Neighbors cry foul as megafarms increase

[nosmokes]

I cannot think of any argument that can be made that can justify the existence of CAFOs, not a single one. Their existence stands as a testament to the supremacy we place on money over humanity and health and common decency. Not that all too rare commodity known as common sense.
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original-detroitnews

Neighbors cry foul as megafarms increase

Christine Ferretti / The Detroit News

SENECA TOWNSHIP -- Floyd and Mary Lou McVay enjoyed country living for more than three decades until a livestock factory was built next door.

Now, the stench of 4,000 pigs, crowded shoulder to shoulder in two enclosed barns, is circulated by blaring fans just 400 feet from their house.

The staggering odor from concentrated livestock operations is the price being paid by a growing number of rural Michigan residents as economic pressures force farmers to super-size operations to maximize profits and productivity. The agribusiness trend over the past decade is toward moving a larger number of animals into smaller spaces, creating enormous amounts of waste.

"We've been smelling it for years," said Mary Lou McVay, 56. "It's just too close."

Groups of at least 700 dairy cows, 1,000 beef cattle and 2,500 full-grown hogs confined in barns are regarded as confined animal feeding operations.

The largest confined dairy operation in the state has about 6,000 cows, while the average non-confined large farm has closer to 500. In 2005, about 311,000 milk cows were on Michigan's 2,800 dairy farms, 95 of which had 500 or more cows, agricultural statistics show.

A non-issue in Michigan before the 1990s, megafarms account for less than 1 percent of the state's 53,000 farms. But in less than a decade, the nearly 250 facilities -- mainly in the Thumb and near the Ohio border -- have become a growing source of contention among state lawmakers, a nuisance to neighbors and a concern to environmentalists.
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complete article here

[Sapere aude]

1. The town of Arvin, CA is located near some dairies and a dump site.

The odor in town is so bad I have roll up the windows and hold my nose while driving through there.

[Wcross]

2. How do we feed our 300 million+ population without them?

I don't like the idea of confined farming, I feel it is cruel treatment of animals. I live next door (a mile down the road) to a couple of Tyson chicken barns and I know that the chickens do not have much of a life. There is a huge demand for chicken, beef and pork. How do you meet the demand without factory farms? I see farms being cut up and sold for housing every day, prices of land are going through the roof so much so that it is impossible to farm it for a profit. How do you make a profit when land is 4-8 thousand dollars an acre? A round bale of hay goes for 20-22 dollars a bale and you can get 3-4 per acre twice a season. The economics don't make sense.
I can't help but wonder what people are eating when they buy from these factory farms. How do you feed an animal like a chicken what it is supposed to eat in a confined farm? I have eaten both Tyson chicken and home grown free range chicken, The Tyson chickens seemed to be better developed while a little bland. The homegrown chicken lacked the bulk but much better tasting. The same goes for beef, there is a huge difference in taste between a grass fed cow and a feed lot cow.
Unfortunately the confined farms are necessary to feed a population of 300 million (plus). At some point even that won't be enough. I believe the world is approaching "peak population". At some point mass starvation is inevitable. Food will become more valuable than gold and the haves will eat. The have nots will die.

[PDJane]

4. Sigh.........

You don't feed 300,000,000 + population as it is. The United States is a net importer of food.

A lot of packaged food is, quite literally, oil...petrochemicals for packaging, growing, processing and distributing add to the petrochemicals in the food.

This is simply not sustainable. I don't care how you slice and dice and justify it, it isn't sustainable.

[Wcross]

5. Double sigh......

What do you propose to fix it? You have your work cut out for you. The average American could not feed themselves without factory farms. Unpacked meats would spoil before they arrived to the consumers mouth. Until they set up factory farms in Manhattan there will always be a distribution system to support. The same thing goes with 100% of the products you have in your home. They are distributed using oil.
Explain how we get away from this system. How do we sustain the standard of living we have now while reducing our dependence on oil? The only way I can think of is a massive die off of human beings.

[flvegan]

7. We could start

by not eating meat.

I'd put my flamesuit on if there was a good argument against that idea.

[Wcross]

8. So, your food is delivered by magic?

Last time I was at the store EVERYTHING was wrapped in plastic. Everything traveled to the warehouse on a truck. Everything was sent to the store on a truck. The store consumes power to cool the foods, cool the store & for the lights in the parking lot.
All food has a cost, not eating meat will not solve the problems of overpopulation and the lack of good farm land. Believe it or not, soybeans comsume huge amounts of water and require fuel to harvest after which they follow the same route beef does in the food supply chain.

[flvegan]

9. Weren't we talking about megafarms, here?

We can go as far off-topic as you want.

You know that they're wiping out the Amazon to harvest soy to feed to farm animals, right?

