U.S. Factory Farms So Bad They're a Tourist Attraction

[Guest guest]

Fri, 29 Sep 2006 12:13:49 -0400 (EDT)

" Audrey Hill, Food & Water Watch "

fwwatch

U.S. Factory Farms So Bad They're a Tourist Attraction

 

 

 

 

 

For Immediate Release, September 29, 2006

 

U.S. FACTORY FARMS – SO BAD THEY'RE A TOURIST ATTRACTION

 

Consumer Group Brings European Farmers to United States Dairies

 

 

Washington, D.C. – 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.

 

 

# # #

 

Food & Water Watch is a nonprofit consumer rights group based in

Washington, D.C. that challenges the corporate control and abuse of

our food and water resources. Visit www.foodandwaterwatch.org.