Useful Ramblings

Gone are the days of mom and pop (family) farms where chickens and other animals were raised for human consumption.  These family farms have now given way to corporate farms (breeder farms) whose sole goal is to mass produce animals on a large scale with specially engineered feeds guaranteed to put on weight (meat) and shorten the time "from farm to store".  These breeder farms have been employed in the cattle, poultry and pig industries. 

The recent outbreak of swine flu seems to have its origins in Mexico and initial investigation points to a specific breeder farm in Mexico as a possible source of the current outbreak.  Could it be that these breeder farms, regardless of geographic location and regardless of animal type, could be the cause of the recent outbreaks of "animal flu" which have been passed between animals and humans.  As noted these breeder farms are involved in the both the cattle, poultry and pork industries.  Is it not curious that we have mad-cow, bird flu and now a resurgence of swine flu.  Is the bigger problem not "flu" but rather the methods employed in the raising of these animals in a mass production environment.  Are we able to effectively and safely manage animals on such a large scale?  Or does this very process lend itself to the generation of infectious diseases?

Are the recent outbreaks of various flu a wake-up call to what we may expect if we continue breeding animals on such a large scale?  I certainly don’t have the answer but I do believe that such breeding techniques deserve a second look before we have an event that becomes unmanageable.

This entry was posted on Friday, May 1st, 2009 at 9:40 AM and is filed under daily ramblings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.