Dear Sierrans,

 

Industrial agriculture and local control are campaign issues this year.  And
legislative issues for next session.  Please get involved. (Great article
below.)

 

Donna

 

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 29, 2006
11:45 AM

CONTACT: HYPERLINK "http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/" \nFood and Water
Watch
Jennifer Mueller: (202) 797-6553
[log in to unmask]

  

U.S. Factory Farms – So Bad They're A Tourist Attraction
Consumer Group Brings European Farmers to United States Dairies

  

WASHINGTON - September 29 - Food & Water Watch welcomed farmers from France,
Spain, and Germany this week for a first hand look at the environmental and
public health consequences of factory farm dairies in three states –
Michigan, Oregon and Washington. 

“U.S. factory dairy farms are so bad they’re a tourist attraction,” said
Wenonah Hauter, Food & Water Watch Executive Director. “European farmers
touring U.S. factory dairies and communities will take home a snapshot of
what European agriculture could become if farmers and their governments
aren’t careful.”
 
Factory farms have been linked to health problems for farm workers and
neighbors, and contaminated water and air in surrounding communities. The
stench alone can ruin rural communities, as residents rush to shut their
windows and bring their children indoors when the wind shifts. These
communities have been fighting lonely, uphill battles against operators that
take advantage of lax enforcement of zoning and environmental laws.

“In a 16 mile corridor we have dairy operations dumping five times the
amount of raw sewage as that produced by the entire population of Seattle
onto our fields,” said Helen Reddout, president of Community Association for
Restoration of the Environment in Yakima County, Washington. “Contaminated
waste on our fields is dangerous as we can see in the California spinach
case."

"The U.S. EPA and state agencies turn a blind eye to the air and water
pollution caused by giant dairies and other factory farms," explained
Hauter. "Rural communities and U.S. consumers deserve better."

“It’s sad that when there’s so much in Oregon agriculture that is right, we
become known to the international community for operations like the
Threemile Canyon Farm complex, that don’t represent the agriculture we value
in our state,” said Kendra Kimbirauskas, a regional consultant with the
GRACE Factory Farm Project.

Factory farming can also affect the health of consumers far from the dairy.
According to the American Public Health Association (APHA), the overuse of
antibiotics for livestock is creating antibiotic-resistant bacteria that
threatens human health. An estimated 70% of antibiotics used in the United
States are for promoting growth and preventing disease in food animals.
 
"We wanted to see U.S. factory dairies because big agriculture interests
plans to export the factory farm model to Europe and replace our traditional
family dairies," said Jean Cabaret, a French dairy farmer and member of the
French farmers union Confederation Paysanne. “Europeans want sustainable,
chemical free, and humanely raised dairy and meat products – not factory
farm pollution."

Industrial agriculture companies have dramatically expanded their operations
in parts of Europe in recent years, transforming the landscape from one of
numerous small family farms to one of giant animal confinement facilities.
The European Union is considering reforms to its Common Agricultural Policy
for dairy that could potentially drive European dairy farmers out of
business and towards a model similar to the U.S system. Food & Water Watch
supports efforts to encourage local food production through numerous
sustainable family farms instead of an industrialized model that relies on
factory farms.

 “Showing just how bad it is in Lenawee and Hillsdale Counties is one way to
advocate for stronger laws here as well as to make sure Europeans don’t
weaken their laws to allow these horrible facilities to move into their
communities,” said Lynn Henning, Sierra Club CAFO Water Sentinel and a
leader of the Environmentally Concerned Citizens of South Central Michigan. 

 


  >^..^<  >^..^< 

 

Shireen Parsons
Christiansburg, Virginia
USA

 

I'm in favor of forced cannibalism. If people had 
to eat what they killed, there'd be less wars.
                                        - Abbie Hoffman

 

 


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