Don't take my post so personally.

[Wcross]

10. Sorry flvegan.

I got carried away in my response.

[Critters2]

15. It takes 16 pounds of grain to produce a pound of beef

Not eating meat would save a lot of fuel.

[NorthernSpy]

18. 1 pound of beef gives you a nice stew; 16 pounds of corn gives you a stomach ache..

Besides, it's not really a fair comparison of the usefulness of a steer with his equivalent in corn. In addition to the flesh, you also get the hide (which can be tanned and made into shoes and clothing), as well as the bones, blood, offal, and manure (all of which are commonly used organic fertilizers.)

In fact bloodmeal is typically the primary nitrogen source for those organically grown crops that feed so many vegetarians. You eat meat, or you eat meat once-removed; there's really no way around it.

[LanternWaste]

21. As a non-Vegan, I have to admit that I believe you're...

As a non-Vegan, I have to admit that I believe you're absolutely correct. There is no good argument for me buying, cooking or eating meat. No arguments, explanations or reasons-- merely justifications on my part.

And, as I read some time back how many calories it takes to birth, feed & maintain, process and distribute meat as opposed to how many calories it takes to produce, ship and store fruits and vegetables, it further reduces any arguments I may have had.

I eat meat and I am also aware it contributes more to the problem than it solves. However, my mind is not quite as strong as my will power. Hopefully, one day...

[lonestarnot]

13. We do not sustain our current lifestyles. Face it now before you face it then. Maybe it

won't come as such a shock. We must give up stuff.

[Critters2]

14. I eat just fine, and nothing I eat comes from factory farms

People don't need meat. I'm living proof.

[NorthernSpy]

17. I want meat, and so do most people...

It is neither possible nor desirable for our species as a whole to forego animal foods. Humans have always eaten meat, and we always will. Meat is uniquely nourishing, easily digested, and irreplaceable as far as flavor and satisfaction are concerned. Many people do poorly on vegetarian diets (that was my own experience). Most people who adopt vegetarianism will sooner or later resume meat-eating.

As it happens, we don't have to give up meat to reduce the environmental cost of our food production. We just have to be more reasonable in how we go about getting what we want.

[Critters2]

20. Animal agriculture is the single greatest contributor

to global warming, according to the IPCC. It is selfish in the extreme to cause such damage to the planet for "flavor and satisfaction". Meat is high in unhealthy fats and cholesterol. Indeed, cholesterol is ONLY found in animal-sourced foods. And do you have a source for your statements either that "many people do poorly on vegetarian diets", or "most people who adopt vegetarianism will sooner or later resume meat-eating"?

[nosmokes]

6. By using methods tried and true

The US could easily feed itself and then some and do so while benefitting the environment and keeping the air/soil/ water clean. Switching to organic and bio-intensive methods of production. Of course this will also require that Americans change their diet to something more realistic and plant based, which is how we should be eating anyhow.But the truth of the matter is we cannot afford to continue to eat the way we do, neither health wise nor environmmentally nor economically. Without the huge subsidies paid to farmers and Agrobusiness and the subsidised or plain ignoring of the environmental and health costs costs, we just can't afford the glut of 'cheap' meat that our corporate interests have pushed on us any longer. The acreage required to produce a calorie of meat protein plus the water and labor involved in the processing and care -v- the acreage and energy spent in that same calorie of protein from a plant is considerably more, roughly about 4 times as much. That's why meat has always been reserved for special occasions or used sparingly as a flavoring instead of a main dish unless you were wealthy. It's a rich man's fare for a good reason.

[NorthernSpy]

11. I don't buy any factory-farmed animal products...

Traditionally-raised meat, eggs, and dairy are available still. I expect such things to be relatively expensive, and I accept that I cannot have them in vast quantities.

Which is fine. Animal foods are good, but there are a lot of other things out there waiting to be eaten as well.

We don't "need" factory farms. But giving up that sort of ultra-exploitative agriculture might require a modest adjustment to some of our expectations.

Fortunately, some of us have already made that adjustment.

[fed-up]

12. easy-eat less meat, don't eat factory farmed food-support small, local (hopefully organic) farm nt

[Wcross]

19. You and I would be willing to do that.

That would be a tough sell to the "happy meal" crowd down at the drive thru though.

[PDJane]

3. Factory farms..

are the least sustainable, the most damaging to the animals and to the environment, and are the hardest to police.

This is why our food is so fatty, too; these animals don't get to move around, and that is just cruel.

Hate these things.

[vireo]

16. We're currently trying to prevent them in Wisconsin

In Vernon County, home of Organic Valley.
http://www.vernonbroadcaster.com/articles/2007/08/01/news/00lead.txt

Read the comments to get a truer sense of the community's feelings on this.