CAFO (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation)
Chickens
Pigs
This is most likely not where last nights burger was raised….
But it may have had a little of this in it…
Some quick numbers… 10 million lbs of beef 50 million lbs of pork 90 million lbs of turkey 90 million lbs of chicken That’s around 240 million lbs of meat produced in 1 year! Which means that’s a lot of s***!
A system has been developed to achieve Highest yield of product At lowest cost to the manufacturer But a higher cost to animals, the environment and consumers (though most of us don’t know it!)
Environmental Health Effects Estimated in 2005 that livestock animals produce 3-20 more times the waste that the US popluation produced, which was between 1.2 – 1.4 billion tons This waste contains pathogens such as E. Coli, hormones, antibiotics, animal blood, large amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus, copper sulfate, and other chemicals and additives Also the issue of dead animal disposal
Pathogens & Disease Anthrax- Headache, fever, chills, nausea, vomiting Tetanus - Violent muscle spasms, lockjaw, difficulty breathing Giardiasis - Diarrhea,abdominalpain,nausea,vomiting, fever Colibacilosis - Diarrhea, abdominal gas
Affecting Ground and Surface water Runoff from waste after rains can affect drinking water This runoff can also contaminate local streams, where ammonia robs the oxygen, killing the local aquatic life Communities would need to be concerned about nitrite and nitrate poisioning, which can lead to birth defects, miscarriages, and even infant death
Air quality (and greenhouse gases)odors Ammonia - Respiratory irritant Hydrogen sulfide- Inflammation of the membranes of eyes and lungs, olfactory neuron loss Methane - Greenhouse gas Particulate substances- chronic bronchitis, organic dust toxic syndrome
Antibiotics Antibiotic resistance! 70% of all drugs administered in the U.S. each year through animal feed Nearly half of those drugs are the same exact drugs administered to humans
So what’s the solution? Eat more veggies