The Animal Industry – Sustainable Systems curriculum
Synonyms and Definition
- IAF – Intensive Animal Farming
- Industrial Livestock Production
- Factory Farming
production approach towards farm animals in order to maximise production output, while minimising production costs.
Refers to animal husbandry, the keeping of livestock such as cattle, poultry, and fish at higher stocking densities than is usually the case with other forms of animal agriculture
Sustainability
Environmental impacts
- Greenhouse gases
- Land
- Ocean
- Water waste
- Wildlife
- Rainforests
Humanitarian impacts
- Economical concerns
- Health risks
- Ethical concerns – animal and worker abuses
Other aspects to consider
Advocates of factory farming claim that factory farming has led to the betterment of housing, nutrition, and disease control over the last twenty years, while opponents claim that it harms wildlife and the environment, creates health risks, abuses animals, and raises ethical issues.
Abstract
- The IAF is one of the most unsustainable production systems today.
- It is a main source of toxic gases (global warming), water and land pollution, intinction of animals, workers and animal abuses, and health problems (e.g heart diseases).
- The dangerous environmental implications of the IAF are agreed upon by all today’s environmental communities.
- next to vehicle and fashion, the food industry and the IAF in particular, is one of the three most unsustainable industries in the world.
- With the growing need in food and water sources, studies show that without any drastic change a global disaster is predicted.
- The future of the IAF is dominated by a handful of a few key figures and companies,
- But, by a mindful diet and better habits, anyone can make a difference.
- For that reason, it is important to increase awareness among all people and communities.
- As part of Sustainable Systems program, The New School students get the rare opportunity to learn and study sustainability.
- In this project, I attempted to share a visually communicative presentation that will summarise some of the key facts about the Animal Industry’s environmental impacts.
- Hopefully, this presentation can be a start for a new study topic within future Sustainable Systems curriculum
Infographics:
Each infographics from the four images below is an introduction to a topic of study. Other than these topic, other subjects will be discussed in the Animal Industry curriculum, such as: Land, Wildlife, etc.
Further information – example:
To show how will each infographic be represented in a wider context in class, I have chosen to elaborate on one of them as an example. The following information will be taught in class as an elaboration of the “water waste” topic:
Agriculture accounts for 92%
of the freshwater footprint of humanity;
Animal Agriculture (anything related to animal products and by-products) is responsible for 20%-33% of all fresh water consumption in the world today.
It takes more than 2,400 gallons of water to produce 1 pound of meat and only 25 gallons to produce 1 pound of wheat.
The rising global meat consumption and the intensification of animal production systems will put further pressure on the global freshwater resources in the coming decades.
The water footprint of any animal product is larger than the water footprint of crop products with equivalent nutritional value:
The average water footprint per calorie for beef is 20 times larger than for cereals and starchy roots
The water footprint per gram of protein for milk, eggs, chicken and meat is 1.5 times larger than for pulses.
More than half of all the water used in the United States goes to raising animals for food.
The unfavourable feed (mostly corn) conversion efficiency for animal products is largely responsible for the relatively large water footprint of animal products compared to the crop products.
Designs:
In order to communicate the subject in an appealing, aesthetic way, I have designed a visual language that is simple yet detailed:
Raising awareness – Posters designs:
