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Factory
Farming
Humans'
Beef with Livestock: A Warmer Planet
Brad Knickerbocker, The Christian Science Monito — February 2007
Livestock are a major emitter of greenhouse gases that cause climate change.
And as meat becomes a growing mainstay of human diet around the world, changing
what we eat may prove as hard as changing what we drive...
This
Little Piggy Can Turn
The News & Observer, Editorial — February
2007
But if we're going to eat animals' flesh, it seems as if the least we can do
is raise them under conditions that don't just add misery and insult to the "injury" they
soon enough will experience at the slaughterhouse...
Boss
Hog — The Nation's Top Hog Producer is Also
One of America's Worst Polluters
Jeff Tietz, Rolling Stone, feature — December 2006
America's top pork producer churns out a
sea of waste that has destroyed rivers, killed millions
of fish and generated one of the largest fines in EPA
history. Welcome to the dark side of the other white
meat...
Cows,
Pigs and Sheep: Environment's Greatest Threats?
Catherine Brahic, New Scientist — December 2006
dustry
is degrading land, contributing to the greenhouse
effect, polluting water resources, and destroying
biodiversity. In summary, the sector is "one
of the top two or three most significant contributors
to the most serious environmental problems at
every scale"...
The
Reality of Feed at Animal Factories
Union of Concerned Scientists, feature — September
2006
Over
the last 50 years, the way food animals are raised
and fed has changed dramatically — to the
detriment of both animals and humans...
One
Thing To Do About Food: A Forum
The Nation, Forum — September 2006
The National Uniformity for Food Act of 2005, passed
by the House and now before the Senate, is a fine
example of how food companies and their allies work
hard to keep consumers in the dark... There is one very simple
thing that everyone can do to fix the food system.
Don't buy factory-farm products...
Slow
Food Nation
The Nation, feature — September
2006
By
now it is generally conceded that the food we eat
could actually be making us sick, but we still
haven't acknowledged the full consequences--environmental,
political, cultural, ocial and ethical--of our
national diet...
The
Reality of Feed at Animal Factories
Union of Concerned Scientists, feature — September
2006
To
save money, they've redefined what constitutes animal
feed, with little consideration of what is best for
the animals or for human health. As a result, many
of the ingredients used in feed these days are not
the kind of food the animals are designed by nature
to eat...
Another
Inconvenient Truth
David Steele, PhD., Canadian EarthSaver, feature — August 2006
There
are no two ways about it. Eating meat, dairy and
fish is just plain incompatible with sustainability.
If this planet is going to be saved, we must
change our eating habits. Go see Al Gore's movie.
Do what he suggests. And give up animal products...
Meat
Too Tough to Eat
Neal Barnard, Hartford Courant, editorial — August 2006
And there is no strawberry flu
or avocado flu, either. But bird flu has emerged
as a potential pandemic...
Meat
is a Global Warming Issue
Dan Brook, E Magazine, feature — August 2006
"In
a nutshell," according to the Center for International
Forestry Research, "cattle ranchers are making mincemeat
out of Brazil's Amazon rainforests"...
So
Who's Really to Blame for Bird Flu?
Joanna Blythman, Guardian Unlimited, commentary — June
2006
A
growing number of non-governmental organisations,
bird experts and independent vets are pointing the
finger at the global intensive poultry industry...
Stink
Rises in Ag Circles Over Pollution Lawsuits
Philip Brasher, Des Moines Register, feature — May
2006
Environmentalists
say there's no reason toxic chemicals should be
treated differently whether they come from a farm
or factory, especially given that farms can have
bigger emissions than a factory when it comes to
a chemical like ammonia...
A
Virus Stalks the Henhouse
Charles Piller, KTLA News, feature — December 2005
"When
you grow up on a ranch, you know about predators — coyotes
and such. But I didn't imagine the main predator
would be like this," he said, indicating a microscopic
speck between thumb and forefinger. "A virus"...
Chemical
Farm
John Feffer, AlterNet, feature — November
2005
From
testosterone and tetracycline to zeranol and genetically
engineered bovine growth hormone, enough chemicals
circulate in our animal products to stock a medicine
cabinet. Because
our meat and dairy are still over the counter, though, Americans
remain largely oblivious to the intrusions of the pharmaceutical
industry into our kitchens...
