Ok. And now countries with populations that aren't just the same as some of our biggest cities.
Also...there's a lot of "mays" in that.
uhhh ... france!? ... ... frig ... even russia is banning corn gmo ... that's gotta tell you something ...[/quote]
Nope. It doesn't. I could care less what the rest of the world thinks they know. Just be glad you don't live here in the backwards ole USA eh? I mean we do nothing right correct? We possibly may be the stupidest nation in the world? Everyone makes fun of our food? Our politics? Our election process? Pretty much everything gets criticized. It's laughable the amount of attention this country gets from the rest of the world. Oh well. Rest well Canadians...as long as we are to your south you have nothing to worry about.
Nope. It doesn't. I could care less what the rest of the world thinks they know. Just be glad you don't live here in the backwards ole USA eh? I mean we do nothing right correct? We possibly may be the stupidest nation in the world? Everyone makes fun of our food? Our politics? Our election process? Pretty much everything gets criticized. It's laughable the amount of attention this country gets from the rest of the world. Oh well. Rest well Canadians...as long as we are to your south you have nothing to worry about.
you could start a U-S-A chant ... if that'll make you feel better ...
Going to my fridge to choose from one of the 4 varities of ice cream I have...full of awesome chemicals....love them. I may put an IV up and just pump this shit into my body.
Going to my fridge to choose from one of the 4 varities of ice cream I have...full of awesome chemicals....love them. I may put an IV up and just pump this shit into my body.
Less than a year after a Mercy For Animals undercover investigation into a Butterball turkey facility led to five workers being charged with criminal cruelty to animals, a new investigation shows that animal abuse continues to run rampant at Butterball factory farms.
In October of 2012, an MFA investigator documented a pattern of shocking abuse and neglect at numerous Butterball turkey operations in North Carolina, including:
workers kicking and stomping on birds, dragging them by their fragile wings and necks, and maliciously throwing turkeys onto the ground or on top of other birds;
birds suffering from serious untreated illnesses and injuries, including open sores, infections, and broken bones; andworkers grabbing birds by their wings or necks and violently slamming them into tiny transport crates with no regard for their welfare.
Less than a year after a Mercy For Animals undercover investigation into a Butterball turkey facility led to five workers being charged with criminal cruelty to animals, a new investigation shows that animal abuse continues to run rampant at Butterball factory farms.
In October of 2012, an MFA investigator documented a pattern of shocking abuse and neglect at numerous Butterball turkey operations in North Carolina, including:
workers kicking and stomping on birds, dragging them by their fragile wings and necks, and maliciously throwing turkeys onto the ground or on top of other birds;
birds suffering from serious untreated illnesses and injuries, including open sores, infections, and broken bones; andworkers grabbing birds by their wings or necks and violently slamming them into tiny transport crates with no regard for their welfare.
I saw this and found it so sad. I can't even watch these videos anymore - reading the descriptions is bad enough. I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving and finds some time to reflect on how the food got to their table. Consumer demand for humanely produced meat or no meat all will drive change. There will not be meat on our table Thursday (or any other day, mostly). Please join a boycott of Butterball or consider meat alternatives.
Less than a year after a Mercy For Animals undercover investigation into a Butterball turkey facility led to five workers being charged with criminal cruelty to animals, a new investigation shows that animal abuse continues to run rampant at Butterball factory farms.
In October of 2012, an MFA investigator documented a pattern of shocking abuse and neglect at numerous Butterball turkey operations in North Carolina, including:
workers kicking and stomping on birds, dragging them by their fragile wings and necks, and maliciously throwing turkeys onto the ground or on top of other birds;
birds suffering from serious untreated illnesses and injuries, including open sores, infections, and broken bones; andworkers grabbing birds by their wings or necks and violently slamming them into tiny transport crates with no regard for their welfare.
I saw this and found it so sad. I can't even watch these videos anymore - reading the descriptions is bad enough. I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving and finds some time to reflect on how the food got to their table. Consumer demand for humanely produced meat or no meat all will drive change. There will not be meat on our table Thursday (or any other day, mostly). Please join a boycott of Butterball or consider meat alternatives.
Less than a year after a Mercy For Animals undercover investigation into a Butterball turkey facility led to five workers being charged with criminal cruelty to animals, a new investigation shows that animal abuse continues to run rampant at Butterball factory farms.
In October of 2012, an MFA investigator documented a pattern of shocking abuse and neglect at numerous Butterball turkey operations in North Carolina, including:
workers kicking and stomping on birds, dragging them by their fragile wings and necks, and maliciously throwing turkeys onto the ground or on top of other birds;
birds suffering from serious untreated illnesses and injuries, including open sores, infections, and broken bones; andworkers grabbing birds by their wings or necks and violently slamming them into tiny transport crates with no regard for their welfare.
I saw this and found it so sad. I can't even watch these videos anymore - reading the descriptions is bad enough. I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving and finds some time to reflect on how the food got to their table. Consumer demand for humanely produced meat or no meat all will drive change. There will not be meat on our table Thursday (or any other day, mostly). Please join a boycott of Butterball or consider meat alternatives.
Can't say that I wish that I lived in NY, but if I did I'd order from there! We'll be making our traditional veggie lasagna. Not much gourmet veg/vegan food in Dallas!
report today shows that over 50% of the worlds food production is wasted ... again - this is not about producing more food ...
we've been down this road for so long and the only people that have benefited are the multi-national corporations ... it's time to unsubscribe to the myths ...
America’s heartland! Place of milk and honey! Where cows frolic happily in fields full of corn, butterflies, and maple syrup (just go with it). Or not? You’re telling me the flatlands are actually covered in festering scabs, thanks to factory farming? OK, maybe YOU aren’t telling me that, but British photographer Mishka Henner is:
Massive waste lagoons, which waft up dangerous hydrogen sulfide fumes and can contaminate groundwater with nitrates and antibiotics, first resemble open, infected wounds …
“I came across these really strange-looking structures, like a big lagoon, or all these dots that look like microbes,” Henner says. “We have factory farming in England, but we don’t have it on that scale. I was just absolutely blown away.”
Imagine the most beautiful place in your state. It's so nice!
