This is about far more than an isolated incident at a Wuhan seafood market. Our entire global food system is broken and in desperate need of change. Join the plant-based revolution.
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COVID-19, or the novel coronavirus, is rattling the globe, leaving people
asking themselves: how did we let this happen? The answer begins in
Wuhan, China and ends with a massive reconceptualization of our global food
system.
Where Did the Virus Come From?
Figuring out the origin of a zoonotic disease is a difficult task, but many
believe this virus’s story begins in the capital of Hubei province, Wuhan.
“The consensus among researchers studying the spread of the virus pinpoints
COVID-19’s likely origin to a ‘wet market,’” according to USA Today, “or
live animal market, in Wuhan, China.”
Let’s be clear, though. COVID-19 is not a Chinese virus — it’s a global
virus, and patient zero happened to be from China. More important than the
location is the environment in which it “made the jump” to humans. We must
remember that a worldwide critique of unsanitary meat markets is not an
attack on conventional Chinese culture.
What Is a ‘Wet’ Market and Why Should I Care?
“Wet” markets are simply places in China where perishable goods, such as
live fish, meat and wild animals, as well as fresh produce, are sold to the
public. This is different from “dry” markets, which are similar to U.S.
supermarkets and sell more durable goods.
China’s wildlife trade flourishes in wet markets. Animals, from dogs and
cats to fish and birds, are sometimes kept alive and slaughtered on-site for
paying customers. Exotic wildlife, including snakes, rats, turtles and
pangolins, are forced to live in close proximity, and may carry a variety of
unique diseases. In wet markets that sell live animals, blood and other
bodily fluids spill all over floors, tables and other surfaces.
This sounds like an animal welfare nightmare, right? Of course. But it’s
also a human health crisis. A number of deadly diseases have been linked to
the meat and dairy industries, especially those that resort to close-quarter
animal abuse and massacre.
Understanding the Scope of the Problem
Can’t we just shut down these disease-ridden wet markets to avoid future
pandemics? Unfortunately, no. While banning live animal trade is an
important step to ensuring global health crises happen less frequently, the
scope of the problem is far more pervasive and complex.
COVID-19 is hardly the first pandemic to arise from poor animal welfare
standards. In fact, it isn’t even the first in the last 20 years.
In 2009, H1N1, more commonly known as swine flu, killed anywhere from
150,000 to 575,000 people globally with over 60 million cases in the United
States alone, according to CDC estimates. Where did this virus come from?
Most likely, factory farms, where it would’ve jumped from pigs to humans.
H7N9, more commonly known as bird flu, is another zoonotic virus that has
killed over 600 people since 2013. Though not a pandemic, avian influenza
has been a constant threat to human health over the past few years, as
chickens are continually forced to live in tight quarters for their eggs and
meat. How tight? Nearly 70 billion chickens are slaughtered per year,
according to the United Nations.
But Wait, There’s More...
Viruses are bad enough, but bacterial infections threaten us, too — and
frequent misuse of antibiotics is making them smarter and stronger.
According to a recent U.N. report, over 10 million people could die annually
as a result of antibiotic-resistant bacteria by 2050.
That’s a terrifying statistic, but what does it have to do with our food
system? The FDA allows farmers to give their animals antibiotics as a
“disease prevention” method, which creates a potentially catastrophic
situation for actual disease prevention. Each time infectious diseases like
tuberculosis, MRSA and malaria are introduced to antibiotics, the diseases
become more resistant to medications we commonly use to treat them.
“America’s livestock farmers use more antibiotics per pound of meat produced
than any other country in the world, and upwards of 60 percent of these
drugs treat bacteria that affect humans,” writes Alex Schwartz of Popular
Science. “This practice is especially popular in Concentrated Animal Feeding
Operations (CAFOsn ) [or factory farms], in which too many animals are
crammed into small spaces, increasing the risk for the spread of infection.”
Hope for the Future
If you’re horrified, you should be. Fixing this problem won’t be easy, and
must involve a complete reconceptualization of our global food system. But
it is possible.
Currently, billions of animals are crowded into relatively small factory
farm processing centers and slaughtered by workers who are required to come
into contact with animal fluids. As demand for meat increases, so will the
risk of pandemics. In fact, agricultural intensification and land-use change
are responsible for over 50 percent of emerging diseases, according to a
report published in Nature Sustainability in 2019.
Thankfully, companies like Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods are making it
easier for consumers to satisfy their cravings for hamburgers without
harming any animals. In the coming years, cell-grown meats could replace
animal-based versions. Dairy-free cheeses, milks, yogurts and more are also
hitting grocery store shelves at an unprecedented rate. And the fewer
animals the world jam-packs into disease-ridden slaughtering centers, the
lower our risk of zoonotic diseases spreading.
Our collective and individual actions over the next few years will be
crucial to ensuring the world becomes a more compassionate and safer place.
This is about far more than an isolated incident at a Wuhan seafood market.
Our entire global food system is broken and in desperate need of change.
Join the plant-based revolution. Millions of lives could depend on it.
Number of animals killed in the world by the fishing, meat, dairy and egg industries, since you opened this webpage.
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0 dogs
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0 camels / camelids