After following quarantine policies for months, we finally have hope for a vaccine that promises to end global lockdowns, and health officials have reason to believe that the pandemic will end by 2021. However, this vaccine might not be the end of our quarantine problems. The coronavirus has been a global disaster since its unexpected outbreak in a Wuhan, China wildlife market. Evidently, wildlife can have a much larger impact on the health of human society than we might have previously thought. This relationship goes even further than addressing wildlife and also involves our treatment of the environment, specifically the way we produce our food. Through the lens of COVID-19 and the incident in Wuhan, we can see that the sustainability of food systems must be regarded with greater importance if we are to prevent another pandemic. Instead of promising the end of lockdowns, let us promise the end of unsustainable global food systems.
Deforestation for agricultural purposes is a major driver of the spread of infectious diseases, as it places humanity at a closer proximity to wildlife while destroying habitats and reducing biodiversity. Despite the correlation between deforestation and disease, the destruction of our natural rainforests for the expansion of agribusiness continues. Farmed minks illustrate the significant relationship between biodiversity and disease, as we have discovered that they have the ability to catch the coronavirus and create mutations that could make their way back to humans. There are bound to be many more similar undiscovered cases, all of which increase the chances of COVID-19 mutations being transferred to humans and prolonging the pandemic. Without prompt change in environmental policies to prevent mass deforestation for agricultural purposes, we are bound to see another pandemic with even more severe impacts on public health and economic well-being. As industrialized agriculture continues to expand, environmental and public health policies must take into account the correlation between unsustainable agriculture and environmental degradation.
The crisis of land grabbing is another driving force of unsustainable industrialized agriculture. Land grabbing entails the seizure of land and natural resources under the guise of investments, contributing to trends of environmental degradation through habitat loss and decreasing biodiversity, as the preparation of land for agricultural use requires the removal of natural habitats. Industrialized agriculture also promotes the cultivation of monoculture crops; these methods reduce costs for farmers and widen their profit margins, but they also lead to large reductions in biodiversity. To heal the damage caused by these practices, sustainable agriculture would include the reintroduction of animal habitats and the cultivation of polyculture farming to reduce environmental harm.
At the start of this pandemic, a ban of wildlife markets was demanded to prevent the disastrous effects of further pandemics. As we know, the spread of infectious diseases is linked to human proximity to wildlife, however such a ban would only do more harm than good and should not be regarded as an all-encompassing solution to disease prevention. The term “wildlife market” is often misused to describe wet markets, where fresh meat and produce can be purchased at affordable prices. A ban on wildlife markets would likely affect these wet markets and prevent many from what may be their only affordable access to fresh food. Of course, illegal and unethical wildlife trade markets should be prevented and widely condemned, especially due to their impact on biodiversity. Yet the current call for a ban of wildlife markets fails to address the core causes of the COVID-19 outbreak: unsustainable and inaccessible food systems. Instead, we must address food accessibility while also expanding biodiversity to lead to true sustainability.
The impacts and causes of the coronavirus must be regarded as proof of the need for greater sustainability within our agricultural systems. The consequences of environmental degradation must be addressed to prevent a progression of climate disasters, which can be achieved by halting the expansion of industrialized agriculture, introducing widespread polyculture farming, and widening accessibility to food. Let’s strive for agricultural reform that values long-term sustainability and avoid another pandemic.
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