Farmers
May Be Losing Battle with Animal Rights Activists
Janet Kubat Willette, AgriNews, feature — November
2005
If
animal agriculture hopes to win it must establish
the moral high ground and tell people about it relentlessly...
Avian
Influenza: Action Alert
Karen Davis, United Poultry Concerns, essay — November 2005
If
there is any doubt that the human species has violated
the privilege of sharing the earth with the other
creatures, the spread and handling of avian influenza
dispels it. People ask, what can we do? The answer
is, we can stop eating birds and their eggs and we
can try to help as many birds as we can...
Agency
Targets Animal Damage
Brodie Farquhar, Star-Tribune, feature — Sepember
2005
"Wildlife Services killed more than
five animals per minute in 2004,"said Wendy Keefover-Ring
of Sinapu, a wolf advocacy group. "The toll on
ecosystems wrought by this one agency is jaw-dropping"...
Agro-ecosystem:
Tannery and Leather Industry
Shafiq-ur-Rehman, Greater Kashmir, feature — July
2005
Almost all the world output of leather
produced is from cattle hides and calfskins, goatskins
and kidskins, and sheepskins and lambskins. Other
hides and skins used include those of the horse,
pig, kangaroo, deer, reptile, seal, and walrus,
but they amount significantly fewer...
Corporate
Hog Farms
Mike Owens, KSDK, feature — July
2005
Tens of thousands of corporate hogs are
being bred and fed in Missouri, with thousands more
expected, as one of the nation's biggest hog producers
plans an expansion. But
detractors say the booming hog business has a downside:
it hurts the environment and the family farm...
How
Pigs Could be Launchpad for Bird Flu Pandemic
James Meilde, The Guardian, feature — June 2005
A virologist from Hong Kong warned pigs
could provide a launchpad, even if birds carrying the
virus, which is causing havoc in Vietnam, Cambodia
and Thailand, failed to do so...
Animals,
Slavery, and the Holocaust
Charles Patterson, Logos, essay — June 2005
Where
does all the war, racism, terrorism, violence, and
cruelty that's so endemic to human civilization come
from? Why do humans exploit and massacre each other
so regularly? Why is our species so violence-prone?
To answer these questions we would do well to think
about our exploitation and slaughter of animals and
its effect on human civilization...
Do
We Need Large-Scale Confinement Animal Feeding Operations?
John Ikerd, The Pig Site, feature — April
2005
But,
the elements of truth in these cases are not sufficient
to validate the truth of the popular claims regarding
CAFOs. No one really needs CAFOs...
Farmers
Study Future Without Confined Feeding Operations
Danya Cain, The Tribune, article — March
2005
The
premise of his lecture, part of the Indiana Forage Council’s
annual meeting, is that the confinement system is not
an enduring system, Zartman said. “The
change is coming,” Zartman said. “Whether or
not I’ve said it right tonight or not, it will be
enormous. If CAFOs survive, they won’t be as we
know it”...
They're
Gonna Die Anyway
Michelle Rivera, essay — February
2005
If
we stopped using leather products, and gelatin, and
other animal by-products, the cost of meat would soar
to an unattainable level for most people, effectively
crippling the beef industry...
Group
Targets 'Animal Care Certified' Label
James Drew, Toledo
Blade, feature — February 2005
But
last year, the national advertising division of the Council
of Better Business Bureaus referred the Animal Care Certified
logo on egg cartons to the Federal Trade Commission for possible
law-enforcement action...
Bio-pharming
Begs Closer Scrutiny
Benjamin K. Sovacool, The Roanoke
Times, commentary — December 2004
One
type of industrial biotechnology frequently overlooked
in discussions about the dangers of genetic engineering
is bio-pharming, or the genetic altering of plants
and animals to produce pharmaceuticals...
Factory
Farms "Start of Killer Diseases"
Amanda Brown, IC Wales, investigation — November
2004
Factory
farming poses dangers to human health and animal welfare,
particularly in developing countries, according to
a report out today...industrial
animal agriculture has acted as a "launch pad" for
diseases such as Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy
(BSE), avaian flu and Nipah virus...
