Why We Need to Rise up Against Industrial Agriculture (Again)
By Will Allen, AlterNet
Upton Sinclair's The Jungle described the most disgusting practices in the preparation, preservation, and canning of rotten meat. His expos helped create the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which came into being to watch over food safety issues. That was a hundred years ago. Our food supply is now worse than ever, filled with pesticides and pharmaceuticals that are both unnecessary and which are radically harming our ability to survive in an increasingly fragile planet.
As many people know-or at least suspect-the FDA does not do much to protect us from hidden dangers in our food supply. It exists to protect large businesses, large-scale farmers, and corporations that produce various chemicals and pharmaceuticals. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) plays a similar role, as recent reports document.
When Sinclair wrote the above description, most cows, pigs, and chickens were raised on pastures. Consequently, most animals arrived at the meat packers in a healthy state. That is definitely not the case today. Read More
This article claims that our food supply is poisoned in the United States and it is because producers have been tricked into thinking they should make their operations efficient. If someone wants to raise organic food, I think that is just fine, however, to insult the rest of agriculture by saying we poison food and torture animals is ridiculous. Our life span has never been longer and our food supply has never been safer.
Showing posts with label corporate agriculture. Show all posts
Showing posts with label corporate agriculture. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Hightower compares CAFO to concentration camp
Hightower rallies crowd against corporate agriculture
Anita Weier — 4/05/2008 5:28 pm
Progressive author and columnist Jim Hightower energized a gathering of 160 people at a conference about the impacts of large livestock operations in Wisconsin with homespun humor and sharp wit.
"You, who are taking on the CAFO (Confined Animal Feeding Operation) giants, you are showing the guts and gumption to pioneer and to challenge the conventional wisdom, to confront the corporate order, to crash the bureaucratic barriers," he said.
Referring to huge farms with thousands of animals as "the concentration camps of agriculture," Hightower accused corporate agriculture of turning food production into an assembly line using genetic engineering, antibiotics, sex hormones, irradiation and cloning so that "every cow and every tomato will have the same texture, taste and composition."
The fight against such operations will not be easy, Hightower said, because opponents are challenging the money and power of the agribusiness establishment and its effect on politicians. He added that those present should follow the example of three Wisconsin groups - the Organic Valley Family of Farms, Union Cab and Fighting Bob Fest - that he said all developed their own way of taking back power for the people. Read More
When people such as Jim Hightower suggest that the way we raise farm animals is the same as how people were treated in concentration camps in WW II is utterly ridiculous and offensive. In fact they are treated quite the opposite. The animals are fed a balanced diet everyday, have access to clean water and have health professionals looking after them their entire lives. That’s not what Anne Frank and millions of other human beings experienced in concentration camps.
Anita Weier — 4/05/2008 5:28 pm
Progressive author and columnist Jim Hightower energized a gathering of 160 people at a conference about the impacts of large livestock operations in Wisconsin with homespun humor and sharp wit.
"You, who are taking on the CAFO (Confined Animal Feeding Operation) giants, you are showing the guts and gumption to pioneer and to challenge the conventional wisdom, to confront the corporate order, to crash the bureaucratic barriers," he said.
Referring to huge farms with thousands of animals as "the concentration camps of agriculture," Hightower accused corporate agriculture of turning food production into an assembly line using genetic engineering, antibiotics, sex hormones, irradiation and cloning so that "every cow and every tomato will have the same texture, taste and composition."
The fight against such operations will not be easy, Hightower said, because opponents are challenging the money and power of the agribusiness establishment and its effect on politicians. He added that those present should follow the example of three Wisconsin groups - the Organic Valley Family of Farms, Union Cab and Fighting Bob Fest - that he said all developed their own way of taking back power for the people. Read More
When people such as Jim Hightower suggest that the way we raise farm animals is the same as how people were treated in concentration camps in WW II is utterly ridiculous and offensive. In fact they are treated quite the opposite. The animals are fed a balanced diet everyday, have access to clean water and have health professionals looking after them their entire lives. That’s not what Anne Frank and millions of other human beings experienced in concentration camps.
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