The Worst Way of Farming
Posted by Ted Hopton on May 31, 2008
I got my first detailed, in-depth look at the problems of the industrial farming complex when I read Michael Pollan’s eye-opening book, The Omnivore’s Dilemma (which I highly recommend). This NYT editorial cites two reports, one by the Pew Charitable Trust and one by the Union of Concerned Scientists.
As new reports make it clear, the efficiency of industrial animal production is an illusion, made possible by prisonlike confinement systems.
Not only is the efficiency an illusion, it’s actually a disaster all around.
In short, animal husbandry has been turned into animal abuse. Manure — traditionally a source of fertilizer — has been turned into toxic waste that fouls the air and adjacent water bodies. Crowding creates health problems, resulting in the chronic overuse of antibiotics. And, because the modest profits in confinement operations require the lowest possible labor costs, including automated feeding, watering and manure-handling systems, these operations have helped empty and impoverish rural America.
What is it going to take to change this heavily-entrenched, politically-supported and publicly-financed system?
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