Whether you are an American reader or a Canadian, I am certain that by now you have heard of the Listeria outbreak here in Canada. If not, here are the cliffnotes: so far 15 dead, 14 sick, and 31 more cases under investigation. The outbreak was centered around a macro scale animal slaughter and meat production plant owned and operated by Maple Leaf.

Why do I say that industrial agriculture is responsible? Blogger Lovable Liberal claims that meat production plants merely act as a vector, and that bacteria originates from an animal. While I agree, there would be no mass scale outbreak if it were not for the massive scale on which these food products are produced.

If we were still allowed to have micro-scale butchers, slaughtering and cutting up meat in their own shop, with a production capacity of only a few animals per day, this would never be a major issue. In fact, Listeria only affects the elderly, pregnant, and those with comparmized immune systems. Therefore it is likely that a single animal, or even a few animals that get infected in a small-scale facility could even go without harming anyone. It would go completely unnoticed. Is it any surprise that every serious outbreak occurs in macro-scale facilities? Yet government officials argue that production plants have to shoulder more responsibility for inspection (essentially privatizing food inspection). Greater requirements for industry self-regulation means that the costs are not economical for small scale producers.

The result is more of the same. More industrial agriculture, more mass-production of food, and more contamination outbreaks.