Putting profit above safety and need has also led to the closure of local abattoirs and the concentration of slaughter in a few giant sites-again making it more likely disease will spread. One result has been the shipping of live animals hundreds of miles to giant slaughterhouses in the pursuit of a few percent extra on the profit margin. This is why the current outbreak of foot and mouth has rapidly spread across Britain, whereas the previous major outbreak in 1967 remained confined to certain areas. Animals from Northumberland are shipped to Essex, Europe and beyond for slaughter for no rational reason, but purely for extra profit. Yet it makes far more sense from every rational point of view to slaughter animals for food near where they are produced.
Some commentators argue that cheap food is the problem.
Most people in Britain do not find food cheap-ask any family struggling to pay the weekly bills. Many farmers and the workers who buy food in the shops have been hit by the same people-the giant firms who control food distribution and sales. One study estimates that 50 years ago farmers got something like 60p in every pound consumers paid. Now the figure is around 9p, says the study. The beneficiaries are the giant supermarkets which dominate food supply.