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| comment | | "parent_author":"",<br>"parent_permlink":"food",<br>"author":"somethingburger",<br>"permlink":"the-tragedy-of-pork-agriculture",<br>"title":"The Tragedy of Pork Agriculture",<br>"body":"### The industrialization of pork is a growing disaster for public health and animal welfare in the United States.\n<br>\n\n<center>![pigs_on_factory_farm (https:\/\/steemitimages.com\/DQmTNqXCSsoJW3Yg2P2uxSGMBptXu5B1ULp3szhqRZ2WEk7\/25518883844_350917eae6_k.jpg)<br><sub>Young pigs on a factory farm ([Farm Watch \/ Flickr (https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/93911830@N06\/25518883844\/in\/album-72157664261536593\/))<\/sub><\/center>\n\n# 96% percent of pigs and hogs are on factory farms.\n<hr>\n\nFactory farms,<br> when referring specifically to pigs and hogs,<br> [are defined (https:\/\/www.foodandwaterwatch.org\/insight\/factory-farm-nation-2015-edition) as farms with at least 1,<br>000 \"heads\" of livestock. Creating as much product as possible,<br> factory farms cut corners that harm both animal welfare and worker conditions. To examine what percentage of pigs are on factory farms,<br> I examined some data from the [2012 US Census of Agriculture (https:\/\/www.agcensus.usda.gov\/Publications\/2012\/#full_report).\n\nThe data show that in 2012,<br> there were 66 million total hogs and pigs recorded on US farms,<br> and 63 million of them were on factory farms. This number has been growing,<br> too. Looking at older census data,<br> the [Food and Water Watch (https:\/\/www.foodandwaterwatch.org\/insight\/factory-farm-nation-2015-edition) noted that since 1997,<br> there has been a 37.1% increase in the number of hogs and pigs on factory farms. As the number of factory farms gets bigger,<br> [smaller farms are disappearing (http:\/\/www.CountingAnimals.com\/do-you-know-someone-who-buys-meat-only-from-a-small-local-farm\/). Unless you stand to profit from a factory form,<br> this is bad news.\n\n<center>![plot.png (https:\/\/steemitimages.com\/DQmQdscbbokss9QKo7K223BLe5D6JYZhQ5NsEZVcqsew7sL\/plot.png)<br><sub>Data and code available [on GitHub (https:\/\/github.com\/mackfinkel\/agricultureData).<\/sub><\/center>\n\n# Factory farming pork is bad for public health.\n<hr>\n\n75% of the total [antibiotics used ( https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/05\/21\/opinion\/who-factory-farming-meat-industry-.html) in the US and the EU are used in agriculture to keep diseases down in animal populations. This poses [a threat to public health (https:\/\/www.scientificamerican.com\/article\/how-drug-resistant-bacteria-travel-from-the-farm-to-your-table\/) as antibiotic-resistant bacteria is starting to emerge in animal populations and drug-resistant genes spread rapidly on farms.\n\nFactory farms are detrimental to the health of the communities around them. Generating [too much manure (https:\/\/www.ncifap.org\/reports\/) to properly process,<br> odors and fertilizer spray made by factory farms often reach homes and local water sources. For people living near factory farms,<br> who tend to be low-income minority populations,<br> [this means (http:\/\/ehp.niehs.nih.gov\/121-a182\/) higher rates of asthma and other respiratory issues,<br> decreased quality of life,<br> exacerbated mental stress,<br> and higher blood pressure.\n\n# Factory farming is brutal to pigs and hogs.\n<hr>\n\nPigs are [intelligent,<br> social,<br> and emotional (http:\/\/escholarship.org\/uc\/item\/8sx4s79c) creatures. On factory farms in the United States,<br> [82.7% of mother pigs (http:\/\/www.nationalhogfarmer.com\/animal-well-being\/survey-shows-few-sows-open-housing) (also known as sows) live their lives in gestation creates,<br> which are cages that confine pigs so tightly they cannot turn around. While [Canada (http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.ca\/2014\/03\/07\/canada-pig-crates-gestation-ban_n_4920564.html) and the [European Union (http:\/\/europa.eu\/rapid\/press-release_MEMO-12-280_en.htm) have both banned the use of these crates,<br> only [9 states (http:\/\/www.onegreenplanet.org\/animalsandnature\/states-that-have-banned-cruel-gestation-crates-for-pigs\/) in the US had by 2015.