How can the city wipe out the pig industry?

On December 20, Shenzhen illegal breeding rectification work site meeting was held in Guangming New District, planned to promote the relevant practices and experiences of Guangming New District throughout the city. Lv Ruifeng, member of the Standing Committee of Shenzhen Municipal Party Committee and executive vice mayor, said that Shenzhen today is not suitable for raising pigs, and legal pig farmers should also move out of Shenzhen through industrial transfer. (Shenzhen Special Zone Daily, December 21)

It is undeniable that raising pigs requires a certain amount of land resources and has a certain impact on the urban environment. I fully agree that the government should take measures to regulate pig breeding, clean up illegal farmers and comprehensively control pig pollution. However, if the government bans pig farming in the whole city because of the pollution caused by pig farming, even legal pig farmers will have to move out of Shenzhen. Obviously not convincing. The Opinions of the State Council on Promoting the Development of Pig Production and Stabilizing Market Supply clearly stipulates that "all cities should establish large-scale pig farms in suburban counties to maintain the necessary pig scale and pork self-sufficiency rate." No place shall prohibit or restrict pig breeding on the grounds of new rural construction or environmental improvement." Shenzhen will ban pig breeding in the whole city. What is the legal and policy basis?

On the surface, Shenzhen completely bans pigs, which can save certain land resources, improve the urban environment and enhance the city image. However, after the city banned pig farming, the supply of live pigs completely depended on foreign aid. In the context of rising logistics costs and pig raising costs, can ordinary people still eat inexpensive pork? This question obviously cannot be avoided. If the government does not make thoughtful institutional arrangements for basic livelihood issues such as pork supply (for example, strengthen regional cooperation, give policy support to pork business, and issue non-staple food subsidies to people in need), it will be suspected of making head-beating decisions if it bans pig farming in a hurry. In my opinion, the Government should weigh the pros and cons comprehensively and take into account the interests of people's livelihood when making policy decisions.

Although the current price index is gradually falling, meat prices are relatively stable. However, considering the reality of rising logistics costs and feeding costs, pork prices remain on the rise in the long run. If Shenzhen prohibits raising pigs in the name of environmental protection, pigs outside are unwilling to come in, or meat prices continue to rise, how to ensure that there is pork on the common people's table?

We might as well look back at the reasons put forward by Vice Mayor Lu Ruifeng for "Shenzhen is not suitable for raising pigs": Shenzhen's land carrying capacity is unsustainable, and Shenzhen is overwhelmed by urban openness, total emissions and car ownership. However, no matter from the perspective of harmfulness or control cost, pig pollution obviously cannot be compared with huge industrial pollution, and pig occupation of land resources cannot be compared with golf and real estate projects. What's more, pig pollutants are very good farm fertilizers and can also be used ecologically.

What is more worth asking is that pig breeding pollutes Shenzhen and occupies urban land. Is it possible that pig breeding in other areas is not polluted and does not occupy land? What if all parts of the country kill off the pig industry like Shenzhen? According to the logic of "what pollutes the environment is prohibited", will all factories close down, all catering enterprises close down, and people have to control their physiological needs for eating, drinking and defecating?

Compared with real estate and industrial and commercial projects, pig farming may not create many economic indicators for cities, but it is worth thinking about what is the purpose of local economic development? Is it just for GDP performance or to improve people's livelihood? In fact, when economic indicators and people's livelihood interests are placed on the same scale, it is not a difficult question to answer. How can the Government treat pig farming as an additional pollution burden?

In short, cities cannot ignore people's livelihood interests for the sake of environmental sanitation and GDP growth. To issue a ban, we must first act in accordance with the law, and second, we must sympathize with people's livelihood. Even if Shenzhen wants to innovate its system, it should fully consult the public opinion before issuing the ban on raising pigs, obtain public support, and make thoughtful institutional arrangements for the most direct and realistic interests of the masses, such as the interests of farmers and pork supply. Otherwise, there is no reason to say that "Shenzhen is not suitable for pig farming" and wipe out the pig farming industry.