BEYOND FACTORY FARMS ‘Big Meat’ Comes at High Cost
by Melinda Hemmelgarn K
evin Walker, a Michigan State University professor and author of Te Grand Food Bargain and
the Mindless Drive for More, says, “Meat is the poster child of industrial food gone awry.” Independent animal farm- ers are disappearing while factory farms are getting bigger, causing more air, soil and water pollution in rural communi- ties nationwide, reports the Center for a Livable Future (CLF) at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Large industrialized farms known as
concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFO) rely on the routine use of antibiot- ics to both prevent the spread of disease and promote animal growth and weight gain—a practice known to fuel antibiotic resistance and compromise human health.
High Cost of Cheap
Meat According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a push toward greater efficiency created the shiſt to industrial livestock production. However, attempts to maximize production for higher re- turns at minimal cost come at a price. For example, a grow-
ing body of evidence
shows that CAFO leads to the social and economic decline of rural communities. “Research has consistently found that living near a CAFO is associated with an array of negative health impacts, including respira- tory disease, mental health problems and certain types of infections,” says Keeve Nachman, Ph.D., director of the CLF Food Production and Public Health Program. Everett Murphy, M.D., a retired
pulmonologist from Kansas City, concurs, “Not only are the odors from factory live- stock farms offensive, but individuals living within three miles of industrial animal operations are at risk for serious, life-short- ening illnesses and permanent disabilities.” Concrete reservoirs designed to hold manure present a problem as well, he adds, “Tey always leak into the groundwater, spreading antibiotic-resistant bacteria and making the source of water to neighboring communities unusable and toxic.” Joan Olive says she is living proof that
exposure to air pollution from factory farms is every bit as harmful as scientists and
health experts have warned about for years. On one fateful December day 16 years ago, Olive was outdoors on her family farm near Spencer, Iowa, when she noticed a strong, sickening odor. Feeling nauseous, she went inside, but later that evening, her tongue swelled, she became disoriented and began shaking and sweating profusely. Olive’s symptoms subsided over
the next few days, but since then she has experienced multiple chemical sensitivities, transient symptoms of brain fog, muscle twitching, migraines, and respiratory and circulatory problems. Health experts at the University of Iowa identified the source of the sickening odor as toxic hydrogen sulfide from liquid CAFO waste that had been sprayed on farmland one mile from Olive’s home. In addition to the region’s concentra- tion of hog CAFO, her home sat two miles from 1.5 million chickens. Today, Olive drinks filtered water
and eats organic food to protect her health, but she notices that her symptoms return when triggered by expo- sure to CAFO air pollution and pesticides. In March, Olive moved to Spearfish, South Dakota, where she’s breathing easier and enjoying time outdoors. But she
believes she leſt behind “thousands of rural residents who are having their lives and health destroyed by Big Ag.”
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