Summary
Residents interviewed from a town in Northern Ireland affected by the growing intensification of animal farming were generally against intensification due to various environmental risks and felt that they had little control or input (e.g., being given insufficient time to ask questions) over the expansion of these farms in their community, termed procedural injustice. Water and air pollution, accompanied by the associated health risks to people and animals, loss of biodiversity, and a decreased ability to enjoy the outdoors were among the top concerns identified. The author also identified themes of recognitional injustice, a form of injustice in which a group’s values or cultures are not given sufficient importance, in the responses of residents.A limitation to this study is its small sample size (fifteen individuals), which may not be entirely representative of the entire community. A strength of this article is its in-depth and detailed analysis of issues experienced by a specific community. The author recommends that local communities be given more agency to determine what happens in their community, and that decision-making forums be reformed to be more inclusive of meaningful community participation, especially when it comes to projects that can pose environmental risks.
Going for Growth, an industry-led strategy to expand the agri-food sector, was adopted by the Northern Irish government in 2013 in order to encourage farming intensification in Northern Ireland. This approach, however, threatens an already fragile natural environment and has already had detrimental consequences for human health and well-being. This article employs an environmental justice perspective to scrutinize farming intensification in a community affected by this phenomenon. Based on findings from semi-structured interviews with local residents, the article describes their exposure to environmental risks as a result of farming intensification. The uneven distribution of environmental burdens is also coupled with limited opportunities for the local residents to engage in environmental decision-making and to be recognized as active agents of change. The article concludes that farming intensification in Northern Ireland is marked by procedural environmental injustice and should be addressed by downscaling levels of production and reforming decision-making processes.