Environmental Issues and Economics in Food Production Flashcards
Discuss the five factors of environmental impact of livestock production
Energy - Fertiliser prod, Machinery, Loss of non renewables
Ecology - Biodiversity and loss of species, Landscape degradation
Air - CO2, N2O NH3
Soil - Strutcure, contamination
Water - contamination, consumption, nitrates and phosphate leaching, flooding
Explain the impacts of animal waste and carcass disposal in relation to the ‘One Health’ approach
Manure
- Spread on own land (may need permit from environmental agency)
- Process for sale as fertiliser (may need APHA approval)
- Transport and store offsite (ABP cat 2 storage facility)
Other materials
- Rendering (mechanical and thermal treatment)
- Incineration (uses fossil fuels)
- Pyre burning (air, water and soil pollution)
- Composting (exposure to wildlife)
- Fermentation (consumes and produces carbon based fuel)
Discuss the interaction between economics and livestock production
Balance between welfare and financial abilities
Describe the concepts of ‘negative externality’ and ‘public good’
Negative externality - Animal suffering is a negative externality of livestock production (impacts on
Public good - welfare is a subset of human preferances and is a public good
Describe the one health approach
“The collaborative effort of multiple disciplines – working locally, nationally and globally – to attain optimal health for people, animals and the environment”
(AVMA, 2008).
Describe the issues of centralised production
More vulnerable to animal and human disease outbreaks
Overwhelms capacity of local ecosystem to process waste
Physically separates management from workers (accountability, stewardship)
Adverse physical, economic, mental and social health in rural communities
Poorer welfare of animals
Define welfare
Physical fitness and health of animals and ability to display natural behaviour
