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Factory
Farms
by RtE Legal Intern Leah Berntsen
Factory
Farms
 Factory
farms, or Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs),
are large-scale farming operations that densely confine cattle,
swine, sheep, or poultry. CAFOs produce large numbers of animals
more quickly and for less money, but the real costs of these
operations are generally ignored. CAFOS can have disastrous
impacts on the environment, public health, animal health and
family farms.
Family
Farms
As the number of CAFOs has increased over the last 20 years,
family farms are forced out of business by their inability
to compete. From 1982 to 2002, the number of farms and ranches
decreased by 330,000. The loss of family farms not only affects
food production but also economy and society. Family farms
support and create rural economies and communities. In addition,
family farms engage in crop rotation integrated with livestock
production resulting in biological diversity and ecological
resilience not found in CAFOs. Family farms also provide urban
people with a social connection to farming and rural communities.
This place-based identification of food products provides
intrinsic value beyond food production alone. Dave Matthews
has noted in his support of family farms: "There was
also this growing urge to sustain the family farmer. Those
things became apparent to me in my interest in the quality
of food I was eating and soon thereafter the quality of food
my family was eating. I'm involved for the big picture, and
it seems the natural battle to support. It is one that is
concerned on so many different levels with things I am concerned
with: the health of the environment, the health of citizens,
the health of the farm, the health of our culture. All of
those fall on a very basic level right at how we grow food
and what we eat. I can't think of a more universal purpose
than the support and nurturing of healthy food from healthy
farms."
Environmental
and Health Effects
CAFOs produce an immense amount of manure and other animal
waste that pollute soil, air and water. CAFO animal waste
releases ammonia, nitrous oxide, nitric oxide, methane, volatile
organic compounds, hydrogen sulfide and particulates into
the air as well as emitting a nasty odor. Nitrous oxide, methane
and some volatile organic compounds contribute to the greenhouse
effect, and nitric oxide can result in decreased productivity
of crops and terrestrial ecosystems. In addition, ammonia,
nitrous oxide and nitric oxide create a "nitrogen cascade"
as the nitrogen transforms into different compounds as it
moves through the environment. In the air, nitrogen decreases
atmospheric visibility and increases acidity in precipitation.
In the soil, excess nitrogen can increase soil acidity, decrease
biodiversity and increase or decrease ecosystem productivity.
In the water, nitrogen can increase surface water acidity
and lead to coastal eutrophication. These compounds also affect
human health. The effects vary depending on the compound,
concentration and exposure. Ammonia, hydrogen sulfide and
particulates can all cause eye, nose and throat irritation,
headaches, fatigue, nausea, diarrhea and respiratory problems
for people living near factor farms. Employees inside factor
farms have died from exposure to these compounds.
CAFO animal
waste also directly affects water and soil quality. CAFOs
produce approximately 575 billion pounds of manure annually.
To reduce cost of bedding, animals are kept on concrete or
slatted floors and manure is flushed with water. This liquid
manure is stored in lagoons or sprayed on fields. While manure
is a valuable fertilizer, the amount applied vastly exceeds
the necessary level of fertilizer and the excess pollutes
nearby ground and surface water sources. Lagoons also impair
water quality though spills and leaks. The resulting overflow
pollutes the water with nitrogen, phosphorus, ammonia, bacteria,
antibiotics and hormones. This pollution contaminates drinking
water sources, causes algae blooms and fish kills.
In addition,
the animals are given antibiotics and hormones to accelerate
growth and combat diseases compounded by such close confinement.
These uses account for an estimated 13 million pounds of antibiotics
annually compared to 3 million pounds prescribed for human
use. And, because most of antimicrobials are identical, or
nearly, to drugs used in human medicine , the overuse has
resulted in new strains of virulent bacteria resistant to
antibiotics endangering public health. Hormones are also a
danger to human health by disrupting natural cellular development.
Further, both antibiotics and hormones not absorbed by the
animal end up in manure and, as discussed above, contaminate
ground and surface water affecting the environment and public
health.
What
Can You Do
Know your food by asking how and where your food was produced,
and support local grocers and restaurants that source their
food from family farmers. Or, buy direct from local family
farmers. Find a farmers market at http://www.ams.usda.gov/farmersmarkets.
In addition, share information about factory farms with friends
and family and encourage them to support family farmers.
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