Just yesterday I received a comment on my instagram post, of a vegan club sandwich, about what factory farming is. I responded, excited for an opportunity to educate and as it turns out it was young cattle rancher wanting to prove me wrong. At first I was really frustrated but after some reflection I realized that if she thinks she persuaded me that she's 'right' in this online discussion than I need to work on how I communicate. This post will be dedicated to all of the reasons other than animal welfare to care about factory farming because most people don't care about animals but they care about themselves.
Disclaimer: I have only put dedicated research into hog farming therefore I will not write on any other subject matter.
Disclaimer: I have only put dedicated research into hog farming therefore I will not write on any other subject matter.
- Traditional and industrial style farming are the largest polluters of waterways in the US according to the US EPA (Key et. al. 2009)
- The sewage left in the slatted floor system collects and emits larges amounts of ammonia and other noxious gases (Donham, et. al., 2006)
- Slatted floor systems changes the composition of the waste and the waste loses it's benefits as a crop fertilizer (Key et. al. 2009).
- Due to the waste treatment at these facilities 70-80% of all workers in such facilities experience acute respiratory problems (Miller 1988)
- In 3km radius of hog CAFO (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation) the local communities also suffer from respiratory problems because of the noxious gases from farming (Wing and Wolf, 2000)
- The malodor from hog CAFOs has changed community culture as most do not want to do outdoor activities and is directly linked to higher rates of mood disorders of anxiety, depression, and sleep disturbances (Wing and Wolf, 2000)
- Tight pens lower the immunity among animals creating illness susceptibility, creating a demand for antibiotics (Miller, 1988)
- CAFOs tend to remove high percentage of money from rural communities than when dominated by smaller farm operations (Donham, et. al., 2006)
- The health issues affecting communities are hard to fix with the disparity between the low income and POC communities the CAFOs are located in and the economic corporate working of CAFOs due to low capital to create change (Ponette-González and Fry, 2010)
This is a highly simplified list of reasons why factory farming is bad for ALL of us. If you have questions feel free to comment and I'll make another post about it. If you click read more I have links to all of my sources.
Ponette-González, A., & Fry, M. (2010). Pig pandemic: Industrial hog farming in eastern Mexico. Land Use Policy, 27(4), 1107-1110. Retrieved February 16, 2015, from http://www.academia.edu/314615/Pig_Pandemic_Industrial_Hog_Farming_In_Eastern_Mexico
Donham, K., Wing, S., Osterberg, D., Flora, J., Hodne, C., Thu, K., & Thorne, P. (2006). Community Health and Socioeconomic Issues Surrounding Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations. Environmental Health Perspectives, 115(2), 317-320. Retrieved February 16, 2015, from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1817697/
Wing, S., & Wolf, S. (2000). Intensive Livestock Operations, Health, and Quality of Life among Eastern North Carolina Residents. Environmental Health Perspectives, 108(3), 233-238. Retrieved February 16, 2015, from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1637983/
Nikiforuk, Andrew (2000). When Water Kills. Maclean’s, 113(24) 18-21.
Milller, B.S. (1988). The Dangers of Factory Farming. Business & Society Review (00453609), (65).
Key, N., McBride, W., & Ribaudo, M. (2009). Changes in manure management in the hog sector 1998-2004. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
Wendee, N. (2013). Erratum: “CAFOs and Environmental Justice: The Case of North Carolina”. Environmental Health Perspectives, 121(6), A210-A210. Retrieved February 16, 2015, from http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/121-a182/
Image References:
Wendee, N. (2013). Erratum: “CAFOs and Environmental Justice: The Case of North Carolina”. Environmental Health Perspectives, 121(6), A210-A210. Retrieved February 16, 2015, from http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/121-a182/