Agri- food geographies 4

• Study of animals has been limited and marginal concern- changed in 1990's
• Increasing interest in animals represents an expansion of geographies 'circle of concern'
• Growth in social concern for animals- animal rights, people have become more concered with their welfare
• Biotech developments- GM e.g. injecting denes 
• developments of social theory- how geographers thing and theorize the social world, understanding how people interrelate with animals to understand the social world, animals have the ability to shape the human world

• Productivism- industrialisation led to an impact on animals bodies- double muscle cows 
• Post - productivism: animals are enrolled into new activities in new ways- bought about interest 
• Agriculture is more than economic- multiple meanings attatched to animals, encourages us to think about agriculture in cultural ways, role of life stock in socially constructed rural environments

• Sudies of the geographues of domestication and rare breeds of lifestock 
• lifestock and landscape
• transformation of livestock and animal bodies under industrialisation 
• Geneticisiation of animal agriculture
• agricultural animals and susatinability 

• Key concept in geography 
• sustainability- interactions between economic, environmental and social systems 
• does sustainability agenda serve the interests of the farm animals?

• around 28 billion farm animals- worry about numbers
• predicted to double in the middle of the century- competing of humans for spcae and to live and resources 
• CIWF 2004- Lifestock revolution, meat consumption is projected to rise by 3% in 2020, feeding animals instead of solving world hunger 
• - not efficient grain fattened animals take more energy from feed than they return in the form of food for humans 
• Meat production and consumption- contribution to climate change- largest source of green house gases
• avoiding meat and dairy is single biggest way to reduce your impacts on earth- essential to avoid climate breakdown 

• key elements in the maintenance of environmentally friendly farming systems 
• Devon farm, owned and managed by Natural England- for nature conservation rather than commercial imperatives- prevents the loss of wild flowers 
• Lifestock based farming systems as contributors to the maintenance of rural eonomies and the social fabric of rural areas, particularly in marginal region s
• lifestock increase overall economy- increase the overall economy 

• A recent shift in sustainability discourse
• incorporation of farm animal welfare within definitions of agricultural sustainability. Animal welfare has 5 freedoms 1. freedom from hunger and thirst 2. from discomfort 3. from pain, injury and disease 4. to express normal behaviour 5. from fear and distress 

welfare- good for animals and people, farmers and consumers- prevents disease, sundamental to develop a sustainable food and farming industry 

Reinforces the anthropocentrism of sustainability- sustainable of human populations and their well being rather that of nature