Meat, poultry and seafood consumption over the world has increased by leaps and bounds. But the startling fact is that the population of the animals has tripled over a period of time. It only implies that billions of animals on this planet are being reared only for consumption purpose. As far as sea life is concerned we cannot count because fishes and other sea food is measured in tons. As per the reports an estimated 78% percent growth is what is projected by 2020, most of which would be through industrial animal production (IFAP).

The IFAP systems that are also known as factory farms, in the name of food security are a place where animals suffer enormously due to the inhumane practices followed by them. As per the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of India, billions of hens are raised every year for eggs and meat purpose. The objective is that low income group are able to eat healthy. But, another fact is that inspite of the chicken farming work which used to be a backyard family business and has now turned into a full grown agro industry has not been able to curb malnutrition or undernutrition. As per reports even today per capita consumption is still less than 10 eggs per day. Apparently, this means that even if poultry and eggs have become cheap and the flow is increased, still it hasn’t really helped the middle income group of people.

Additionally poultry farming is taking a toll on the environment as well. The reason is due to the excess use of pesticides for pests and flies and the odour it causes. There have been cases where poultry farms are shut down from residential areas and in one such case, a poultry farm near a school was causing a lot of nuisance of flies so much so that children were unable to study or eat.

It is a known fact that umpteen antibiotics are given to livestock and due to high usage of these antibiotics bugs who can resist the antibiotics are cropping up killing thousands of people every year. These horrific figures have lead the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare device a pan named National Action plan on Antimicrobial Resistance 2017-2021. It highlights the use of non-therapeutic anti biotics in poultry farms and has confirmed that livestock rearing is harmful to human kind.

Also, the business has turned ugly because of unethical standards wherin the hatching is done artificially and male chicks are killed because they cannot lay eggs. They are left in barrels to suffocate or burnt alive at time. The conditions in which the females are reared are also inhumane and as such there are no rules and regulatory bodies to keep a check on its negative impact on society. It is time that this inhumane behavior is curbed by taking the necessary steps even if it means a slight increase in prices of eggs and poultry.

*Sourced from the India