Covid-19 and intensive farming

Should we intensify agriculture to prevent future pandemics?

A recent article argued that the way to prevent future pandemics is to intensify agriculture. Lizzie Rowe explores why this is a misguided conclusion.

The Breakthrough Institute recently published an article entitled To Combat Pandemics, Intensify Agriculture. This is the opposite conclusion to the one I made in a previously published article, and others have made as well: that intensive animal agriculture provides the perfect conditions for the emergence of zoonotic disease. So, despite being left aghast by the title alone, I was eager to read more and discover the reasoning behind this bold statement.

The article argues that ‘intensification is the solution to reducing the risk of zoonotic disease, not the