\n\nIt's no surprise that farms housing pigs in gestation creates are unconcerned about welfare of their animals. On [a farm in Kentucky (http:\/\/www.humanesociety.org\/news\/press_releases\/2014\/02\/Iron_Maiden_022014.html) where these creates were used and sick animals were neglected,<br> a diarrheal disease killed at least 900 piglets in a 2-3 day period. While prohibited by state law,<br> the intestines of these dead piglets were ground up and fed back to their mothers. The disease that killed this piglets was porcine epidemic diarrhea virus,<br> which flourished in the unsanitary conditions of factory farms. In 2014,<br> this virus killed more than [7 million piglets (http:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/thesalt\/2014\/06\/27\/325529915\/as-pig-virus-spreads-the-price-of-pork-continues-to-rise),<br> and cost the United States Department of Agriculture $26.2 million to eradicate.\n\n<center>![mother_pig (https:\/\/steemitimages.com\/DQmWCEJtBJsjRmo2AgPQUZiQaE4nGZ6xcZtcrheAet8xzAG\/Untitled-3-comp.jpg)<br><sub>An injured mother pig in unsanitary conditions ([DxE (https:\/\/www.directactioneverywhere.com\/#face-the-truth))<\/sub><\/center>\n\n# Do you know where your meat is coming from?\n<hr>\n\nBecause 96% of pigs and hogs are on factory farms,<br> there's not much space to assume anything pleasant about the pork on your plate. Without even getting into the environmental costs of eating meat,<br> pork industry is a disaster for animals and people alike. This article really just scratches the surface. In doing research for this post I saw incredibly graphic images and was overwhelmed by papers on the negative effects of factory farms on the community around them. If you haven't already,<br> it's time to ditch pork.\n\n# Sources\n<hr>\n<sup>Canada Bans Gestation Crates In Which Pigs Can\u2019t Turn Around. (2014,<br> March 7). Retrieved October 6,<br> 2017,<br> from http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.ca\/2014\/03\/07\/canada-pig-crates-gestation-ban_n_4920564.html\n<br>European Commision. (2012,<br> April 26). Press Release \u2013 Questions and Answers on the upcoming ban on individual sow stalls. Retrieved October 6,<br> 2017,<br> from http:\/\/europa.eu\/rapid\/press-release_MEMO-12-280_en.htm\n<br>Factory Farm Nation: 2015 Edition. (2015,<br> May 27). Retrieved October 6,<br> 2017,<br> from https:\/\/www.foodandwaterwatch.org\/insight\/factory-farm-nation-2015-edition\n<br>Harish Sethu. (2014,<br> June 23). Do you know someone who buys meat only from a small local farm? Retrieved October 9,<br> 2017,<br> from http:\/\/www.CountingAnimals.com\/do-you-know-someone-who-buys-meat-only-from-a-small-local-farm\/\n<br>Lindsay Patton. (2015,<br> January 27). 9 States That Have Banned Cruel Gestation Crates for Pigs. Retrieved October 6,<br> 2017,<br> from http:\/\/www.onegreenplanet.org\/animalsandnature\/states-that-have-banned-cruel-gestation-crates-for-pigs\/\n<br>Marino,<br> L.,<br> & Colvin,<br> C. M. (2015). Thinking Pigs: A Comparative Review of Cognition,<br> Emotion,<br> and Personality in. <i>International Journal of Comparative Psychology<\/i>,<br> <i>28<\/i>(1). Retrieved from http:\/\/escholarship.org\/uc\/item\/8sx4s79c\n<br>Moyer,<br> M. W. (2016,<br> December 1). How Drug-Resistant Bacteria Travel from the Farm to Your Table. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1038\/scientificamerican1216-70\n<br>National Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production. (2008). <i>Putting Meat on the Table: Industrial Farm Animal Production in America<\/i>. Retrieved from https:\/\/www.ncifap.org\/reports\/\n<br>Nicole,<br> W. (2013). CAFOs and Environmental Justice: The Case of North Carolina. <i>Environmental Health Perspectives<\/i>,<br> <i>121<\/i>(6),<br> a182\u2013a189. