Dairy in Brazil
Imagine if each small farmer in Brazil, who normally produces around 30 liters of milk a day, was required to increase production to 700 liters a day. This task would be almost impossible. To increase the production and offer lower prices in the market, farmers would be forced to adopt industrial methods, or quit farming.
These unnatural rates of milk production have become the standard in America, where production has gone from 2,409 liters of milk per cow, per year in 1950 to more than 8,181 liters per cow, per year to date. This dramatic increase is due in part to feed, genetically engineered hormones, and the industrial process by which large companies confine hundreds of thousands of animals in factory-like conditions. Many warn that this type of production is not far away for Brazil.
Data of Embrapa reveals that the milk production in the world is estimated at 518,6 billions liters. In 2004, 70% of this volume was produced by Europe and the United States. However, this production output will change throughout the years. Embrapa predicts developed countries will decrease production and developing countries will increase production. In the last 25 years, milk production in Brazil increased from 10,2 billion liters in 1979 to 22,3 billion in 2003. For 2005, the expectation was for 22,9 billion liters of milk.
This increase represents a transformation of milk production in the entire country. According to the text “The nature of the agribusiness in Brazil”, published on the website of the Movimento dos Sem terra (MST), in the past, the producers of the agro industry in Brazil would gather the most number of small farmers as possible in order to increase the production of milk. Now, the companies select the biggest producers, who can also offer lower prices, often those that have adopted these industrial techniques. Because of this, many smaller traditional farms are getting pushed out of the business.
While independent farms go out of business, more transnational food companies are establishing themselves in Brazil. These enterprises are more like factories than farms - fabricating animals as if they were objects; using unnatural diets and drugs to make them grow faster – techniques which ultimately harm animals, humans, and the environment. Confined closely together and unable graze or carry out their natural behaviors, even living in piles of their own waste, the animals of factory farms endure life-long sickness and stress in order to benefit not the consumer, but the corporations who profit from this style of production.
Economies, ecosystems, and the societies of nations around the world are affected by the consequences of industrialization, as mad cow disease, fish with increasing levels of mercury, and avian flu have become worldwide health threats. A study from the United Nations (UN) holds food safety as an utmost security concern, because its stability has ecological consequences for humanity. Mortimer B. Zuckerman, in his article entitled, “A Nightmare Scenario – H5N1 Pandemic,” warns of what could happen if a pandemic were to strike:
“…International health experts warn, bird flu could spark a global pandemic, infecting as much of a quarter of the world's population and killing as many as 180 million to 360 million people - at least seven times the number of AIDS deaths, all within a matter of weeks.” - New York Daily News, 20 June, 2005
A health disaster of these proportions would also greatly impact economies around the world. The article posted by Silviu Dochia at Reuteurs, “The Bird flu’s impact on the poultry industry”, reveals that the France’s poultry sector, the biggest in Europe, is already losing 40 million euros a month and Germany has lost more than 140 million euros since last autumn because of bird flu. According to the World Health Organization, Vietnam has killed 46 million ducks and chickens in a campaign against avian flu that has so far cost the country 120 million dollars. Most of the burden has been felt in the countryside, the home of the poorest communities, where most of those people must start to look other ways to make money and survive.
Mad Cow and Avian Flu have not made it to Brazil, but the industrial methods that create these problems are more and more common as transnational enterprises move their operations here. Besides these potential threats, they inevitably bring environmental pollution while producing unhealthy food, putting their profits above our health and well being.
In order to fix these problems, it is up to the consumer to learn about the effects of industrial agriculture, and be aware of the alternatives. By choosing organic, sustainably-produced food from local farms, we can help the small farmers survive competition, while preserving the environment and our health. The more people who support sustainable agriculture instead of industrial corporate farms, the easier it will be for sustainable food to become accessible to all.
Visit Portal Planeta Orgânico to find out where you can buy organic food. To learn more about sustainable agriculture, please visit: www.agrisustentavel.com.
