Agriculture has changed a lot in the last 50 years. Today, 36% of world crops are used to feed livestock, not people. Meanwhile, animal-based foods (meat and dairy) only deliver 12% of the world’s food calories. In 2010, the British livestock industry required an area the size of Yorkshire to produce the soy used in feed – the increasing demand for soy has devastating effects for land in the precious Amazon. This is why we want to return to the common-sense approach of feeding food waste to pigs.
The Pig Idea’s vision for a sustainable global food system is a world where:
- There are no compromises on animal welfare
- Not a single tree is felled to make way for livestock grazing or feed crop land
- The use of agricultural land is determined by best yield in nutritional terms and lowest environmental impact
To achieve this vision we must bring the traditional practice of feeding food waste to pigs into the 21st century and lift the current ban. Our research shows that we can feed food waste to pigs and chickens safely and that this practice is beneficial for farmers and the environment.
