|
Beastly dangers
Industrial animal farms pose risk to humans
Date published: 5/6/2008
ARECENT REPORT--based on a two-and-a-half-year study by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Pew Charitable Trusts--concludes that current industrial-farming practices pose unacceptable risks to public health. This finding goes beyond the typical concerns for animal welfare to connect industrial animal-farming practices to real health problems in humans.
Industrial animal-farm production is, generally, what people mean by "factory farms." These large-scale productions cram an ungodly number of live animals into tight confines. The scale of these enterprises is impossible for many to fathom, but they're likely where most or all of your meat originates.
Classic criticism of these farms involves the inhumane treatment of the animals, and has spawned reactionary marketing of "free range" chicken and "grass-fed" beef. But it turns out that, morals aside, industrial farms are exacting a toll on our bodies and the environment.
Intense monoculture production reduces the natural diversity of open land, and scientists are only beginning to understand the impact that can have on an ecosystem. But there are immediate environmental concerns. The report cites EPA estimates that U.S. industrial animal farms produce three times the solid waste of all humans combined. Such concentrations of manure cannot be properly handled by the farmland; the overload results in excessive nutrient, acid, sulfur, and ammonia runoff that harms lakes and rivers. Also, industrial animal farms create a significant amount of methane and carbon dioxide, and regional air quality near such operations can be compromised.
The most easily remedied issue pertains to the aggressive preventative use of antimicrobials. Poor living conditions require these compounds to prevent disease epidemics among animal populations, but their overuse has led to resistant microbes that could make treating human disease more difficult. Congress is considering measures that would limit the use of antimicrobials in farm applications and would be wise to enact them.
It's tempting to imagine a future where industrial swine factories are replaced by a network of quaint farmsteads growing heirloom tomatoes and organic rabbits, but the hard fact is that people need food. Some need it desperately.
Market forces have brought us the solution of industrial farm production, and as long as billions on this planet are hungry, those farms are here to stay. Alas, market forces don't suffice to ensure healthy and safe production practices that protect the public and ensure a stable food supply. For that to happen, governments, representing the public interest, need to regulate industrial animal farms.
Date published: 5/6/2008
|
Star Directory
