[afro-nets] Commercial Poultry and its Links to Bird Flu (2)

[George Kent <kent@hawaii.edu>]

Commercial Poultry and its Links to Bird Flu (2)
------------------------------------------------

This is a hugely important line of argument, another observation
of the negative consequences of the industrialization of food
systems. The comparison with mad cow disease is inescapable.

These are very dramatic negative consequences of industrializa-
tion. We should also notice many of the other systematic conse-
quences such as the deterioration of nutritional value, taste,
and other qualities of the food product (often, not always).
Perhaps the most important consequence of the industrialization
of food systems is the way it changes labour relationships, and
thus the distribution of economic benefits. There is a vast dif-
ference between 100 one acre farms, worked by families, and a
100 acre plantation operated by one owner and 99 employees.

Maybe industrialized food production is as unnatural as geneti-
cally modified food.

Aloha,

George Kent
mailto:kent@hawaii.edu