come to terms with how my own profession has, historically, facilitated a derangement of our relationship with animals and the natural world, leading to the existential crises we face: climate change and pandemics of zoonotic origin.
Veterinary organizations, influenced by industry, have facilitated the expansion and growth of factory farming by legitimizing abusive practices such as gestation crates (3), painful beak trimming (4), surgical removal of body parts without anesthesia (5) and ventilation shutdown (6). With the advent of antibiotics, genetic modification and modern technology, we have helped the animal agriculture industry pack more and more animals into tighter spaces and created beings that produce more meat, milk and eggs than nature could have ever envisioned.
But the younger generation of veterinarians care about climate change, justice and science. Unfortunately, many young professionals fear backlash for pushing back against the animal ag industry, which wields influence over our profession and government. We must recognize that animal agriculture threatens our future in the form of avian and swine flu (7), greenhouse gas emissions (8), the destruction of our rainforests(9), and antibiotic resistant bacteria (10). In fact, the CDC just released a report this month showing a 40% uptick(11) in drug resistant salmonella linked to chicken and egg production.
Entrenched corporate interests are fighting back against the systemic changes that are needed to create a more compassionate and healthy world. I personally have faced retaliation from the industry(12) for criticising corporate agribusiness. The animal agriculture industry also wields unjust influence(13) over our political(14), legal system(15) and personal dietary habits(16) and works side-by-side with the fossil fuel industry(17) to sow doubt in climate science, lobby for government subsidies, and block urgently needed government action.
It is possible to build a more sustainable food system, where governments stop propping up animal agriculture via taxpayer subsidies and instead put funding towards a more sustainable food system--one where we don’t have to hurt animals.
Berkeley can begin this shift by becoming the first US city to source all government food purchases from sustainable, plant-based local businesses. Similar legislation has been passed in Germany (18), Helsinki (19) and London’s Enfield Council(20) with much success.
Now, starting with progressive officials changing government spending, our generation will build a food system that feeds the growing world population, protects our rainforests and public health, and doesn’t hurt animals.
Chand, Swashna. Overseas vets here on a desexing mission. Fiji Sun. 7 Mar 2019.
Belson, Ken. Paradise Threatened: Fiji’s War Against Climate Change. The New York Times. 24 Oct 2018.
American Veterinary Medical Association. Welfare Implications of Gestation Sow Housing. Literature Review. 19 Nov 2015.
American Veterinary Medical Association. Welfare Implications of Beak Trimming. Literature Review. 7 Feb 2010.
American Veterinary Medical Association. Welfare Implications of Teeth Clipping, Tail Docking and Permanent Identification of Piglets. Literature Review. 15 July 2014.
Greenwald, Glenn. Hidden Video and Whistleblower Reveal Gruesome Mass-Extermination Method for Iowa Pigs Amid Pandemic. The Intercept. 29 May 2020.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CDC Takes Action to Prepare Against “G4” Swine Flu Viruses in China with Pandemic Potential. 2 July 2020.
Clark A, Michael et. al. Global food system emissions could preclude achieving the 1.5° and 2° C climate change targets. Science. 5 Nov 2020.
Philips, Dom et. al. Revealed: rampant deforestation of Amazon driven by global greed for meat. The Guardian. 2 July 2019.
Randad, Pranay R. et. al. Transmission of Antimicrobial Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Clonal Complex 9 between Pigs and Humans, United States. Emerging Infectious Diseases. Vol. 27, No. 3. 3 March 2021.
Medalla, Felicita et. al. Increased Incidence of Antimicrobial-Resistant Nontyphoidal Salmonella Infections, United States, 2004-2016. Vol 27, No. 6. June 2021.
Greenwald, Glenn. New Documents Reveal How the Animal Agriculture Industry Surveils and Punishes Critics. The Intercept. 10 Oct 2020.
Richtel, Matt. Tainted Port, Ill Consumers and an Investigation Thwarted. The New York Times. 4 Aug 2019.
Mitchell, Charlie. Frerick, Austin. The Hog Barons. Vox. 19 April 2021.
Brown, Alleen. Iowa Quietly Passes Its Third Ag-Gag Bill After Constitutional Challenges. The Intercept. 10 June 2020.
Dalzell, Noa. “Got Milk?” A Closer Look at Dairy Checkoff Programs. Factory Farming Awareness Coalition. 28 April 2021.
Samuel, Sigal. It’s not just Big Oil. Big Meat also spends millions to crush good climate policy. Vox. 13 April 2021.
Geiling, Natasha. German government agency bans meat from official functions. Think Progress. 22 Feb 2017.
Meat Free Monday. Helsinki to cut meat consumption by half by 2025. 26 Feb 2019.
Enjoli, Audrey. London’s Enfield Council Bans Meat for the Climate Crisis. Livekindly.