Now, imagine six thousand hogs pooping all over that place. Not so nice, right?
That, in an extremely oversimplified way, is what the battle to save Arkansas' Buffalo National River is all about.
Here's what happened:
In March of this year, the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) approved a permit for the an industrial-scale hog farm that will sit near Big Creek, which is a major tributary of the Buffalo National River, a place which just so happens to be one of the most beautiful areas in the entire state. And one of the most lucrative tourist destinations.
And this is also no ordinary hog farm. It is technically a Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation or CAFO, which in other words is a place to fatten up a whole bunch of animals in a short amount of time. It is an important distinction, because the term "farm" still conjures up images of the small family farm with the red barn, instead of this industrial-scale facility.
So, this CAFO is being operated by C&H Farms, who are Arkansas farmers, but the industrial agriculture giant Cargill is the only customer. This is also, believe it or not, Arkansas' first CAFO, so it was remarkable to learn how quietly and quickly ADEQ handled such an important, precedent-setting permit approval.
For example, public notice that a CAFO was being considered was so limited, not even the superintendent of the Buffalo National River knew about the application until it had already been approved by ADEQ.
The CAFO will house up to 6,500 hogs and there will be some 2 million gallons of waste produced annually, which is a lot of hog crap.
After collecting the hog feces and urine in clay-bottomed ponds, the waste will be sprayed onto a dozen or so nearby fields. As gross as that sounds, it is a pretty standard way for factory farms to dispense of animal waste, but rarely are these industrial hog farms so close to a nationally protected river. And, you know, rain is a thing. And so are floods. So it defies common sense to think that this hog factory is not going to eventually end up polluting one of the most beautiful rivers in America.
So, yeah, this is a big deal.
The Activist History of the Buffalo National River
Flickr: boston_public_library/CC BY 2.0
To appreciate the anger and frustration surrounding this issue, it is important to know the backstory of the Buffalo River.
The Buffalo River is ancient and strikingly beautiful. Some sections are lined with high stone bluffs and caves that have been carved over the course of millennia and were used as shelter for Archaic Period native Americans and later settlers in the early 1800s.
Today, the Buffalo River and Buffalo River State Parks are one of the most popular tourist attractions in the state. Each year, more than a million people float in canoes down the pristine water beneath the bluffs and take in the beautiful terrain. National Geographic even named the Buffalo National River #2 on its list of Top 10 Underappreciated National Parks.
All in all, Buffalo National River preserves some of the finest scenery in the central United States, as well as one of the country’s best float streams.
And this wouldn't be the case if environmentalists hadn't fought and won a similar battle to protect this river in the 1960s when some people wanted to dam the Buffalo for hydroelectric power.
However, thanks to the work of the anti-dam Ozark Society and environmentalist Neil Compton, a bipartisan coalition of citizens, businessmen and politicians were rallied to protect the river:
A decade of political maneuverings, speeches, and media attention—including a canoe trip on the Buffalo by Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas—came to a head in December 1965, when Governor Orval Faubus wrote the Corps of Engineers that he could not support the idea of a dam on the Buffalo River. The Corps withdrew its proposal for a dam. In 1966, John Paul Hammerschmidt defeated Trimble for the Third Congressional District seat and indicated that he would support the concept of creating a park along the river. Congressman Hammerschmidt and Senators J. William Fulbright and John L. McClellan introduced the first Buffalo National River park legislation in 1967. The final park legislation was introduced in 1971, and hearings were held in late 1971. In February 1972, Congress voted to establish the nation’s first “national river.”
Because of it's National River designation, the Buffalo is supposed to be especially protected, according to Wikipedia.
The National River designation protects natural rivers from industrial uses, impoundments and other obstructions that may change the natural character of the river or disrupt the natural habitat for the flora and fauna that live in or near the river.
It is this question of how the hog waste from the Cargill CAFO will affect the flora and fauna of the protected river that has led a coalition of environmental groups to sue the State of Arkansas.
The fight to Save the Buffalo
Shiloh Museum/Public Domain
Soon after news of the CAFO permit approval spread, a Change.org petition was circulated, generating more than 11,000 signatures.
And in April and May, a broad coalition of groups was formed to oppose the CAFO, including the National Parks Conservation Association, Buffalo River Watershed Alliance, Arkansas Canoe Club and the Ozark Society.
In June, Dr. John Van Brahana, a a renowned hydrogeologist and an expert in Arkansas’ karst geology, sent a letter to AQED asking that the permit for the CAFO be suspended until more research could be done to see how the hog waste will affect the flora and fauna of the nearby rivers.
Brahana notes that the Big Creek area – where C & H Hog Farms was permitted – includes karst geologic conditions with a fragile ecosystem. In karst areas, groundwater flow enlarges the dimensions of the conduits through which groundwater flows. The groundwater moves as quickly as water in a stream, but the path of that flow is difficult to predict and would be capable of transporting sediment, organic matter, fecal waste, and dissolved solids from the factory farm. Within this geology, if a waste-lagoon were to breach, there would be little opportunity for it to be naturally remedied or lessened.
The letter goes on to read: “I know of no active karst consultant who recommends that a CAFO be sited on karstified limestone, particularly upgradient from so sensitive a natural resource as the Buffalo National River, with its direct-contact use by canoeists, fisherman, and swimmers.”
Also in June, the Buffalo River Watershed Alliance, National Parks Conservation Association, Ozark Society, and Arkansas Canoe Club sent a demand letter to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency (FSA) and the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) requesting that those agencies review how the permit and a loan guarantee was approved for this CAFO.
After a month of inaction from those agencies, in early August, the coalition filed a lawsuit against the Farm Service Agency and the U.S. Small Business Administration:
“FSA and SBA failed to provide the public notice and undertake the environmental review and consultations required by law, so we’re asking the court to set aside the loan guarantees and instruct the agencies to comply,” said Emily Jones of the National Parks Conservation Association. “We have asked FSA and SBA to do the right thing without litigation, but they have not, and today we find ourselves in court to protect the Buffalo River, a national treasure of immeasurable worth.”
While these legal actions will take time to play out in the courts, because the permit has already been approved, operations at the CAFO have already begun. The hogs have arrived.
