Agro-Industrial Complex worse than...

...the Military-Industrial Complex? Hard to say.

I read a report today of a recently concluded study - Putting Meat on the Table: Industrial Farm Animal Production in America - by Pew Charitable Trusts and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (find it here). I do admit that I didn't read the entire 124 page report, but at least a good portion. The study is essentially about the mass production of animals in Industrial Farm Animal Production (IFAP). As I said in a previous post, in Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO) – large scale IFAPs, hundreds of thousands of animals are kept in a building until they're fat enough to slaughter. Incidentally, if an IFAP is large enough to be a CAFO it can ditch the CAFO designation IF they state "that it does not discharge into navigable waters or directly into waters " ??! So they CAN put it into the ground where it will eventually seep into the GROUNDWATER? And if they're just under the size limit – no worries about where they put the waste? My head just blew up.

Any who… All those animals living in such close quarters pass around disease like mono at a make-out party. These animals are usually a single breed and a single genetic line, meaning if one isn't able to stave off infection it's unlikely his second cousin down in the next cage will be either. This all leads to pathogen transfer, infectious disease transfer, and food-borne infection. The industry uses massive amounts of antibiotics on the animals to treat the diseases and just to 'help them grow' in general, which leads to antimicrobial resistance. We all know that's not good.

And don't forget about those cesspools of shit. "A single hog Industrial Farm Animal Production (IFAP) facility, for example, produces manure in an amount equivalent to the sewage flow of an entire American town. Pound for pound, pigs produce four times the waste of a human. Consequently, a single IFAP housing 5,000 pigs produces the same volume of raw sewage as a town of 20,000…" all this with no sewage treatment plant. The resulting stink is actually making people who live next to these facilities sick; imagine if you had to work there.

And where does it all go? Sometimes the facility sprays the untreated sewage on their own land -at least it's not going in the water. And other times...

In a recent New York Times article about fertilizer shortages, the authors stated that U.S. farmers "have increased the age-old practice of spreading hog manure on fields". The 'age-old practice' they are referring to is from back- in-the-day when farmers used the waste from the 40 or so hogs they raised to add some nutrients back into the land – sounds gross, but a perfectly decent, sustainable practice. Those hogs were likely not sick, fairly free-roaming, and there weren't enough of them to overload the land with too much nitrogen and phosphates. That's not the situation we have today, that hog manure is coming from IFAP cesspools. Is it treated? Who's to say, these IFAPs aren't regulated very well or consistently.

I know it's depressing and I know that not everyone can afford locally produced meat from free-roaming, grass-fed animals. The report gave some very extensive suggestions that basically boil down to what the government, industry leaders, and watch-dog groups need to do. But you can contact your elected representatives, cut back a bit on your meat intake (perhaps forgo the $.98 package of Rodeo hot dogs - I know yummy yummy in your tummy), and when you can, buy responsibly raised meat.

Art and Pigs

No, these don't have too much in common, except that I've got both on my mind.

We went to the Main St. Ft. Worth Arts Festival Sunday. We had a great time; saw some really good art, ate some pretty good (although not especially good for you) food, then listened to some fun music that had the man and I dancing. I went to the festival's website to see what sort of "greenness" they were offering. They had the two items below:

• DO recycle your cans and bottles at the Festival, and note all of our cups and eating utensils are biodegradable, and will break down after only 45 days in the landfill!
  
• DO consider alternative transportation, and do your part for the environment. Ride the TRE (late night service available on Friday and Saturday all the way back to Dallas), the "T", and ride your bike and park it in our fully-staffed Bike Corral, supported by Bikes, Inc. and the Fort Worth Bicycle Association.
  

I didn't notice that the cups and eating utensils were especially different, but I'm sure that's the point. I did see trash cans and recycling bins all over the place and since everything was exceptionally clean, it seems they were both being used. I did not see anyone putting their cans and bottles in the trash as you do sometimes at these sorts of events. The recycling bins had lids on them and I remember reading, I don't remember where, that putting lids on the recycling bins helps people think twice about what they put in there and distinguishes that bin from the trash can. And, of course, from our location taking the train or riding bikes is out of the question, maybe someday.

As for any purchases, are you kidding!? We can't afford that. Maybe next weekend at the Denton Arts & Jazz Festival. You know we won't be missing that one.

And now the pigs…I was reading an article from Grist.org from last year – you know the internet is like a rabbit's hole. It was about these massive pig farms, or confinement farms. The pigs are kept in a building by the hundreds of thousands, just bunched in there in cages until they're big enough to slaughter. Now, I'm no PETA person and I love me some bacon…mmm…bacon…But they keep them in there and where does all the shit go? Into cesspools, either out in the open or under the buildings. The industry calls them "lagoons", but I know I don't want to be swimming around in that! Then, I guess when it runneth over; they liquefy the feces and spray it onto the fields…blechh. You know what happens to it then, it gets in our food and ground water and on and on and on it goes – so depressing. Did you know the average American eats 6 pigs in a lifetime? I don't think that's all that much, but if they're all raised like this – not a good combination.

So I was thinking about that yummy bacon I bought…oh, please say it ain't so. And it isn't!! I bought some nitrate-free bacon from Applegate Farms at Sprouts, I'm sure you can find it other places, too. That's just where I happened to be. I looked at the package and it said "Certified Humane" Humane, you say? Yes, apparently Applegate Farms pigs are allowed to engage in their natural behaviors with ample space and no hormones. Sounds humane, indeed. If you go to the Applegate Farms website, you can even look at where your food comes from and what precautions they take to make sure it is all nice and safe, and not cesspool-y. Currently they only have this info on poultry, with swine and beef to come.

Enjoy your bacon! I know I will be!