Article by Rico Schmidiger, Slow Food Swan Valley & Eastern Regions Committee member

I recently read an article in a newspaper about a multi-storey pig farm in which up to 1300 pigs can be bred per storey. This company can produce 2 million pigs per year in a dozen farms. The multistorey farm will have the ability to produce 840 000 pigs per year when completed.

Coupled with this mass production are “high standards of biosecurity and sophisticated cleaning and disposal systems”.

This process requires chemical pathogen control measures, catalytic growth hormones and, as in most intensive farming methods, limited space for individuals and restricted movement of a sow with litter.

These are unhealthy animals kept alive and growing artificially.

The enormous density of stock alongside poor living conditions produces animals prone to disease and therefore disease control is a requisite. A “biosecure” farm is devoid of natural systems.

So, what may be a better way? Heritage breeds of animals are part of the answer.

A heritage breed, in summary, is one bred traditionally over time to develop and nurture traits which benefit the animal and the people. These traits enable the animal to be well adapted to survive in their local environment. They may include good fertility, longevity, natural resistance to disease, etc.

The modern agricultural system such as the example mentioned above in the multi-storey scenario, uses animals selected for rapid growth and feed efficiency. Cheap meat.

I read somewhere that cheap meat is a false economy because meat is a food for which quantity is never a substitute for quality. I agree.

Heritage breeds are more resistant to pathogens and their genetics are strengthened naturally. They are born to survive with minimal human intervention. Their lessened requirement for pathogen control and “factory processes” allows also for a more flavoursome product.

Heritage breeds have a past which goes beyond our forefathers and we need to keep this knowledge. They are an important resource of genetic, cultural and traditional history.

Similarly, the same genetic concept may be applied to plants. Heirloom seeds are those that have been passed from generation to generation before the days of mass commercial farming. They have been grown for their strong constitution, their flavour, colour, resistance to disease, adaptability, fertility and so on. They are not genetically modified and are naturally pollinated by insects, wind or birds.

Again, fruit and vegetables in an intensive agriculture system more often than not have their quality compromised by the promise of good profit margins and companies will go to great lengths to produce maximum yield at lowest cost. Heirloom varieties are not considered in these systems generally as they may not fruit as consistently, may not look right for the market, may not produce for a long enough season, and aren’t hybridised to withstand global transport and long periods of storage, but historically, they were kept and propagated for all their positive attributes at the time. Namely their ability to survive, robustly, in their local environments, with minimal intervention, in full flavour.

Heritage breeds and Heirloom seeds – part of a good, clean and fair food system.