Meanwhile, Governor Mike Beebe plans to use rainy day funds to pay for a water testing program.
This, however, is not an adequate plan to protect the river, since by the time hog feces show up in the water, it is already polluted. In a public statement, responding to Gov. Beebe's plan, the coalition voiced similar concerns:
The bottom line, however, is the State of Arkansas should be preventing contamination from reaching the Buffalo River, not monitoring the problem. While monitoring – if done well – is better than no monitoring, we question why the Governor will not take more decisive action and at least review the facility’s ill-conceived permit. To be helpful, any soil and water testing must be thorough, based on sound science, and coupled with a plan for swift action to address violations. However, the fact remains that once contamination is detected, it is too late to undo the damage.
Indeed.
What next for the Buffalo River?
For more on this story, I highly recommend this cover story from The Arkansas Times. They interviewed most of the key players on both sides of this issue.
Michael Dougherty, president of the Buffalo River Chamber of Commerce and one of founders of the Alliance, said he has "every confidence that these farmers are going to do everything they can to make sure that doesn't happen. But the experience of wet hog CAFOs is very checkered. ... We have a national treasure in the Buffalo National River. One failure and this national treasure is compromised."
According to Brahana, the karst terrain gives additional cause for concerns about the clay storage ponds. "In some cases I've seen, relatively thick sequences of clay just get blown out there in the fractures themselves," Brahana said. "The weight of the water will blow those out so it's almost like somebody pulling a plug in a bathtub and it swirls, down it goes. Those are worst-case scenarios. But those are relatively common."
The Times goes on to report on tensions this debate has caused in the small community of Mount Judea, including the possibility of violence in reaction to locals speaking out about the CAFO.
Newton County is also a place where a history of violence, particularly arson, still keeps folks on edge.
"You've got some bad eggs," one Mt. Judea area resident said. "They'll burn houses, kill people and bury them. They'll flat do it."
"They may be exaggerating, or they may not," said a resident of Jasper, the county seat and one of the biggest towns, population 466. "Where a lot of people live, by the time the sheriff gets there it's too late."
To be clear, nobody suggested that any of the C&H farmers would be involved in threats of any kind. Even among those that had concerns about the farm, the most common descriptions of Henson and the Campbells were "good boys," "good old boys," and "good Christian men."
Still for whatever reason, numerous area residents I spoke with mentioned a general fear of getting "burned out" if they stirred trouble. "It may not be so," one said. "But we've had a lot houses burnt down round here for some reason." Henson and the Campbells brushed this off; Philip Campbell said that he is the chief of the volunteer fire department and hasn't heard anything of the kind.
Of course, it doesn't take anything so extreme to make locals hesitant to speak publicly about any problems they might have with C&H. As nearly everyone I spoke with reminded me, Mt. Judea is "a very small community." People said they were reluctant to speak ill of their neighbors; many noted that the Campbells were an influential family in the county. As Henson himself said, "the community that we live in, you mind your own business and keep your mouth shut. That's our community."
On a positive note, the Arkansas Times also reports that a bipartisan fundraiser is in the works to Save the Buffalo River:
Want a little bipartisanship? Here's some. Sept. 12, former U.S. Rep. Vic Snyder and his wife the Rev. Betsy Singleton, are holding a fund-raiser at their home to raise money for the effort to oppose the hog farm on a major tributary of the Buffalo River. Special guests include former Democratic U.S. Sen. Dale Bumpers and his wife Betty and former Republican U.S. Rep. Ed Bethune and his wife Lana. Co-hosts include a number of familiar legal, philanthropic and conservationist names and groups.
So will the permit be revoked? Will hog waste from the CAFO contaminate the Buffalo River? We'll have to wait and see. But the controversy alone -- and specifically the idea that the Buffalo River may be tainted with hog feces -- may have already done irreparable damage to the reputation of the Buffalo River National Park, which could hurt tourism dollars as fewer people choose to canoe the river.
It is sad to think that forty or fifty years ago a grassroots movement of Arkansans from both sides of the political spectrum came together and successfully pushed back against the industrialists that wanted to dam up this beautiful river, even creating the United States' first National River in the process. And now this wonderful spot that millions of Americans have enjoyed could be permanently tainted just so Cargill, already one of the world's most profitable companies can make even more money, even if it means damaging one of America's most beautiful rivers for everyone else.
The citizens of Arkansas fought industrialists once to Save the Buffalo. And their efforts paid off for forty years. If Arkansas want to enjoy the Buffalo for another forty years, it's time to fight again.
less than 30 seconds in. im good
it isn't like i don't know this shit anyway. not gonna ruin my day
i am sure a great number of people haven't a clue how a slaughter house works or the very negative side of it that should not exist but some folks are torturous little shits
Their egg-laying days behind them, some 1,200 California chickens are heading for a cozy retirement in upstate New York.
The hens were going to be killed until the Animal Place sanctuary stepped in. The northern California sanctuary took in 3,000 hens and sent 1,200 airborne — on a cross-country flight to Elmira, N.Y. They'll live on a farm and be kept cage-free and have plenty of room to spread their wings.
The Sacramento Bee reported that an anonymous $50,000 donation funded “Operation Chicken Airlift,” which sent the hens on the cross-country cargo flight Wednesday evening.
Their egg-laying days behind them, some 1,200 California chickens are heading for a cozy retirement in upstate New York.
The hens were going to be killed until the Animal Place sanctuary stepped in. The northern California sanctuary took in 3,000 hens and sent 1,200 airborne — on a cross-country flight to Elmira, N.Y. They'll live on a farm and be kept cage-free and have plenty of room to spread their wings.
The Sacramento Bee reported that an anonymous $50,000 donation funded “Operation Chicken Airlift,” which sent the hens on the cross-country cargo flight Wednesday evening.
By Karen Weintraub | GLOBE CORRESPONDENT SEPTEMBER 09, 2013
Homer talks about the vegetarians in ancient Greece. Leonardo da Vinci reportedly abstained from meat, as did 19th-century poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. Throughout history there have been small groups of people arguing against eating meat, largely for ethical reasons.
Today’s equivalents are nutrition experts — and they increasingly have data on their side.
