Intensive farming of cattle destined for slaughter is, in the majority of cases, driven by precise commercial objectives: producing the greatest possible quantity of meat, in the shortest possible time, at the lowest possible cost. Even when the law is complied with, the logic of intensive livestock farming translates into a product that leaves much to be desired in terms of quality.

Animals are kept in extremely confined spaces and, for virtually their entire lives, are unable to move, except to eat. This causes constant stress, which in turn weakens the immune system of the cattle, leaving them susceptible to repeated infections that are treated with antibiotics; half of all the antibiotics produced in the world are destined for livestock farming. It is now well established that continuous antibiotic treatments promote the development of antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains; numerous studies have drawn a link between the overuse of antibiotics in livestock farming and the growing and alarming phenomenon of antibiotic resistance in humans.

Dangerous anabolic hormones, which have the effect of accelerating the growth of muscle tissue by rapidly "bulking up" the animal, are also banned in Italy under Legislative Decree no. 158 of 16 March 2006, which permits only the targeted use of certain hormones for therapeutic purposes on individual animals, with a mandatory record of the treatment. Unfortunately, as recent news reports have revealed, a number of Italian farmers are not complying with the ban. A recent investigation by Report, the well-known Rai 3 programme, found that 15 per cent of the animals examined tested positive for illegal treatments.

The situation is no better when it comes to animal feed, which may be made from genetically modified raw materials (with no labelling requirement on the final product) or contain significant quantities of waste materials added to reduce costs. Meat and bone meal is now banned, but this has not resolved the issue of the overall quality of animal feed; over the course of its life, the "conventional" bovine ends up accumulating considerable quantities of pesticides, pharmaceutical substances and toxic chemicals, present as residues in the raw materials used in feed production.

Without wishing to demonise a food that is nonetheless part of human food culture, it can be said that the best choice is the common-sense one: consuming less and prioritising quality, by choosing only certified meat from organic or biodynamic farms — and therefore free from GMOs — or at the very least native breeds with a controlled designation of origin (chianina, marchigiana, maremmana, podolica and so on), reared according to criteria that place quality above quantity.