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1289\/ehp.121-a182\n<br>Survey Shows Few Sows In Open Housing. (2012,<br> June 7). Retrieved October 6,<br> 2017,<br> from http:\/\/www.nationalhogfarmer.com\/animal-well-being\/survey-shows-few-sows-open-housing\n<br>Undercover Expos\u00e9: Animals Locked in Cramped Cages,<br> Piglets Fed to their Mothers at Kentucky Pig Factory. (2014,<br> February 20). Retrieved October 6,<br> 2017,<br> from http:\/\/www.humanesociety.org\/news\/press_releases\/2014\/02\/Iron_Maiden_022014.html\n<br>United States Department of Agriculture. (2014). <i>2012 Census of Agriculture<\/i>. Retrieved from https:\/\/www.agcensus.usda.gov\/Publications\/2012\/#full_report<br>Weathers,<br> S.,<br> Hermanns,<br> S.,<br> & Bittman,<br> M. (2017,<br> May 21). Opinion | Health Leaders Must Focus on the Threats From Factory Farms. <i>The New York Times<\/i>. Retrieved from https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/05\/21\/opinion\/who-factory-farming-meat-industry-.html<\/sup>\n\n<center><h1>Until next time<\/h1><a href=\"https:\/\/steemit.com\/@somethingburger\"><img src=\"https:\/\/steemitimages.com\/0x0\/https:\/\/steemitimages.com\/DQmTmkSz78xdKu8y8Emv2CfhzFbDoEjVxk2N8uwd3TRANvj\/follow_somethingburger.gif\" alt=\"follow_somethingburger.gif\"><\/a><br><sub><em>This post is under the <a href=\"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\" rel=\"noopener\">CC BY 4.0 License<\/a>.<\/em><\/sub><\/center>",<br>"json_metadata":" \"tags\":[\"food\",<br>\"animals\",<br>\"vegan\",<br>\"education\",<br>\"sndbox\" ,<br>\"image\":[\"https:\/\/steemitimages.com\/DQmTNqXCSsoJW3Yg2P2uxSGMBptXu5B1ULp3szhqRZ2WEk7\/25518883844_350917eae6_k.jpg\",<br>\"https:\/\/steemitimages.com\/DQmQdscbbokss9QKo7K223BLe5D6JYZhQ5NsEZVcqsew7sL\/plot.png\",<br>\"https:\/\/steemitimages.com\/DQmWCEJtBJsjRmo2AgPQUZiQaE4nGZ6xcZtcrheAet8xzAG\/Untitled-3-comp.jpg\",<br>\"https:\/\/steemitimages.com\/0x0\/https:\/\/steemitimages.com\/DQmTmkSz78xdKu8y8Emv2CfhzFbDoEjVxk2N8uwd3TRANvj\/follow_somethingburger.gif\" ,<br>\"links\":[\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/93911830@N06\/25518883844\/in\/album-72157664261536593\/\",<br>\"https:\/\/www.foodandwaterwatch.org\/insight\/factory-farm-nation-2015-edition\",<br>\"https:\/\/www.agcensus.usda.gov\/Publications\/2012\/#full_report\",<br>\"http:\/\/www.CountingAnimals.com\/do-you-know-someone-who-buys-meat-only-from-a-small-local-farm\/\",<br>\"https:\/\/github.com\/mackfinkel\/agricultureData\",<br>\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/05\/21\/opinion\/who-factory-farming-meat-industry-.html\",<br>\"https:\/\/www.scientificamerican.com\/article\/how-drug-resistant-bacteria-travel-from-the-farm-to-your-table\/\",<br>\"https:\/\/www.ncifap.org\/reports\/\",<br>\"http:\/\/ehp.niehs.nih.gov\/121-a182\/\",<br>\"http:\/\/escholarship.org\/uc\/item\/8sx4s79c\",<br>\"http:\/\/www.nationalhogfarmer.com\/animal-well-being\/survey-shows-few-sows-open-housing\",<br>\"http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.ca\/2014\/03\/07\/canada-pig-crates-gestation-ban_n_4920564.html\",<br>\"http:\/\/europa.eu\/rapid\/press-release_MEMO-12-280_en.htm\",<br>\"http:\/\/www.onegreenplanet.org\/animalsandnature\/states-that-have-banned-cruel-gestation-crates-for-pigs\/\",<br>\"http:\/\/www.humanesociety.org\/news\/press_releases\/2014\/02\/Iron_Maiden_022014.html\",<br>\"http:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/thesalt\/2014\/06\/27\/325529915\/as-pig-virus-spreads-the-price-of-pork-continues-to-rise\",<br>\"https:\/\/www.directactioneverywhere.com\/#face-the-truth\",<br>\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1038\/scientificamerican1216-70\",<br>\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1289\/ehp.121-a182\",<br>\"https:\/\/steemit.com\/@somethingburger\",<br>\"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\" ,<br>\"app\":\"steemit\/0.1\",<br>\"format\":\"markdown\" " |
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