Although researchers disagree about exactly how much meat is OK to eat, most agree that less is better. Harvard nutrition guru Dr. Walter Willett says he eats red meat only once or twice a year. New York Times food writer Mark Bittman doesn’t eat any meat products for breakfast or lunch, and only sparingly later in the day. Dr. Neal Barnard believes all animal products, including fish, are bad for both the heart and the brain, so he doesn’t eat any at all.
Research consistently shows that regularly dining on red meat, pork, or cured meats is bad for the heart and increases the risk of colon cancer. The studies aren’t clear, however, on how much meat causes problems,or how liberally we can include chicken or fish in our diets.
“I think there’s strong evidence that cutting back on red meat is beneficial,” said Willett, chairman of the department of nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health, who says he eats chicken and fish in moderation.
Gary Fraser, who runs a long-range study of 35,000 vegetarians at Loma Linda University in California, said vegetarians fare better than moderate meat-eaters on measures of longevity, heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, and a few cancers. Giving up all animal products, including fish, dairy, and eggs is even better in measures of weight, diabetes, and high blood pressure, his research suggests.
Among non-red meat eaters and vegetarians, there are degrees of improvements: chicken and fish eaters are healthier than those who also eat red meat; people who eat only fish are better off than those who also consume chicken; those who eat no meat but eat eggs and cheese — lacto-ovo vegetarians — are better still; and vegans have the lowest levels of obesity, diabetes, and high blood pressure, his research suggests.
But, “we’re not quite at the point yet of being able to publish definitive evidence” that a vegan diet is best, said Fraser, who eats eggs, a little dairy, and an occasional piece of fish.
It’s possible, Fraser said, that future research will find little difference between those who avoid meat altogether and those who indulge less than once a week. “For many people, it might be easier to do that.”
Barnard, an adjunct associate professor of medicine at George Washington University, is more dogmatic. He recently ran an international conference on nutrition and the brain, and he believes all meat — including fish — is bad for the heart, and by extension, the brain.“There is no [nutritional] requirement for meat.Zero,” said Barnard, adding that his own vegan diet is tasty, easy, and varied. “This is not punishment.”
So in the face of such studies, why haven’t we stopped eating meat?
More research might help turn the tide. People could be more willing to limit their meat consumption to once or twice a week if there was definitive evidence showing benefits of cutting back.
But it’s tough to be definitive about dietary advice, because scientists can’t tell one group of people to eat one way for decades and a different group to eat another. Most research, therefore, is in mice, or looking at large groups of people and asking them to remember how they ate in the past or to keep food diaries — which are notoriously inaccurate. Measures of longevity and obesity that test people after-the-fact don’t meet the gold standard of scientific research.
In decades of offering nutrition advice, Dr. DeanOrnish said he’s learned one thing: Don’t tell people what not to eat.
“Fear is not a sustainable motivator,” he said. “Even more than being healthy, most people want to feel in control.”
For the last 36 years, Ornish has studied a comprehensive diet and lifestyle program, including a whole foods, plant-based diet, stress management, moderate exercise, and social support, including friendship and intimacy.
This kind of lifestyle, which he described in his book “The Spectrum,” can reverse heart disease, may stop or reverse early stage prostate cancer, and perhaps even slow aging, his research has shown.
“The more you change the more you improve at any age,” said Ornish, a clinical professor at the University of California, San Francisco, and founder and president of the Preventive
Medicine Research Institute in Sausalito, Calif.
Ornish said he was a strict vegetarian for 30 years, but now can’t resist an occasional piece of sushi.
Anecdotally, there’s more interest in vegetarianism in recent years, with food writers and scientists regularly extolling its virtues.
ISTOCKPHOTO.COM
Bittman, who’s been eating vegan before 6 p.m., or “VB6” (the title of his new book), for more than six years, said he doesn’t think the details matter as much as the general trend. “I think it’s important that people move toward eating more food and less crap,” he said.
Bittman said the evidence of growing interest in vegetarianism is obvious: “When Chipotle is doing a vegan burrito with tofu, when TCBY is doing almond frozen yogurt — this is becoming mainstream.”
The trend isn’t reflected in national polling data, though.
Gallup Inc. has found little change between 1999 and 2012, with only 5 to 6 percent of Americans considering themselves vegetarians and 2 percent vegans.
Primary care doctors used to respond with horror when patients announced they had given
up eating meat. Doctors might cluck their tongues and worry aloud about the nutrients their charges were missing.
Now, most doctors and medical organizations have come around at least to a neutral stance on vegetarianism.
The American Heart Association, for instance, touts the apparent heart-healthy benefits of vegetarian diets on its website, though it warns of possible vitamin deficiencies: Vegetarians who subsist on pizza, chips, and cake are unlikely to be any healthier than most meat-eaters, researchers agreed.
Chef Mollie Katzen, whose cookbooks have educated people about vegetarian eating for decades, said she’s seen a sea change in attitudes in recent years.
The explosion of farmers’ markets has made great produce easier to get, said Katzen, whose newest book “The Heart of the Plate: Vegetarian Recipes for a New Generation” comes out in September. Cooking is now considered a worthwhile endeavor, instead of a chore, she said, and people who have to watch their budgets realize that it’s far cheaper to cook than eat out.
Katzen said she has nothing against meat. “I’m just profoundly pro-vegetable.”
Karen Weintraub can be reached at <!-- e --><a href="mailto:karen@karenweintraub.com">karen@karenweintraub.com</a><!-- e -->.
