China Opens the World’s Largest Factory Farm, New Discovery of Ancient Roman Restaurant, and Reasons to Decentralize Food Production
Welcome back to my weekly review in which I share three interesting things I learned this week.
China’s New Hog Factory
Listeners of the podcast will know that I am no fan of factory farms. Those of us who can should make an effort to minimize the consumption of meat coming from factory farms and instead either support small local farms or harvest animal foods from the wild. But I realize that these farms and industrial slaughterhouses allow more people to afford meat and leads to increased food security in some areas. As more people are questioning the ethics and sustainability of these factory farming practices other countries are just beginning to get in the game. China, for example, recently opened the world’s largest factory hog farm. It is roughly 10 times larger than any of the farms in the US. It will be interesting to see if China eventually becomes a major exporter of meat. Read all about this gigantic factory farm here.
Ancient Roman Restaurant Discovered in Pompeii
Archeologist just revealed an ancient roman restaurant that served quick meals. The site was buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79AD. This excavation was special, because it was the first time an entire termopolium (latin for “hot drinks counter”) was found. Several artifacts were retrieved such as terra cotta jars, decorated bronze drinking bowls, ceramic jars for cooking stews and soups, as well as wine amphoras. These kitchen utensils had traces of duck, goat, fish, and snail, showing a variety of animal foods. The images on the counter itself are amazing depictions of a rooster, two ducks and even a leashed dog. The painting of the leashed dog is interpreted to be a reminder that pets must be kept on leashed, similar to the signs we have today. Read more about it here.
How the COVID19 Pandemic has Revealed Benefits of a Decentralized Food System
The past year has uncovered fragility in our global food supply chains. As a result, people are waking up to the idea of strengthening our local food systems once again to combat some of the pandemic-related food safety issues we faced last year or might face with future disasters. Interestingly, a recent study from 2020 found that there are serious benefits to a decentralized food production system.
“One of the key messages from the research is to rely less on global food supply chains,” Jacob Eurich, a co-author on a paper, told UC Santa Barabra’s The Current.
Read more about it here.