From 1935 to 1995, the average weight of “broilers” [chickens] increased by 65 percent, while their time-to-market dropped 60 percent and their feed requirements dropped 57 percent.  To gain a sense of the radicalness of this change, imagine human children growing to be three hundred pounds in ten years, while eating only granola bars and Flintstones vitamins.  (Source: Eating Animals, Jonathan Safran Foer)

INSANE!!  Do you really want to eat chicken now that they’ve become so modified???

Some eco-problems Al Gore may never make a movie about (but should)

Definitely read the entire article but here’s a preview of the five things:

1. Nuclear Waste

2. Factory Farming

3. Deforestation

4. Overfishing

5. The Use of Pesticides

Bryan Walsh wrote a great article for Time yesterday about food.  I highly suggest you take a few minutes to read it.  It talks a lot about farming but doesn’t get graphic about factory farming so no need to wait until you’re not eating to read it   It is quite interesting how good, wholesome food costs so much more per calorie than junk such as potato chips.   You also may not realize how chemical laden your cheap foods are – the ingredient list will not show them as they’re fed to the animals and sprayed on the produce.  Oh, the the environmental effects are horrendous!

Somewhere in Iowa, a pig is being raised in a confined pen, packed in so tightly with other swine that their curly tails have been chopped off so they won’t bite one another. To prevent him from getting sick in such close quarters, he is dosed with antibiotics. The waste produced by the pig and his thousands of pen mates on the factory farm where they live goes into manure lagoons that blanket neighboring communities with air pollution and a stomach-churning stench. He’s fed on American corn that was grown with the help of government subsidies and millions of tons of chemical fertilizer. When the pig is slaughtered, at about 5 months of age, he’ll become sausage or bacon that will sell cheap, feeding an American addiction to meat that has contributed to an obesity epidemic currently afflicting more than two-thirds of the population. And when the rains come, the excess fertilizer that coaxed so much corn from the ground will be washed into the Mississippi River and down into the Gulf of Mexico, where it will help kill fish for miles and miles around. That’s the state of your bacon — circa 2009.

continue reading

Written by Katy Farber

With Swine flu, E-coli outbreaks, and the discussion of school wide closings and massive vaccinations this fall, I’ve been thinking about the new food safety bill, HR 2749.

I found this interesting article about the Organic Consumer’s Association. While the OCA recognized that there are significant protections for organic farmers in the bill, they contend that the underlying causes of many food born illnesses are from factory farming, and the multiple environmental problems associated with it. Unfortunately, according to the OCA, this is not addressed in the new food safety bill.

According to the OCA, HR 2749 needs to be expanded to include these components:

read on for the components and the entire article

Take action today to help protect Michigan’s farm animals.

Fight Big Agribusiness Power-Grab in Michigan

Dear Friend,

Legislation (H.B. 5128/S.B. 654 & H.B. 5127 & S.B. 655) has been introduced in Michigan which hands enormous power to Big Agribusiness interests, codifying inhumane industry standards for the treatment of farm animals. These standards even allow many animals on factory farms to spend the majority of their lives in cages so small they can’t even turn around or extend their limbs.

H.B. 5128/S.B. 654 would give a council dominated by agribusiness interests the ability to set welfare standards for animals on factory farms. H.B. 5127/S.B. 655 goes even farther, granting the Department of Agriculture the sole authority to regulate farm animal health and welfare, and requiring the Department to adopt current industry standards–many of which are extremely cruel. It’s a special interest power-grab designed to undermine the wishes of local citizens and communities concerned about food safety, public health, animal welfare, and the environment. It is a classic case of bad public policy seeking to ensure that the foxes are guarding the henhouse.

We need your help to oppose these measures and stop this industry power grab!

TAKE ACTION

Please call your state legislators and urge opposition to this legislation.  Remember to leave your name and address so it is clear that you are a constituent. You can say:

“Hello, my name is [your name] and I’m calling from [your town]. As a constituent, I strongly urge [legislator's name] to vote ‘NO’ on H.B. 5128/S.B. 654 & H.B. 5127/S.B. 655, legislation that would codify inhumane standards for animals on factory farms, give Big Agribusiness sole authority over farm animal welfare issues, and preempt local ordinances regarding farm animal welfare. Thank you.”

After making your call, please send a follow up email to your legislator, reiterating your opposition. Finally, don’t forget to tell your friends and family in Michigan how they can take action, too.

Thank you for all you do for animals.

 Sincerely,