(FACTORY FARMING/FARM ANIMALS) Chipotle, the popular fast-food restaurant known for their organically-farmed meat and produce, released a second thought-provoking animated advertisement titled “The Scarecrow,” which takes a stand against factory farming and promotes the company’s stance to “Cultivate A Better World.” The haunting, yet beautiful three-and-a-half minute-long, short film went viral on YouTube quickly after its release last week. Along with the release of the film, the burrito chain has also announced a new mobile game titled The Scarecrow and meant to educate and engage the public about food issues. The advertisement, posted below, focuses on an anti-industrial food theme and pulls on the heartstrings as films protagonist explores the somber reality of factory farming and animal abuse. Read on for more on Chipotle’s newest campaign and be sure to watch the short film below. — Global Animal
(FACTORY FARMING/FARM ANIMALS) Chipotle, the popular fast-food restaurant known for their organically-farmed meat and produce, released a second thought-provoking animated advertisement titled “The Scarecrow,” which takes a stand against factory farming and promotes the company’s stance to “Cultivate A Better World.” The haunting, yet beautiful three-and-a-half minute-long, short film went viral on YouTube quickly after its release last week. Along with the release of the film, the burrito chain has also announced a new mobile game titled The Scarecrow and meant to educate and engage the public about food issues. The advertisement, posted below, focuses on an anti-industrial food theme and pulls on the heartstrings as films protagonist explores the somber reality of factory farming and animal abuse. Read on for more on Chipotle’s newest campaign and be sure to watch the short film below. — Global Animal
(FACTORY FARMING/FARM ANIMALS) Chipotle, the popular fast-food restaurant known for their organically-farmed meat and produce, released a second thought-provoking animated advertisement titled “The Scarecrow,” which takes a stand against factory farming and promotes the company’s stance to “Cultivate A Better World.” The haunting, yet beautiful three-and-a-half minute-long, short film went viral on YouTube quickly after its release last week. Along with the release of the film, the burrito chain has also announced a new mobile game titled The Scarecrow and meant to educate and engage the public about food issues. The advertisement, posted below, focuses on an anti-industrial food theme and pulls on the heartstrings as films protagonist explores the somber reality of factory farming and animal abuse. Read on for more on Chipotle’s newest campaign and be sure to watch the short film below. — Global Animal
(FACTORY FARMING/FARM ANIMALS) Chipotle, the popular fast-food restaurant known for their organically-farmed meat and produce, released a second thought-provoking animated advertisement titled “The Scarecrow,” which takes a stand against factory farming and promotes the company’s stance to “Cultivate A Better World.” The haunting, yet beautiful three-and-a-half minute-long, short film went viral on YouTube quickly after its release last week. Along with the release of the film, the burrito chain has also announced a new mobile game titled The Scarecrow and meant to educate and engage the public about food issues. The advertisement, posted below, focuses on an anti-industrial food theme and pulls on the heartstrings as films protagonist explores the somber reality of factory farming and animal abuse. Read on for more on Chipotle’s newest campaign and be sure to watch the short film below. — Global Animal
From an article in the Washington Post. This is in regards to the commercial slaughter of chickens and turkeys in the us. This is graphic. Chickens are hung upside down by their feet from a conveyor belt of some type, then they pass a device that slits their throats, then they bleed out and are thrown into boiling water for feather removal. As if this isn't bad enough (watching a video of this process, which haunts me to this day, one of the things that made me go vegetarian over 20 years ago), it seems that over 1 million birds miss the knife and go into the boiling water alive. Horrifyig. And the USDA is set to approve speeding up the belts, which will make the situation worse. I'm going to write some letters once I figure out where to send them, or maybe start a petition.
Comments
uhhh ... you are actually saying people don't want manufacturing jobs!??? ... really!??
http://blogs.worldwatch.org/nourishingt ... pdf?cda6c1
No. US citizens don't want to work in manufacturing and US citizens don't want to work in farming.
I guess I'm still waiting for that list of countries that are successful without factory farming like you posted previously.
http://ec.europa.eu/food/food/biotechno ... ion_en.htm
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/09/ ... E420120915
Ok. And now countries with populations that aren't just the same as some of our biggest cities.
Also...there's a lot of "mays" in that.
Ok. And now countries with populations that aren't just the same as some of our biggest cities.
Also...there's a lot of "mays" in that.
uhhh ... france!? ...
uhhh ... france!? ...
Nope. It doesn't. I could care less what the rest of the world thinks they know. Just be glad you don't live here in the backwards ole USA eh? I mean we do nothing right correct? We possibly may be the stupidest nation in the world? Everyone makes fun of our food? Our politics? Our election process? Pretty much everything gets criticized. It's laughable the amount of attention this country gets from the rest of the world. Oh well. Rest well Canadians...as long as we are to your south you have nothing to worry about.
you could start a U-S-A chant ... if that'll make you feel better ...
In October of 2012, an MFA investigator documented a pattern of shocking abuse and neglect at numerous Butterball turkey operations in North Carolina, including:
workers kicking and stomping on birds, dragging them by their fragile wings and necks, and maliciously throwing turkeys onto the ground or on top of other birds;
birds suffering from serious untreated illnesses and injuries, including open sores, infections, and broken bones; andworkers grabbing birds by their wings or necks and violently slamming them into tiny transport crates with no regard for their welfare.
http://www.butterballabuse.com/
I saw this and found it so sad. I can't even watch these videos anymore - reading the descriptions is bad enough. I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving and finds some time to reflect on how the food got to their table. Consumer demand for humanely produced meat or no meat all will drive change. There will not be meat on our table Thursday (or any other day, mostly). Please join a boycott of Butterball or consider meat alternatives.
I'll be getting my meal from here
http://fs11.formsite.com/thecinnamonsna ... iving2012/
Can't say that I wish that I lived in NY, but if I did I'd order from there! We'll be making our traditional veggie lasagna. Not much gourmet veg/vegan food in Dallas!
http://www.divethefilm.com/
http://www.epa.gov/wastes/conserve/pubs/wastenot.htm
we've been down this road for so long and the only people that have benefited are the multi-national corporations ... it's time to unsubscribe to the myths ...
Massive waste lagoons, which waft up dangerous hydrogen sulfide fumes and can contaminate groundwater with nitrates and antibiotics, first resemble open, infected wounds …
“I came across these really strange-looking structures, like a big lagoon, or all these dots that look like microbes,” Henner says. “We have factory farming in England, but we don’t have it on that scale. I was just absolutely blown away.”
http://grist.org/list/these-aerial-shot ... e-wounds/#
A waste lagoon at Coronado Feeders, Dalhart TX
Tacosa Feedyard’s waste lagoon in Texas
canoed this river a while ago ...
***************************
http://www.treehugger.com/environmental ... -farm.html
Imagine the most beautiful place in your state. It's so nice!
Now, imagine six thousand hogs pooping all over that place. Not so nice, right?
That, in an extremely oversimplified way, is what the battle to save Arkansas' Buffalo National River is all about.
