The extraordinary result of having high quality food at affordable prices for all is only achieved through the productive efficiency of intensive livestock farming, which would be better described as protected, and which is therefore also more sustainable: Studies carried out by the FAO’s Global Livestock Environmental Assessment Model (GLEAM), which analyses the environmental impact of livestock production (including the production of greenhouse gases), have shown that for the same quantity of food produced, intensive/protected poultry farms, thanks to the high production efficiency achieved, pollute less and their production of greenhouse gases, already reduced to 1% of the total, is continually falling sharply.
It can be said that in poultry farming, extensive, free-range and slow-growing methods have coexisted side by side for decades with intensive/protected production and are not in antithesis. The former have higher selling prices and are aimed at the high-end consumer (in terms of spending power), while the latter meet the food needs of the less affluent part of the population, which, however, represents the majority of the population. In addition to this, it should be remembered that chicken meat, besides being affordable, is a food welcomed by every religion. However, the difference between the two is a bit like that between mountain paths and motorways: the former are nice to look at, but if we need to transport goods to advance a country’s economy, the latter are essential. In order to improve the quality of life of future generations, the solution will not be to eliminate motorways (as the detractors of intensive livestock farming would like), but rather to minimise their impact through improvements, such as the installation of noise or vegetation barriers and the widespread adoption of less polluting vehicles. And it is.
