It may seem strange for me to say this, but the terrible scourge of E-Coli may do us all a favour, in that it has all the potential to halt factory farming altogether; with all the positive implications that would have for animal welfare and organic food production.
The recent news that one third of eggs in the UK, contain the deadly bug, which is constantly mutating to overcome farm use of antibiotics, perhaps means that we are reaching a tipping point. Factory farming has a limited sale by date, given the exhaustion of minerals from the soil and increasing threats from bugs and pests. In short, this method of farming is presenting a huge risk to public health; no doubt about it. Of course, when the so called 'Green Revolution' began, soils were still relatively healthy, but after years of virtual reality chemical farming, the soils are exhausted and starved of micro-bacteria and minerals.
The result is that the world is on a collision course with potential starvation and disease, unless a radical rethink is undertaken to put Mother Nature back in the driving seat.
Salmonella in eggs is of course a serious issue, as Edwina Currie pointed out many years ago (in 1988), but E-Coli is far more serious. Without immediate medical attention, it can cause kidney failure and sepsis, requiring a large dose of antibiotics to cure it, with all the attendant risks that the bug may eventually overcome such medication.
Why take the risk ?
All we have to do, is put the muck and mystery back into our soils and give our livestock a decent healthy lifestyle which should dignify any living being. The soils would take some time to recover, but at least it would result in increased production of healthier food which would revitalise the health of the world.
The alternative does not bear thinking about.............