Here's what happened:
In March of this year, the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) approved a permit for the an industrial-scale hog farm that will sit near Big Creek, which is a major tributary of the Buffalo National River, a place which just so happens to be one of the most beautiful areas in the entire state. And one of the most lucrative tourist destinations.
And this is also no ordinary hog farm. It is technically a Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation or CAFO, which in other words is a place to fatten up a whole bunch of animals in a short amount of time. It is an important distinction, because the term "farm" still conjures up images of the small family farm with the red barn, instead of this industrial-scale facility.
So, this CAFO is being operated by C&H Farms, who are Arkansas farmers, but the industrial agriculture giant Cargill is the only customer. This is also, believe it or not, Arkansas' first CAFO, so it was remarkable to learn how quietly and quickly ADEQ handled such an important, precedent-setting permit approval.
For example, public notice that a CAFO was being considered was so limited, not even the superintendent of the Buffalo National River knew about the application until it had already been approved by ADEQ.
The CAFO will house up to 6,500 hogs and there will be some 2 million gallons of waste produced annually, which is a lot of hog crap.
After collecting the hog feces and urine in clay-bottomed ponds, the waste will be sprayed onto a dozen or so nearby fields. As gross as that sounds, it is a pretty standard way for factory farms to dispense of animal waste, but rarely are these industrial hog farms so close to a nationally protected river. And, you know, rain is a thing. And so are floods. So it defies common sense to think that this hog factory is not going to eventually end up polluting one of the most beautiful rivers in America.
So, yeah, this is a big deal.
The Activist History of the Buffalo National River
Flickr: boston_public_library/CC BY 2.0
To appreciate the anger and frustration surrounding this issue, it is important to know the backstory of the Buffalo River.
The Buffalo River is ancient and strikingly beautiful. Some sections are lined with high stone bluffs and caves that have been carved over the course of millennia and were used as shelter for Archaic Period native Americans and later settlers in the early 1800s.
© Kate Beebe
Today, the Buffalo River and Buffalo River State Parks are one of the most popular tourist attractions in the state. Each year, more than a million people float in canoes down the pristine water beneath the bluffs and take in the beautiful terrain. National Geographic even named the Buffalo National River #2 on its list of Top 10 Underappreciated National Parks.
All in all, Buffalo National River preserves some of the finest scenery in the central United States, as well as one of the country’s best float streams.
And this wouldn't be the case if environmentalists hadn't fought and won a similar battle to protect this river in the 1960s when some people wanted to dam the Buffalo for hydroelectric power.
However, thanks to the work of the anti-dam Ozark Society and environmentalist Neil Compton, a bipartisan coalition of citizens, businessmen and politicians were rallied to protect the river:
A decade of political maneuverings, speeches, and media attention—including a canoe trip on the Buffalo by Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas—came to a head in December 1965, when Governor Orval Faubus wrote the Corps of Engineers that he could not support the idea of a dam on the Buffalo River. The Corps withdrew its proposal for a dam. In 1966, John Paul Hammerschmidt defeated Trimble for the Third Congressional District seat and indicated that he would support the concept of creating a park along the river. Congressman Hammerschmidt and Senators J. William Fulbright and John L. McClellan introduced the first Buffalo National River park legislation in 1967. The final park legislation was introduced in 1971, and hearings were held in late 1971. In February 1972, Congress voted to establish the nation’s first “national river.”
Because of it's National River designation, the Buffalo is supposed to be especially protected, according to Wikipedia.
The National River designation protects natural rivers from industrial uses, impoundments and other obstructions that may change the natural character of the river or disrupt the natural habitat for the flora and fauna that live in or near the river.
It is this question of how the hog waste from the Cargill CAFO will affect the flora and fauna of the protected river that has led a coalition of environmental groups to sue the State of Arkansas.
The fight to Save the Buffalo
Shiloh Museum/Public Domain
Soon after news of the CAFO permit approval spread, a Change.org petition was circulated, generating more than 11,000 signatures.
And in April and May, a broad coalition of groups was formed to oppose the CAFO, including the National Parks Conservation Association, Buffalo River Watershed Alliance, Arkansas Canoe Club and the Ozark Society.
In June, Dr. John Van Brahana, a a renowned hydrogeologist and an expert in Arkansas’ karst geology, sent a letter to AQED asking that the permit for the CAFO be suspended until more research could be done to see how the hog waste will affect the flora and fauna of the nearby rivers.
Brahana notes that the Big Creek area – where C & H Hog Farms was permitted – includes karst geologic conditions with a fragile ecosystem. In karst areas, groundwater flow enlarges the dimensions of the conduits through which groundwater flows. The groundwater moves as quickly as water in a stream, but the path of that flow is difficult to predict and would be capable of transporting sediment, organic matter, fecal waste, and dissolved solids from the factory farm. Within this geology, if a waste-lagoon were to breach, there would be little opportunity for it to be naturally remedied or lessened.
The letter goes on to read: “I know of no active karst consultant who recommends that a CAFO be sited on karstified limestone, particularly upgradient from so sensitive a natural resource as the Buffalo National River, with its direct-contact use by canoeists, fisherman, and swimmers.”
Also in June, the Buffalo River Watershed Alliance, National Parks Conservation Association, Ozark Society, and Arkansas Canoe Club sent a demand letter to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency (FSA) and the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) requesting that those agencies review how the permit and a loan guarantee was approved for this CAFO.
After a month of inaction from those agencies, in early August, the coalition filed a lawsuit against the Farm Service Agency and the U.S. Small Business Administration:
“FSA and SBA failed to provide the public notice and undertake the environmental review and consultations required by law, so we’re asking the court to set aside the loan guarantees and instruct the agencies to comply,” said Emily Jones of the National Parks Conservation Association. “We have asked FSA and SBA to do the right thing without litigation, but they have not, and today we find ourselves in court to protect the Buffalo River, a national treasure of immeasurable worth.”
While these legal actions will take time to play out in the courts, because the permit has already been approved, operations at the CAFO have already begun. The hogs have arrived.
Meanwhile, Governor Mike Beebe plans to use rainy day funds to pay for a water testing program.
