The agriculture community has drastically changed in the past century. In the 1960's there were over 1 million hog producers and in 2005 the number dropped to 67,000 producers. Not only do CAFOs effect the health and the environment. They effect people's livelihoods. These large producers are buying out the "little guy". Many farms are family farms passed down through the generations. With the mega farms these farmers can not compete, many of them reluctantly have to give up their livelihood. This is unsettling. To many of these people farming is all they have, all the know. The importance of supporting local farmers or businesses is significant in assisting your local economy to thrive.
There are flaws in every plan. CAFOs certainly have many flaws. Fortunately producers are taking action to improve on the areas that need to be improved on. The Clean Water Act recognizes the pollutants that the result form these farms. After reviewing the problems the EPA and the USDA have come up with regulatory requirements, limitations guidelines and also producers have to obtain permits to run these operations. I think this a great way to monitor and control the waste that is being produced in the CAFOs.
Both of these sources are credible. The first source comes from a professor from Iowa University, the second from the EPA. The purpose of these sources are to inform the public about the impact of CAFOs and how the problems are trying to be solved. The first source is current. The second source is a few years older but the Clean Water Act is still in effect. It has actually been in effect since 1970, however updates are made to the act as agriculture production is also being updated.
Donham Kelley J, Flora Jan L, Hodne Carol, Osterberg David, Thorne Peter S, Thu Kendall M, Wing Steven. Feb2007 Community Health and Socioeconomic Issues surrounding Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations. Retrieved from http://lib-proxy.purduecal.edu:2461/ehost/detail?sid=df4cde3e-e5d0-4099-859e-d62c061cd1ca%40sessionmgr104&vid=1&hid=112&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=aph&AN=24222562
Johnson Renee Selinsky, Wheeler William J, Christian Lee A. 1999 EPAs Approach to Controlling Pollution From Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations: An Economic Analysis. Retrieved from http://lib-proxy.purduecal.edu:2461/ehost/detail?sid=78fad9fd-1de5-4ce0-9e0b-73e3fd1cf1a6%40sessionmgr110&vid=1&hid=112&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=crh&AN=2864813
Good Job. I would have liked a little more discussion on the actual source material, but you are definitely on the right track here.
ReplyDeleteNow you will want to make sure you find sufficient arguments that oppose CAFOs.