The hidden costs of intensive farming

Intensive farming imports destructive technologies into regions such as South Asia and South America that are already struggling with poverty and environmental distress. This brings devastating environmental, health, animal and worker abuses into low-income nations at the countries' own expense.

These hidden costs are known as ‘externalities’ because they are external to the costs borne by the corporations that reap the profits from the activity. International agencies, such as the FAO, recognise the need to ‘internalise’ these ‘externalities’ (that is make the corporations liable, so these costs are taken out of their profits), but there has been no serious move to put this into practice as yet. So in the meantime, vulnerable countries have to suffer these unwanted long-term side effects whilst corporations continue to profit from this destruction.

Lack of food sovereignty is another hidden cost, as reliable local production for local consumption is replaced by reliance on imports and unstable foreign markets. And food security and competitiveness is affected because production is concentrated in the hands of a small number of major commercial interests.

This lack of competitiveness, and the shrinking job market in the food industry, can also lead to restrictive work practices, and lack of fair market wages and working conditions.