This, however, is not an adequate plan to protect the river, since by the time hog feces show up in the water, it is already polluted. In a public statement, responding to Gov. Beebe's plan, the coalition voiced similar concerns:
The bottom line, however, is the State of Arkansas should be preventing contamination from reaching the Buffalo River, not monitoring the problem. While monitoring – if done well – is better than no monitoring, we question why the Governor will not take more decisive action and at least review the facility’s ill-conceived permit. To be helpful, any soil and water testing must be thorough, based on sound science, and coupled with a plan for swift action to address violations. However, the fact remains that once contamination is detected, it is too late to undo the damage.
Indeed.
What next for the Buffalo River?
For more on this story, I highly recommend this cover story from The Arkansas Times. They interviewed most of the key players on both sides of this issue.
Michael Dougherty, president of the Buffalo River Chamber of Commerce and one of founders of the Alliance, said he has "every confidence that these farmers are going to do everything they can to make sure that doesn't happen. But the experience of wet hog CAFOs is very checkered. ... We have a national treasure in the Buffalo National River. One failure and this national treasure is compromised."
According to Brahana, the karst terrain gives additional cause for concerns about the clay storage ponds. "In some cases I've seen, relatively thick sequences of clay just get blown out there in the fractures themselves," Brahana said. "The weight of the water will blow those out so it's almost like somebody pulling a plug in a bathtub and it swirls, down it goes. Those are worst-case scenarios. But those are relatively common."
The Times goes on to report on tensions this debate has caused in the small community of Mount Judea, including the possibility of violence in reaction to locals speaking out about the CAFO.
Newton County is also a place where a history of violence, particularly arson, still keeps folks on edge.
"You've got some bad eggs," one Mt. Judea area resident said. "They'll burn houses, kill people and bury them. They'll flat do it."
"They may be exaggerating, or they may not," said a resident of Jasper, the county seat and one of the biggest towns, population 466. "Where a lot of people live, by the time the sheriff gets there it's too late."
To be clear, nobody suggested that any of the C&H farmers would be involved in threats of any kind. Even among those that had concerns about the farm, the most common descriptions of Henson and the Campbells were "good boys," "good old boys," and "good Christian men."
Still for whatever reason, numerous area residents I spoke with mentioned a general fear of getting "burned out" if they stirred trouble. "It may not be so," one said. "But we've had a lot houses burnt down round here for some reason." Henson and the Campbells brushed this off; Philip Campbell said that he is the chief of the volunteer fire department and hasn't heard anything of the kind.
Of course, it doesn't take anything so extreme to make locals hesitant to speak publicly about any problems they might have with C&H. As nearly everyone I spoke with reminded me, Mt. Judea is "a very small community." People said they were reluctant to speak ill of their neighbors; many noted that the Campbells were an influential family in the county. As Henson himself said, "the community that we live in, you mind your own business and keep your mouth shut. That's our community."
On a positive note, the Arkansas Times also reports that a bipartisan fundraiser is in the works to Save the Buffalo River:
Want a little bipartisanship? Here's some. Sept. 12, former U.S. Rep. Vic Snyder and his wife the Rev. Betsy Singleton, are holding a fund-raiser at their home to raise money for the effort to oppose the hog farm on a major tributary of the Buffalo River. Special guests include former Democratic U.S. Sen. Dale Bumpers and his wife Betty and former Republican U.S. Rep. Ed Bethune and his wife Lana. Co-hosts include a number of familiar legal, philanthropic and conservationist names and groups.
So will the permit be revoked? Will hog waste from the CAFO contaminate the Buffalo River? We'll have to wait and see. But the controversy alone -- and specifically the idea that the Buffalo River may be tainted with hog feces -- may have already done irreparable damage to the reputation of the Buffalo River National Park, which could hurt tourism dollars as fewer people choose to canoe the river.
It is sad to think that forty or fifty years ago a grassroots movement of Arkansans from both sides of the political spectrum came together and successfully pushed back against the industrialists that wanted to dam up this beautiful river, even creating the United States' first National River in the process. And now this wonderful spot that millions of Americans have enjoyed could be permanently tainted just so Cargill, already one of the world's most profitable companies can make even more money, even if it means damaging one of America's most beautiful rivers for everyone else.
The citizens of Arkansas fought industrialists once to Save the Buffalo. And their efforts paid off for forty years. If Arkansas want to enjoy the Buffalo for another forty years, it's time to fight again.
Save the Buffalo.
can't watch the paul mccartney video unless a member of youtube, i am not, i just watch videos
"Hear me, my chiefs!
I am tired; my heart is
sick and sad. From where
the sun stands I will fight
no more forever."
Chief Joseph - Nez Perce
You can also view it here
http://www.peta.org/tv/videos/celebriti ... 51001.aspx
it isn't like i don't know this shit anyway. not gonna ruin my day
i am sure a great number of people haven't a clue how a slaughter house works or the very negative side of it that should not exist but some folks are torturous little shits
and thank you for finding me a link i could use.
"Hear me, my chiefs!
I am tired; my heart is
sick and sad. From where
the sun stands I will fight
no more forever."
Chief Joseph - Nez Perce
clip from the phenomenal documentary Samsara, directed by Ron Fricke, who also made Baraka.
The hens were going to be killed until the Animal Place sanctuary stepped in. The northern California sanctuary took in 3,000 hens and sent 1,200 airborne — on a cross-country flight to Elmira, N.Y. They'll live on a farm and be kept cage-free and have plenty of room to spread their wings.
The Sacramento Bee reported that an anonymous $50,000 donation funded “Operation Chicken Airlift,” which sent the hens on the cross-country cargo flight Wednesday evening.
http://m.nydailynews.com/news/national/ ... -1.1447355
That's nice to hear, wish more of them got some kindness in their lives
Should we eat meat?
By Karen Weintraub | GLOBE CORRESPONDENT SEPTEMBER 09, 2013
Homer talks about the vegetarians in ancient Greece. Leonardo da Vinci reportedly abstained from meat, as did 19th-century poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. Throughout history there have been small groups of people arguing against eating meat, largely for ethical reasons.
Today’s equivalents are nutrition experts — and they increasingly have data on their side.
