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