[Column] The assault on nature's immunities

By Kim Jae-il, chairman of the Yejang Co-op.

There has been another outbreak of avian influenza (AI) in South Korea, before you even had the chance to breathe a sigh of relief at the news that the last round of AI was in remission. The last time, the response was an insane extermination campaign. Whenever animals that live in close proximity to human beings get sick, there's a massive extermination. Every year, there is an episode in which media and consumers make a great big fuss and government officials go and eat meat from the animal in question as they attempt to convince the public that it's safe to do so.

Think for a moment. The seasonal birds accused of carrying AI flew to our country in the manner they normally do, and from far, far up north. However you try to block their pattern and engage in quarantine activities, trying to exterminate them, seasonal birds are going to follow their nature-given routes. They don't get the flu if they have the immunity they should, despite the fact that the air is full of bacteria. I myself do not think that AI is something that appeared out of nowhere in modern times. The reason it has become a modern problem is because the widespread use of factory-style livestock and poultry farming has led to animals losing much of their immunity. The result is that when one among them gets infected, the rest of them die in droves.

Factory-style livestock and poultry farming is rapidly becoming more common not only in the United States but in Korea as well, and in Korea it is particularly prominent in poultry farming. In this method of raising chickens, the animals are treated only as products and not as living things. Chickens don't eat when it's dark, so to trick them, the lights are kept on all night to make them think it's daytime in order to make them eat a lot and grow faster. Having your internal clock tampered with, through something like jet lag, weakens your immunity; Think of what that means for chickens who never get a proper amount of sleep. Now, factor in that that they are eating feed with antibiotic additives and thus have a lot of poisons accumulating in their bodies. Add to this how stressful it must be to be packed in small cages with thousands of other chickens in an extremely dense environment that prohibits movement. Male and female chickens are kept in separate production lines, with female chickens being valued for their eggs and the males for their meat. This means they experience even more stress for never being able to fulfill their natural desires.

It is time to get back to basics. With the current approach, we are never going to be able to put an end to the waste of government finances and farmers' suicides resulting from failed small-scale chicken farms when both chickens with AI and the perfectly healthy animals nearby are exterminated. It is an established fact that excessive meat consumption leads to cancer and other diseases. It also worsens the financial state of the country's already hurting health insurance program. If people are going to eat meat, they need to do so in small quantities and eat right. From now on, we need to raise chickens as living things. They need to be able to sleep at night. Male and female chickens need to live together, and be able to walk around outside. They need to be in less cramped quarters and occasionally get to eat vegetables and grass.

Consumers need to be ready to pay a fair price for eggs and chickens raised this way. While lower in terms of productivity, chickens raised the old- fashioned way are far safer. The producer creates agricultural and farming products that are closer to nature's way, and he does so honestly, while the consumer recognizes the value of the producer's work. Only by doing so can we maintain the health of our families and overcome strong pressure from the U.S. to open our market in this area.

It is immunity that cures diseases, not medicine. Worries, concerns, getting worked up over things, and stress all hurt your immune system. We need to put an end to this situation, one produced by human greed and selfishness. Only then will chickens, cows, pigs, and dogs not have to be exterminated, but humans, too, will be able to live in good health, as well. As the adage goes, he who goes against the way of the world meets ruin, and he who submits to it thrives.

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