Although researchers disagree about exactly how much meat is OK to eat, most agree that less is better. Harvard nutrition guru Dr. Walter Willett says he eats red meat only once or twice a year. New York Times food writer Mark Bittman doesn’t eat any meat products for breakfast or lunch, and only sparingly later in the day. Dr. Neal Barnard believes all animal products, including fish, are bad for both the heart and the brain, so he doesn’t eat any at all.
Research consistently shows that regularly dining on red meat, pork, or cured meats is bad for the heart and increases the risk of colon cancer. The studies aren’t clear, however, on how much meat causes problems,or how liberally we can include chicken or fish in our diets.
“I think there’s strong evidence that cutting back on red meat is beneficial,” said Willett, chairman of the department of nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health, who says he eats chicken and fish in moderation.
Gary Fraser, who runs a long-range study of 35,000 vegetarians at Loma Linda University in California, said vegetarians fare better than moderate meat-eaters on measures of longevity, heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, and a few cancers. Giving up all animal products, including fish, dairy, and eggs is even better in measures of weight, diabetes, and high blood pressure, his research suggests.
Among non-red meat eaters and vegetarians, there are degrees of improvements: chicken and fish eaters are healthier than those who also eat red meat; people who eat only fish are better off than those who also consume chicken; those who eat no meat but eat eggs and cheese — lacto-ovo vegetarians — are better still; and vegans have the lowest levels of obesity, diabetes, and high blood pressure, his research suggests.
But, “we’re not quite at the point yet of being able to publish definitive evidence” that a vegan diet is best, said Fraser, who eats eggs, a little dairy, and an occasional piece of fish.
It’s possible, Fraser said, that future research will find little difference between those who avoid meat altogether and those who indulge less than once a week. “For many people, it might be easier to do that.”
Barnard, an adjunct associate professor of medicine at George Washington University, is more dogmatic. He recently ran an international conference on nutrition and the brain, and he believes all meat — including fish — is bad for the heart, and by extension, the brain.“There is no [nutritional] requirement for meat.Zero,” said Barnard, adding that his own vegan diet is tasty, easy, and varied. “This is not punishment.”
So in the face of such studies, why haven’t we stopped eating meat?
More research might help turn the tide. People could be more willing to limit their meat consumption to once or twice a week if there was definitive evidence showing benefits of cutting back.
But it’s tough to be definitive about dietary advice, because scientists can’t tell one group of people to eat one way for decades and a different group to eat another. Most research, therefore, is in mice, or looking at large groups of people and asking them to remember how they ate in the past or to keep food diaries — which are notoriously inaccurate. Measures of longevity and obesity that test people after-the-fact don’t meet the gold standard of scientific research.
In decades of offering nutrition advice, Dr. DeanOrnish said he’s learned one thing: Don’t tell people what not to eat.
“Fear is not a sustainable motivator,” he said. “Even more than being healthy, most people want to feel in control.”
For the last 36 years, Ornish has studied a comprehensive diet and lifestyle program, including a whole foods, plant-based diet, stress management, moderate exercise, and social support, including friendship and intimacy.
This kind of lifestyle, which he described in his book “The Spectrum,” can reverse heart disease, may stop or reverse early stage prostate cancer, and perhaps even slow aging, his research has shown.
“The more you change the more you improve at any age,” said Ornish, a clinical professor at the University of California, San Francisco, and founder and president of the Preventive
Medicine Research Institute in Sausalito, Calif.
Ornish said he was a strict vegetarian for 30 years, but now can’t resist an occasional piece of sushi.
Anecdotally, there’s more interest in vegetarianism in recent years, with food writers and scientists regularly extolling its virtues.
ISTOCKPHOTO.COM
Bittman, who’s been eating vegan before 6 p.m., or “VB6” (the title of his new book), for more than six years, said he doesn’t think the details matter as much as the general trend. “I think it’s important that people move toward eating more food and less crap,” he said.
Bittman said the evidence of growing interest in vegetarianism is obvious: “When Chipotle is doing a vegan burrito with tofu, when TCBY is doing almond frozen yogurt — this is becoming mainstream.”
The trend isn’t reflected in national polling data, though.
Gallup Inc. has found little change between 1999 and 2012, with only 5 to 6 percent of Americans considering themselves vegetarians and 2 percent vegans.
Primary care doctors used to respond with horror when patients announced they had given
up eating meat. Doctors might cluck their tongues and worry aloud about the nutrients their charges were missing.
Now, most doctors and medical organizations have come around at least to a neutral stance on vegetarianism.
The American Heart Association, for instance, touts the apparent heart-healthy benefits of vegetarian diets on its website, though it warns of possible vitamin deficiencies: Vegetarians who subsist on pizza, chips, and cake are unlikely to be any healthier than most meat-eaters, researchers agreed.
Chef Mollie Katzen, whose cookbooks have educated people about vegetarian eating for decades, said she’s seen a sea change in attitudes in recent years.
The explosion of farmers’ markets has made great produce easier to get, said Katzen, whose newest book “The Heart of the Plate: Vegetarian Recipes for a New Generation” comes out in September. Cooking is now considered a worthwhile endeavor, instead of a chore, she said, and people who have to watch their budgets realize that it’s far cheaper to cook than eat out.
Katzen said she has nothing against meat. “I’m just profoundly pro-vegetable.”
Karen Weintraub can be reached at <!-- e --><a href="mailto:karen@karenweintraub.com">karen@karenweintraub.com</a><!-- e -->.
http://youtu.be/lUtnas5ScSE
~Like~
i'd like to see a full length feature!
Me too, the animations are stunning looks like a Tim Burton movie.
From an article in the Washington Post. This is in regards to the commercial slaughter of chickens and turkeys in the us. This is graphic. Chickens are hung upside down by their feet from a conveyor belt of some type, then they pass a device that slits their throats, then they bleed out and are thrown into boiling water for feather removal. As if this isn't bad enough (watching a video of this process, which haunts me to this day, one of the things that made me go vegetarian over 20 years ago), it seems that over 1 million birds miss the knife and go into the boiling water alive. Horrifyig. And the USDA is set to approve speeding up the belts, which will make the situation worse. I'm going to write some letters once I figure out where to send them, or maybe start a petition.