You may be aware that many of the world’s most fascinating creatures — from penguins and elephants to jaguars — are facing massive population declines, to the point that many are on the brink of extinction. What you may not be aware of, however, is that the bulk of beef, pork, chicken, eggs and dairy sold at most U.S. grocery stores, and found on the majority of U.S. dinner tables, is partially (and significantly) responsible.
“Intensive farming causes immense harm to wildlife and is one of the biggest drivers of species extinction on the planet,” according to Stop the Machine, a global campaign aimed at relegating factory farms, or CAFOs (concentrated animal feeding operations), to museums.1 A key problem is that growing massive numbers of animals in a concentrated space means that natural grazing is virtually impossible.
As such, the animals are fed an unnatural diet of genetically engineered (GE) grains. A whopping 35 percent of cereal and soy harvested globally is fed to animals being raised on CAFOs.2 While promoting disease and inflammation in the animals and producing less nutritious food products, raising “grain-fed” food animals is a “wasteful and inefficient practice,” Philip Lymbery, chief executive of Compassion in World Farming (CIWF), told The Guardian.3
Wildlife Populations Slashed While CAFO Animals Increase
The expansion of industrial agriculture has coincided with a decline in wildlife. The Guardian reported that 40 million hectares (nearly 100 million acres) of land have been slated for agricultural purposes over the last 10 year, particularly in Africa. Meanwhile, in the last four decades, wildlife populations globally have declined by 50 percent. They reported:4
“‘Ten thousand years ago humans and our livestock accounted for about 0.1 percent of the world’s large vertebrates,’ said Tony Juniper, the former head of Friends of the Earth. ‘Now we make up about 96 percent. This is a timely and necessary debate, and an issue that is being debated more and more.'”
If you’re wondering what, exactly, the link is between CAFOs and wildlife that lives a world away, Stop the Machine painted a clear connection:5