Foie
Gras — Luxury or Cruelty
Greg Atkinson, Seattle Times Magazine,
feature — November 2004
But
while most high-end chefs and slow-food aficionados
remain enamored of this foodstuff, a sea change may
be under way...
Dirty
Farm Secrets Revealed
Robert Cohen, essay — October
2004
What
do farmers do to sentient creatures, and what devices
of torture do they use?...
The
evidence is included in the 2005 Nasco Farm Ranch catalog advertised
as "The Largest Farm Catalog in the
World"...
Morgan
Spurlock's Food Fight
Chris Betros, Japan Today, feature — October
2004
I
wanted to make a film [Super Size Me] that would empower
people to think about eating better, exercising more...
Big
Farms, Big Problems?
Manure From Large-scale Dairies Creates Environmental Issues
Fran Henry, Cleveland Plain Dealer, investigation — August
2004
While
Mother Nature easily manages a cow pie here, a cow pie there, enormous amounts
of liquefied manure are another story. The 22,600 cows housed by northwest Ohio's
22 new dairies produce about 2.8 million pounds of manure a day...
Meat-eaters
Soak Up the World's Water
John Vidal, The Guardian, feature — August
2004
The
consensus emerging among scientists is that it will
be almost impossible to feed future generations the
typical diet eaten in western Europe and North America
without destroying the environment...All
that water has to come from somewhere...
Crimes
Unseen:
Can Consumers Rewrite the Dark and Brutal Story of
America's Big Slaughterhouses?
Dena Jones, Orion Magazine, investigation
— July
2004
That's
27,397,260 animals every day, 1,141,553 every hour,
19,026 every minute. Most Americans, largely disconnected
from their food supply, assume these animals met a
painless end, if they think about it at all...
Animal
Rights and the Myth of "Humane" Treatment
Tom Regan, Minnesota Daily, commentary— April
2004
Comparatively
speaking, few people are animal rights advocates. Why? Part of the answer concerns
our disparate beliefs about how often animals are treated badly. Animal rights
advocates believe this is a tragedy of incalculable proportions. Nonadvocates
believe mistreatment occurs hardly at all...
45
Days:
Animal Suffering in the Broiler Industry
Compassion Over Killing, investigation — April
2004
Each
year in the United States, more than 8 billion chickens are raised on these farms.
In the 1950s, it took 84 days to
raise a five-pound chicken. Due to selective breeding and growth-promoting drugs,
it now takes only 45 days...
Into
the Frying Pan: Virginia's Egg Business Heats Up — But
Is There a Difference Between Factory and Farm?
Laura LaFay, Style Weekly, feature — April
2004
But
when you pull into the parking lot, there is not
a chicken to be seen or a cluck to be heard. To the
left of the lot stands the egg-processing plant.
To the right, five long windowless “chicken
houses." Except
for the sound of an American flag snapping in the
wind, all is silent...
Assume
No Animal Products Are Safe
Karen Davis, United Poultry Concerns,
feature — February 2004
Talk
about "isolated cases" is nonsense regardless.
Agribusiness is global, and for this reason alone
the synergies of animal and human diseases elude
exactitude...
The
Oil We Eat —
Following the Food Chain Back to Iraq
Richard Manning, Harper's Magazine, investigation — February
2004
Farming
did not improve lives. [But, I think that] agriculture was not so much about
food as it was about the accumulation of wealth. It benefited some humans,
and those people have been in charge ever since...
Could
Mad Cow Disease Already be Killing Thousands of Americas
Every Year?
Michael Greger, MD, investigation — January
2004
The
incubation period for human spongiform encephalopathies
such as CJD can be decades.74 This means it can be
years between eating infected meat and getting diagnosed
with the death sentence of CJD...
The
Cow Jumped Over the U.S.D.A.
Eric Schlosser, New York Times, feature — January
2004
The
Agriculture Department has a dual, often contradictory
mandate: to promote the sale of meat on behalf
of American producers and to guarantee that American
meat is safe on behalf of consumers. For too long
the emphasis has been on commerce, at the expense
of safety...
The
High Price of Cheap Food
Emily Green, Los Angeles Times, feature — January
2004
Our
understanding of the way our food is produced is
so out of date that it takes a mad cow for Christmas
to force our gaze to the farming world beyond the
refrigerator case...
continued
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