Over the course of time, factory farming has started to rule the world. Intensive production of animals and livestock for various purposes has become increasingly popular in a matter of a few decades. Today, poultry and livestock kind of rule the food industry which is not a good thing for various reasons. Environment and health issues of individuals seem to top the list.
While this being the ground reality, factory farming has attracted a lot of investment in the last couple of decades and only recently people and organisations have gradually started to actively promote divestment from factory farming. After successfully eradicating investments from fossil fuels, this is supposed to be the next big thing. Now, let’s get to what this divestment is all about, who is for it, and if it will be successful in future?
What is divestment from factory farming?
When we say intensive production of animals and poultry, the figures we’re talking about is above 2500 pigs, 130000 chicken, and 1000 cattle according to the standards in the United States. This will vary based on the country. The point to note here, when farmers go in for such large production of animals and poultry, there are a number of environmental hazards that accompany farming.
Water pollution is one of the main environmental hazards. Besides, the health of the animals keeps deteriorating with time. Antibiotics are often misused in such large production of animals. These are naturally bad for the ecosystem and the consumers. The rise of livestock population has been tremendous in the past few decades because of intensive farming. There are activists who work really hard to point this out to the investors.
Safe to mention, it has taken almost six decades for companies to actually look into this as a real concern and start divestments. Companies who directly or indirectly invest in factory farming keep getting poked by activists and their image takes a hit. The idea is to make them divest their money from factory farming.
Some companies that are for factory divestments:
To make such a big change in the society, an individual’s contribution will not suffice. Larger companies and organizations have to come forward to voice their opinions supporting divestment from factory farming. Only the combined efforts of both individuals and larger companies can have an impact on the society.
But do larger organizations and investors care about the movement? Larger organizations do care because it is one of the social responsible things they can do. Investors have started to care because of the negative outcomes with investing in factory farming. The risk of outbreak of diseases, pressure from the government for water pollution, major issues around welfare of the consumers, staff, etc have had a huge impact on the investors in recent times.
Some large corporations that actively work towards the divestment are FAIRR (Farm Animal Investment Risk and Return), Trillium Asset Management company, Folio Investment Brokerage to name a few.
Will this divestment movement be successful in future?
The way we see it, it is going to take a while but definitely be successful. Especially with the companies like FAIRR actively promoting divestment plans. Right now, factory farming is not on the radar for many investors as they still do not realise the potential threat. Environmental change is one of the significant things speculators are keen on now. But, soon it will be factory farming. Before we know it, divestment from factory farming will become the next big thing.
