Consumers are usually not told which breed or hybrid line of chicken, cattle or swine have produced the eggs, milk and meat offered in the supermarkets or the butchery shops.

They should get interested, since they are contributing to the development of a global genetic monoculture. Meat processing factories and factory farms want uniform animals. Hardly noticed by the public, a concentration process is taking place not only in livestock production and processing, but also in the livestock breeding industry, increasing environmental pollution and animal welfare problems, and causing serious losses not only of biological diversity, food diversity, and cultural diversity.

With patents on animals and other appropriation strategies, the livestock genetics companies are increasing their power, acting as if consumers all over the world want ever larger quantities of ever cheaper meat, milk and eggs without caring for environmental, social and cultural impact.

LPP has produced a study on the global livestock industry and how they influence the animal breeds raised by farmers worldwide: Livestock Genetics Companies: Concentration and proprietary strategies of an emerging power in the global food economy.

Click here for the report (pdf, 267 kb).