posted March 02, 2010 08:28 AM         

Whether you eat standard meat, organic meat, or no meat...
we all live downwind and downstream from a factory farm.
___________________________________________

Animal Factory: The Looming Threat
of Industrial Pig, Dairy, and Poultry Farms
to Humans and the Environment
by David Kirby

Video for "Animal Factory":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UO5_53f0-xs

"Many Americans have no idea where their food comes from."

"Massive animal farms have brought us to the brink
of a major environmental and public health disaster."

"Every year, hog factories put almost 31,000 farmers out of business."

"US animal factories yeild 100 times more waste
than all US human sewage plants."

"The Eastern Shore of Chesapeake Bay produces
1,000,000 tons of chicken manure a year.
Enough to fill a large football stadium to the top row."

"Rearing cattle produces more greenhouse gases than cars,
a UN report warns."
http://animalfactorybook.com/

-----------------------------
http://www.amazon.com/Animal-Factory-L ooming-Industrial-Environment/dp/0312380585/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1267536271&sr=8-2-spell

Editorial Reviews
Review
“David Kirby’s book, Animal Factory, is a beautifully written account of the danger industrial meat and dairy production represents to our health, environment and democratic process. In a unique and captivating way, Kirby reveals the consequences of animal factories through the eyes of the citizen advocates who have fought the long and hard battle to civilize the barbaric and often criminal behavior of the meat barons. Rick Dove, Karen Hudson, Helen Reddout, Chris Petersen, Don Webb and others featured in the book are real American heroes. Their stories are compelling, true and engaging.

The time has come to end the greedy and destructive practices of animal factories. As the readers of Kirby’s book will learn, nature’s clock is ticking and much is at stake for the planet and all of its inhabitants. Each page of this book is filled with powerful information. It has all the makings of a number one best seller."--Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

‘Nature did not intend for animals to live and die in a factory assembly line. In David Kirby’s startling investigation Animal Factory, he gives a human face to the terrible cost our health and environment pays for this so-called ‘cheap food’. This is a story that is seldom told and rarely with such force and eloquence.’--Alice Waters
"The industrial production of farm animals is a grim saga of pollution, health risks, and animal misery. Yet in Animal Factory David Kirby has put together an ingenious book that is highly readable and engaging. The heroes of his book are fighting for a better America -- one in which waters are safe to drink, air is safe to breathe, and traditional family farmers are the sources of our food. Anyone who reads this book will be drawn into their cause."-- Bill Niman (Founder, Niman Ranch) and Nicolette Hahn Niman (Author, Righteous Porkchop: Finding a Life and Good Food Beyond Factory Farms)

“This book puts a human face on a well hidden national scandal: the effects of large-scale raising of animals on the health and well being of farm workers and their families, local communities, the animals themselves, and the environment which we all share. By examining how CAFOs affect the lives of real people, Kirby makes clear why we must find healthier and more sustainable ways to produce meat in America.” --Marion Nestle, Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health at New York University, and member of the Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production

“Hurray to David Kirby for exposing the horrific conditions that are so prevalent at America’s factory farms. When I first confronted the realities of factory farming some ten years ago, I knew that I did not want Chipotle’s success to be based on the exploitation that I saw. While few people actually have the chance to see firsthand where their food comes from, Animal Factory provides a vivid account of the system and the harm that it causes.” –Steve Ells, Founder, Chairman & Co-CEO, Chipotle Mexican Grill

“Ol’ MacDonald had a farm – until America’s corporate animal factories plowed it under, packing living, breathing, sensate creatures into sewage plant conditions for your gustatory pleasure. Now, you’re next. Bon appetit.”--Deirdre Imus

"Animal Factory tells how big agribusiness' industrial meat production is leaving our communities foul with unhealthy air, awash in untreated sewage, and increasingly buffeted by bacteria made resistant to the antibiotics. Anyone in search of why America's health care system is going bankrupt will find part of the answer in these pages."--David Wallinga, MD, Food and Health Director, Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy

“Animal Factory, by David Kirby, documents the scandal of today’s industrial food animal production system in the same compelling way Upton Sinclair alerted Americans to the abuses of the meat packing industry in his 1906 The Jungle. The well being of animals produced for human consumption, the fate of rural communities, the health of farm workers, and the protection of the environment are daily compromised for the sake of profit.”--Robert S. Lawrence, MD, Director, Center for a Livable Future, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

