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A 24-minute documentary about the
horrors of industrial agriculture in Michigan.
Click the "play" button at the bottom of the screen to watch the movie, or order
a copy here!
For Floyd and Mary Lou McVay, life will never be the same; not since 4,000
squealing, stinking hogs became their nearest neighbor. A decent pitcher
could easily fire a fast ball into the massive buildings that confine the pigs,
less
than 400 feet from the back door of their home near Morenci, Michigan.
The McVays
bought their battered, old farmhouse 32 years ago. Surrounded by fields of
corn, alfalfa and beans, Floyd restored their home and planted scores
of trees. The oaks, spruce and maple now tower over a beautiful country setting…beautiful
except for the constant noise of the swine, the roar of giant exhaust fans,
the stench, and a steady stream of truck traffic on their dirt road. The
McVays had hoped to invite their grandchildren to the farm, play with them
in the
yard and retire happy. Life has not turned out that way.
The Concentrated Animal
Feeding Operation (CAFO or factory farm) has destroyed the McVay’s enjoyment of their home and devastated their property value.
No-one in their right mind would buy the McVay’s house, now. (Except,
perhaps, the owner of the pigs. He came right out and told Floyd that when
he’d had enough and could no longer stand the stench and noise, that
he’d gladly buy him out. No doubt he’d get a bargain.)
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| Hogs raised in concentrated animal feeding operations
are confined to small metal pens, like those above. Photo courtesy USDA. |
John and
Peggy Zachel, lifelong farmers in their 80s, live less than three hundred
yards from the same CAFO. They worry about the air they breathe and
the contamination of their water supply. John and Peggy raise 2,000 turkeys.
They know farm smells. The odor of the pigs next door, however, is another
story. At a loss for words, they attempt to describe the stench as “choking,
unbearable and heavy.” The point they come back to over and over again
is that you can’t escape the smell. They feel trapped.
Folks like Gerald
and Lea Henning, lifelong family farmers near Hudson, Michigan, are in
the same boat. A nearby CAFO operator spreads the putrid contents of
their dairy lagoon on the land surrounding the Henning’s home. The
liquid manure contains not just urine and feces with the antibiotics and
hormones
excreted by the cows, but detergents, milk waste, pesticides, antiseptics,
and all manner of other body fluids and chemicals.
Adding insult to injury,
many CAFO have dead animal “composting” areas,
where scores of carcasses may be piled up to let nature take it’s
course. The liquid from the decomposing animals, and the consistently over-applied
CAFO waste, is sucked into underground drainage tiles and spit out into
local
waterways, making human contact with nearby rivers very unwise.
For the Hennings,
life often seems unbearable. Both Gerald and Lea have been diagnosed with
hydrogen sulfide poisoning, one of numerous toxic emissions
resulting from CAFO waste. Gerald has difficulty farming in air made so
putrid that it takes his breath away. Lea is often stuck indoors as flies
and extreme
odor make outdoor activities impossible. Two summers ago, the CAFO operator
spread liquid manure on the field adjacent to the Henning’s home
for 14 straight days, without turning the waste under as recommended in
the voluntary
guidelines (not laws) which governs most CAFOs in Michigan.
John Klien is fortunate
not to live in the immediate vicinity of a CAFO, but his life is no less impacted
by their pollution. After a massive discharge
of manure by an upstream CAFO two years ago, John watched in horror as the
lake he lives on turned the color of antifreeze. The lake has since recovered,
but John knows the potential for another disaster is just around the corner,
and just upstream.
Dr. Leland Wolf, a family practice physician in Hudson, knows
all too well the impact of CAFOs on his rural community. Dr. Wolf treats many
of the residents
who live nearest the CAFOs. Difficulty in breathing, asthma, chronic bronchitis,
nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea are among the symptoms reported by his patients.
Dr. Wolf insists that CAFOs are a public health disaster waiting to happen.
Kathy
Melmoth, a nurse and family farmer from Pittsford, is worried that the toxic
air from a CAFO near her property will negatively impact her family farm
business. She and her husband had considered expanding their operation to include
a roadside nursery. However, concerns over the possible decline in their property
value and the potential health impacts from the surrounding air and water caused
them to reconsider. After observing residents of her rural community experiencing
physical and emotional symptoms apparently linked to the CAFO waste, Kathy
started documenting their complaints. The results of her efforts alarmed her.
Public health agencies have failed to respond to requests for help.
These are
just a few of the people whose lives have been forever changed by animal
factories in Michigan, a practice promoted by the Farm Bureau, Michigan
State University and the Michigan Department of Agriculture – and heralded
as the “future of agriculture.”
The stories of the McVays, Zachels, Hennings, Dr. Wolf and Kathy Melmoth
are stories that need to be told. The Sierra Club is doing just that. The
Michigan
Sierra Club has produced a compelling 24-minute documentary focused on
the impact of industrial agriculture on Michigan’s rural residents,
public health and the environment.
To order a copy, send the following information
and $10 to:
Michigan Sierra Club
109 E. Grand River Ave.
Lansing, MI 48906
Name:
Address:
City, St, Zip
Email address:
DVD or VHS format?
Total enclosed:
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