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What is a CAFO? Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation. Giant livestock operations are a growing public health threat all across the nation. These corporate-controlled units -- where tens of thousands of animals are "produced" in factory-like settings -- are polluting America's water and air. What are the health impacts of livestock factories? Because livestock factories produce and store large quantities of animal waste in leak-prone lagoons, America's water is at risk. A 10,000-hog operation produces as much waste in a single day as a town of 25,000 people. Manure spills, fish kills and poisoned water supplies have become a fact of life for too many rural communities. Unhealthy tap water has sickened people across the Midwest and Southeast. And when the waste from a livestock unit contaminated the water in Indiana, public health officials confirmed that it resulted in six local women experiencing miscarriages. Livestock factories also pose a threat to our air quality. In Texas, a child went into respiratory arrest and had to be rushed to the hospital due to airborne manure from a giant cattle operation. And in Minnesota, pre-schoolers were sickened when the odor from a hog waste lagoon brought high levels of hydrogen sulfide in their classroom. Learn more about the health concerns associated with factory farms. (Word doc) What are the environmental impacts of livestock factories? Fish and wildlife also suffer from manure spills. Last summer, toxic algae called Pfiesteria, believed to be linked to manure from giant chicken factories, polluted the waters of the Chesapeake Bay, killing thousands of fish and sickened more than a dozen people. The Mississippi River bears the brunt of the pollution from Midwest livestock operations, and the pollutants that flow down the river to the Gulf of Mexico has contributed to a dead zone the size of New Jersey. What are the economic impacts of livestock factories? The huge corporations that run the livestock factories are edging out family farmers, who often use more environmentally friendly techniques. Every corporate unit replaces 10 family farmers. In other cases, small farmers enter contracting arrangements with the corporate giants, and are left shouldering the burden for the waste management. And whole communities lose when the agribusinesses don't support Main Street merchants, preferring to buy in bulk from their own corporate headquarters. Homeowners can be hit just as hard as businessmen. Owning a home might be the American dream, but a hog operation in the backyard is a nightmare for property values. In one Illinois county, property near the smelly operations plummeted by 30 percent in value. Who is working on this issue? Environmental groups like the Sierra Club have joined forces with family farmers and public health advocates and others to ensure that livestock production ceases to pose a threat to community health. Related websites Center for Rural Affairs Keep Antibiotics Working Factory Farms Information Families Against Rural Messes Raleigh News & Observer - Pulitzer Prize Winning "Boss Hog" series Clean Water Network Contact Us For information about the Sierra Club and factory farms: For media inquiries: Photo courtesty Humane Farming Association; used with permission. Up to TopHOME | Email Signup | About Us | Contact Us | Terms of Use | © 2008 Sierra Club |
