Why is the pig farming industry being driven out of the city?

On December 20, the on-site meeting on the rectification of illegal farming in Shenzhen was held in Guangming New District, with plans to promote the relevant practices and experience of Guangming New District throughout the city. Lü Ruifeng, member of the Standing Committee of the Shenzhen Municipal Party Committee and Executive Vice Mayor, said that today's Shenzhen is not suitable for pig farming, and even legal pig farmers must relocate out of Shenzhen through industrial transfer. (Shenzhen Special Zone Daily, December 21)

It cannot be denied that pig farming requires a certain amount of land resources and does have a certain impact on the urban environment. I fully agree with the government taking measures to regulate pig farming practices, clean up illegal farmers, and comprehensively address pig farming pollution. However, if the government, because of the pollution problems caused by pig farming, imposes a citywide "one-size-fits-all" ban on pig farming, and even legal pig farmers must move out of Shenzhen, that is clearly unconvincing. The "Opinions of the State Council on Promoting the Development of Pig Production and Stabilizing Market Supply" clearly stipulates: "Each city shall establish large-scale pig farms in suburban counties and maintain the necessary scale of pig farming and the self-sufficiency rate of pork. No place may prohibit or restrict pig raising on the grounds of new rural construction or environmental rectification." Shenzhen will ban pig farming throughout the city. What is the legal and policy basis for this?
On the surface, a comprehensive ban on pig farming in Shenzhen can save a certain amount of land resources, improve the urban environment, and enhance the city's image. However, after a citywide ban on pig farming, the supply of live pigs will depend entirely on outside sources. In the context of continuously rising logistics costs and pig farming costs, will ordinary people still be able to afford pork that is not expensive? This question clearly cannot be avoided. If the government has not made thorough institutional arrangements for basic livelihood issues such as pork supply (for example, strengthening regional cooperation, providing policy support for pork operations, and issuing non-staple food subsidies to disadvantaged residents), then hastily banning pig farming carries the suspicion of impulsive decision-making. In my view, government decisions should comprehensively weigh the pros and cons and take livelihood interests into account.

Although the current price index is gradually falling and meat prices are relatively stable, considering the reality of rising logistics costs and breeding costs, in the long run pork prices will still maintain an upward trend. If Shenzhen bans pig farming throughout the city in the name of environmental protection, outside live pigs are unwilling to come in, or meat prices continue to rise, how can it be guaranteed that there will be pork on people's dining tables?

We might as well look back at the reasons put forward by Vice Mayor Lü Ruifeng for "Shenzhen is not suitable for pig farming": Shenzhen's land carrying capacity is difficult to sustain, and the city's openness, total pollutant discharge, and car ownership, among other things, have left Shenzhen overwhelmed. However, whether considered from the perspective of harmfulness or governance cost, pig farming pollution clearly cannot be mentioned in the same breath as massive industrial pollution, and the land resources occupied by pig farming cannot compare with golf courses and real estate projects. Moreover, pig farming pollutants are excellent farmyard manure and can also be comprehensively utilized ecologically.
What is even more worth questioning is: if pig farming pollutes Shenzhen and occupies urban land, does pig farming in other regions not pollute and not occupy land? If all places across the country were to drive the pig farming industry to extinction like Shenzhen, then what? Following the logic of "ban whatever pollutes the environment," should all factories be closed, all catering enterprises shut down, and the people control their physiological needs for eating, drinking, and excreting?

Compared with real estate, industrial, and commercial projects, the pig farming industry perhaps cannot create many economic indicators for the city, but what is worth considering is: what is the purpose of local economic development? Is it merely for GDP performance, or is it to improve people's livelihoods? In fact, when economic indicators and livelihood interests are placed on the same scale, which is more important is not a difficult question to answer. How can the government treat pig farming as an extra pollution burden?

In short, the city cannot ignore livelihood interests for the sake of the appearance of environmental sanitation and the growth of GDP indicators. Issuing a ban must first follow the law, and second show consideration for people's livelihoods. Even if Shenzhen wants to carry out institutional innovation, before issuing a ban on pig farming, it must fully consult public opinion and obtain public support, and make thorough institutional arrangements for the interests that the masses care about most, are most directly concerned with, and are most realistic, such as the interests of farming households and pork supply. Otherwise, there is no reason to say "Shenzhen is not suitable for pig farming" and drive the pig farming industry to extinction.