quite right, but traditional farming methods along with its relative respect for the rural environment and animal welfare, simple cant provide enough "product" for the bloated and ever increasing world population.
hence the mass industrialization of farming. living creatures are merely parts and the countryside merely the factory floor..
Being from a farming background I may be biased but "traditional" methods of farming are the best for animal welfare and the environment.... the problem being that the public and particularly in the UK and USA expect to pay below the cost of production for their food ....they just want cheap volume .
You can not produce a 99p 1/4lb burger ethically and sustainably ...despite what the publicity may say . Same for Milk ....it's cheaper than bottled water in some case's and despite what the "plant based " crew may have you believe you can't milk nuts or soya.... and no mammal other than humans think you can raise young on anything other than milk....
The other issue was touched on when the WW2 ration diet was mentioned .... we all eat too much ( broad statement I know ;-) ) and prefer volume to taste ...
Just walk down any street in the UK and you will see the result of this ..... go past any maccies at school day end time and see the lines of cars with fat mums and kids in them getting a snack on the way home for dinner ...
Being a veggie isn't going to save the planet if you eat veg that has travelled halfway round the planet and been grown on scarce fertile land or on cleared forest in a third world country so you can have any veg at any time of the year.....
Palm oil..... don't get me started ... should be banned from any food but in vast areas of the world it's too late the forest has gone .
The other strange thing is in areas of Kenya they are growing flowers that are flown to Europe just to be in a vase for a week on land that could be feeding Africa...
At times the world is truly a fu#ked up place.... with an ever increasing world population we have a problem if the over bloated western diet is seen as aspirational by millions of people in China and other nations.....