Too close to eat..

In both of his writings, Mike Davis raises a startling issue concerning global health and fulfilling global demand for food. As a result of the population boom, and consequently a surge in demand for meat, specifically swine and poultry, the food production industry has undergone a transformation from traditional farms to becoming a large-industrial production machine. This change has become necessary in order to process large quantities of meat sufficient enough to satisfy consumers' demands, especially in developing countries such as China. However, with this growth comes increasing health concerns. Mass-storage of swine and poultry in small enclosed spaces encourages the transmission of pathogens from one organism to another, providing the perfect niche for these strains to mutate into more fatal and infectious versions. As a result, a pandemic could potentially be conceived.

In my opinion, what makes this issue somewhat controversial is that a choice has to be made: if the industry is to produce meat fast enough to feed people's demands , potentially, the only way of doing so is to process meat on an industrial scale. However, the risk of doing so involves having to confront the constant threat of pathogens and disease. Nevertheless, if the industry were to cut down on mass-producing meat and rely more on traditional farms, this could start a public complaint in that supply of meat is too low, which based on economic mechanics, causes the price to soar, making it hard for the poor to feed themselves. World hunger issues would then have to be confronted.

With the constant introduction of new vaccines and medicine in the scientific field, there is hope that scientists can soon stall the rapid evolution of these pathogen strains, suppressing potential pandemics. Nevertheless, what makes this issue of utmost importance to the global community is that because the human population is expeditiously growing as well, if a pandemic does arise, it will eventually become harder and harder to control it simply due to the sheer number of people and the rate at which it can be transmitted - quarantining overcrowded cities would become an instant nightmare for medical professionals.

This leads me to raise the following questions:
- Can diseases such as Avian Flu be passed through by-products of poultry such as eggs?
- Why have governments not put regulations on the maximum number of animals which can be stored in enclosed spaces on meat-processing sites?