“David Kirby' s new book points to a deeper story than may be apparent to some. It is easy to blame the farmer, or blame the industry for the unintended consequences of our food system. But there are deeper systemic issues which give rise to these problems that we now need to address. Our "fast, convenient, and cheap" food system gave us benefits that many found praiseworthy. But we failed to anticipate the unintended costs to health, to communities, and to the environment. Perhaps it’s time to reinvent a food system that is resilient, affordable and health-promoting for both people and land. Perhaps Kirby's new book can serve as part of a wake-up call for us all to become food citizens to that end.--Frederick Kirschenmann, President of Kirschenmann Family Farms

“Thanks to Kirby’s extraordinary journalism, we have the most relatable, irrefutable, and unforgettable testimony yet to the hazards of industrial animal farming.”--Booklist (starred review)

posted March 02, 2010 08:31 AM         

Swine flu virus spreads across the globe. Experts have long warned that today's factory farming conditions have already created the environment for such disease to occur anytime. Dr. Ellen Silbergeld professor of Environmental Health Sciences at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, stated "These mixing bowls of intensive operations of chickens and pigs are contributing to speeding up viral evolution."

More info

Swine-flu outbreak could be linked to Smithfield factory http://www.grist.org/article/2009-04-...

Swine Flu and Factory Farms: Fast Track to Disaster http://www.hsus.org/farm/news/ournews...

Swine Flu Outbreak -- Nature Biting Back at Industrial Animal Production? http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-k...

Swine flu: is intensive pig farming to blame? http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfr...

posted March 03, 2010 03:06 PM         

then there are all the industrial leaches into our soil water air etc...

posted March 04, 2010 11:09 AM         

kat -

Yeah, I know about WholeFoods,
and the whole China certification thing.

Fertilizer --
maybe if they sold it as such
but what I hear is that there is
so much of it that they just spray
it over the land and it saturates it
and seeps into the water supply.

posted March 04, 2010 02:22 PM         

but it is not just meat factories but ALL factories, including vegetable farms using all manner of pollutants to bring down their bottom line...so that chicken manure would be well used fertilizing the veggie factories instead of what they DO use..

posted March 04, 2010 02:38 PM         

I wonder if changing those regulations will be all it takes.

posted March 05, 2010 10:32 AM         

There's a whole lotta validity here and yet .... it's also important to remember that 'they' have adjusted to this approach. Essentially, they've taken advantage of our pyschological need to feel good about ourselves. We've being lured into a lazy, unquestioning state of complacency by green washing. We've all been to Whole Foods or Trader Joe's. These places are designed to make us feel all warm and fuzzy and self-righteous about our choices. You all but get a pat on the head and a merit badge as you walk out the door. Aren't you a responsible citizen! Aren't you an enlightened, liberal minded force for good in the Universe! All the while the supposedly organic apples you bought for twice the price of 'conventional' were flown in/trucked in from Chile. (only one small example among many of course) That's great for the environment, not to mention your health, right? Can we can explore how NAFTA laws effect imported organic produce too? Or that organic produce can be fumigated when it crosses the border and still be labelled organic?

My point is

1) the 'vote with your wallet' attack is all well and good (I've preached it myself and will continue to do so) but bear in mind that a counter-attack was designed and implemented decades ago. You're playing their game and they have the upper hand. Proceed with caution.

posted March 05, 2010 11:22 AM         

We say more with what we don't buy,
than with anything we do.

Local farmstands are the best bet
for most of us right now, I think.

posted March 05, 2010 03:35 PM         

the fact that the corporations now own most of our farmland puts the major producers at an advantage, but organic farming is actually EASIER AND CHEAPER to keep going than the chemically-tainted big farma racket.

MOST farmers are hugely disadvantaged by the buying power of the big guys, and many farmers are really only tenants (transl. serfs) of the corporations who own the land...its a most complex structure which guarantees that even if ALL farmers were to pledge to switch to organic tomorrow, the SOIL needs prepping that takes YEARS. but i think a large percentage of the "greenleaning" public are aware that wholefoods is not the jolly green giant it pretends to be.

still i prefer wholefoods to safeway most days! haven't been in one of those since the 60s! i am broke! but i still manage to patronize the smaller local merchants over the corporations most of the time.