A new report, of no small signifi cance to Pennsylvania, says so- called factory farms take a big toll on human health and the environment, undermine rural economies and keep livestock in inhumane conditions.
The 111-page report from Pew Charitable Trusts and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health also claims the economies of scale touted by proponents of this high volume production of meat, milk and eggs are negated by costs associated with these problems.
Several experts told The Washington Post the report is particularly credible because it was the product of a panel of representatives from diverse interests and allegiances, including the industry itself.
Human illnesses are caused by drug-resistant bacteria associated with huge amounts of antibiotics given livestock to promote growth and to prevent disease among animals kept in close quarters, the report said. Another contributing factor, it said, are amounts of animal waste too large to be neutralized by natural processes.
The report was also critical of gestation crates and other intensive confinement systems that one panel member, veterinarian and former U.S. Surgeon General Michael Blackwell, said prevent animals from engaging in "normal behavior at all."
The report acknowledged corporate farming has resulted in cheaper food prices, but said that benefit has been offset by costs associated with disease, and land, water and air degradation.
A separate report recently from the Union of Concerned Scientists pegged the outlay to taxpayers to corporate farming at $100 million annually for subsidies and to clean up the environmental damage.
The Pew study recommends a ban on nontherapeutic use of antibiotics, 10-year phase-out of intensive confinement systems, more vigorous enforcement of anti-trust laws involving agricultural consolidation, greater oversight by the Food and Drug Administration and other agencies, tighter regulation of animal waste, and a national tracking system to trace diseased animals within 48 hours of a food-borne disease outbreak.
We've been skeptical of the concept of corporate agriculture, for many of the reasons outlined in the report. But the industry has taken root, and even traditional family farms and smaller agricultural-related operations have gotten spin-off business.
As such, however, factory farms should be required to be good stewards of the land and environment, their operations shouldn't be causing health issues, and animals should be properly treated. And they should not be feeding at the public trough.The Patriot News
