I’ve just been reading The true cost of Britain’s addiction to factory-farmed chicken [1] by Alison Caffyn [2], a researcher from Cardiff University.
This very well informed article shows that ‘cheap’ British supermarket chicken incurs massive costs to the health of the residents surrounding the ‘farms’, to the air they breathe, and to the nearby rivers and woods.
Residents will have to endure the foul stench of the air emanating from the farm, see their woodlands damaged by ammonia gas from chicken faeces, and rivers killed by manure spreading.
This is how 95% of the one billion chickens raised in the UK each year are produced, and the consequences are relatively hidden. As Caffyn says, “Not only do most people not want to think about how meat is raised, it is in the interests of the intensive livestock industry to keep a low profile”
The article describes how these intensive poultry units have been allowed to multiply across many areas in spite of repeated objections by local residents.
The article doesn’t advocate a vegan diet, but does point out, “there are other more sustainable, cheaper and healthier protein options which could be grown in the UK”
But it seems to me that a plant-based diet is the only logical response to conditions such as these.
The article does not discuss many animal welfare issues, but notes the requirement for “someone to walk through each shed daily picking up the dead and sick birds”
References
[1] https://theconversation.com/revealed-true-cost-of-britains-addiction-to-factory-farmed-chicken-158555
[2] https://theconversation.com/profiles/alison-caffyn-1209439
