ABSTRACT
Livestock farming currently uses a vastly disproportionate quantity of global land, water and emissions relative to its nutritional value. As global wealth increases and countries such as China shift toward higher meat consumption, without significant action the global ecosystem will reach a crisis point. The environmental impact of pig and chicken farming stems largely from livestock feed production – including cereals which could otherwise be fed directly to humans, and soya which is often associated with damaging deforestation. To tackle livestock’s environmental impact, this chapter proposes a shift to feeding more surplus food to omnivorous non-ruminants such as pigs and chickens, alongside reduced meat production. The long history of feeding surplus food to pigs is examined, before turning to the current global landscape, and how the UK followed by the EU came to ban feeding surplus food containing meat to omnivorous non-ruminants in the wake of the 2001 Foot and Mouth outbreak. A viable, safe model of processing surplus food is proposed inspired by the thriving ‘eco-feed’ industry in Japan – one that has potential to gain widespread public and industry support. The chapter examines the numerous environmental and economic benefits of ‘eco-pork’, including reductions in emissions, land use and deforestation, and improvements in farmer incomes and animal welfare.
