Board studies 'factory' term
FoodLink, connecting Farm to fork (10/7/2010)
ACTIVISTS have labeled modern agriculture and livestock production as "factory farming" because of the scale and technology producers have adopted to capture economies of scale and to produce inexpensive, high-quality, safe food.
The label is meant to denigrate producers and confuse and frighten consumers over everything from animal welfare to environmental issues that activists push -- in most cases to create publicity to raise money.
On the surface, one wonders what's wrong with factories, which provided the backbone for mass production and development of the middle class in the 1900s. Factories are one of the rich resources of America.
So are large farms and livestock operations -- most of which are family owned -- which provide the experience in genetics, production practices and technology that smaller farms and farms around the world often pick up.
Large operations also have a record for producing increasingly more food with increasingly more sustainable animal welfare and environmental measures and higher food safety standards.
Still, applying the term "factory" to modern agriculture is neither deserved nor fair. It is punitive to men and women who produce the world's most envious food supply and work to improve their operations every day.
