|
Farms Without Harm exists to educate the public about the negative impact of factory farms on our health, the environment, local economy and animal welfare and to offer local, sustainable alternatives to the industrial food supply. Here's a brief synopsis of the issues involved....
THE ISSUES: Today, the majority of meat we eat is a product of factory farms or CAFOs (Confined Animal Feeding Operations). These industrial operations are defined by the Environmental Protection Agency as having more than 1,000 beef cattle, 2,500 hogs or 100,000 broiler hens. Industrial agriculture is based on the financial bottom line, not on the welfare of the planet, consumers or farm animals affected by these operations. To cut costs and raise production levels, CAFO owners cram thousands of animals in cages under one roof and ignore basic needs like access to fresh air and exercise. To stave off disease and encourage growth, they feed the animals huge amounts of antibiotics. These methods have huge, hidden costs not factored into the cheap price of meat at stores and restaurants -- a host of health, environmental and economic problems that plague modern society. Beyond these human concerns, the treatment of animals involves suffering so widespread and horrific, it challenges humans to re-examine what it means to be compassionate and a good steward of the earth.
HEALTH: - Growing human resistance to antibiotics relates directly to CAFOs. 70% of antibiotics go to animals and end up in manure, which ends up in our water supply. --Waterkeeper Alliance
|  Cafo Lagoon, SE Mich |
- CAFOs emit air pollutants that aggravate asthma and chronic respiratory diseases. About 25% of hog farm workers have chronic bronchitis and non-allergic asthma. -- American Public Health Association
- Recent salmonella and E. Coli outbreaks have been linked to livestock waste. (APHA)
- Factory farms are such a potential public health threat that the APHA and Michigan State Medical Society called for a moratorium on new CAFOs.
ENVIRONMENT:
- CAFOs produce millions of gallons of manure that's stored in lagoons and spread over fields. Runoff gets into the water supply and has led to huge fish kills -- 13 million fish in 200 incidents from 1995-1998 alone.- Natural Resources Defense Council
- The EPA has defined 60% of U.S. rivers and streams as "impaired;" farm runoff is cited as the biggest culprit.
- The Gulf of Mexico dead zone stems from algae blooms due to animal waste runoff. (NRDC)
- Nationally, The Sierra Club, Waterkeeper Alliance, NRDC, Clean Water Action and other organizations have come out against CAFOs.
- Locally, Sierra Club's Mackinac Chapter, Michigan Land Use Institute and Environmentally Concerned Citizens of South Central Michigan have tackled the issue.
ECONOMICS:
- Every new factory farm forces 10 family farmers out of business. --Farm Aid
- More than 2 million small farms have been lost since the 1950s as large-scale operations have won more of the market. -- Waterkeeper Alliance
- Between 1996 and 2000, the top 10% of the largest farms received 67% of all subsidies, and the top 20% of the largest farms received 84% of the payments. -- Taxpayers for Common Sense
- CAFOs create industrial-sized waste problems not factored into the price of their products. The result is deceptively cheap food that small farms can't compete with and surrounding communities pay for in the form of pollution and health problems. -- Global Resource Action Center for the Environment
- Locally, the Michigan Farmers Union and the Greater Grand Rapids Food Systems Council have developed programs to strengthen small farms and create consumer access to alternatives to the industrial food supply.
MORALITY:
- The National Catholic Rural Life Conference has called for a moratorium on new CAFOs and takes a strong stand against them in its series "Ethics of Eating." It supports "the replacement of animal factories by sustainable and humane agricultural systems that are environmentally safe, economically viable, and socially just and species appropriate."
- In his book Dominion: The Power of Man, the Suffering of Animals, and the Call to Mercy,Matthew Scully, a senior speechwriter for President George W. Bush, condemns CAFOs and the treatment of animals as "production units," which he sees as inconsistent with the Christian calling to be merciful.
- Other religious groups that have spoken out: Christian Vegetarian Association, Catholic Concern for Animals, God's Creatures Ministry.
|