Corporate Hog Factories

Harming People and the Environment

Hog factories have been destroying the fabric of our country through the degradation of the environment, displacement of family farmers, strain on rural communities, and contempt towards consumer health. Corporate Farming raises hogs in the smallest possible space to maximize profit and productivity. Independent farmers have been losing their way of life as these corporate farms have taken over the industry while inhumanely treating animals, degrading the environment, and risking the health of the rural communities and consumers of these products. This is the case for all kinds of farming, including beef, poultry, and dairy.

Hog factories have raised an enormous concern for rural farmers, environmentalists, and the animal rights groups. Federal and state governments need to be pressured introduce legislation that will prohibit corporations from using these unsustainable farming methods. They utilize completely inhumane methods when treating their animals, degrade the environment, and eliminate the family farmer's way of life. There must be consumer pressure on grocery stores and restaurants to stop buying their products from corporations that run hog factories as well as other unsustainable and inhumane farming practices.

The process of raising pigs in hog factories is completely unnatural to the pigs' way of life. Sows or female pigs are held in gestation crates where they can barely move. These are barred enclosures where they stand on concrete floors or metal panels and never touch natural ground their whole lives. They are solely used for having babies. In these crates that are completely unsanitary, they cannot teach or interact with their piglets the way they would in nature. The use of gestation crates has been banned in the United Kingdom and Sweden, but not in the United States. Other methods used for treating pregnant pigs are humane and economically viable, allowing the sow to lead a more natural life while raising her piglets.

After the piglets are born, they are taken to a series of cages, which are severely overcrowded. These piglets often develop neurotic behavior, often demonstrated by their gnawing of chain link fences and bars. Due to the conditions in these hog factories, piglets do not develop their walking ability in many cases. As they try to walk, they scream in pain, as their two back legs shake along the ground in a very horrific fashion. When they are slaughtered, they are hung by one leg and stabbed in the neck. These methods of raising and slaughtering pigs have never been proven to give producers higher productivity rates.

Hog factories have a negative impact on the environment. Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO), usually the size of a football field, hold 800 to 1000 pigs. A complete hog farm could consist of ten of these buildings. One of the main problems with the hog factory is dealing with pig waste. A hog produces three times the amount of waste as a human. The waste is flushed out of the building into a pipe, which flows into a lagoon. These lagoons are open-air water retentions that are treated minimally and then sprayed onto local farm fields. The fertilizer saturates the field, and when rain or floods hit the area, the waste runs off the fields and into local streams.

In North Carolina, the problem has reached atrocious levels. Since hog waste has high amounts of nutrients such as phosphorus and nitrogen, it leads to the extreme growth of algae in the streams and rivers. This sucks all the oxygen out of the water, causing depletion of the fish population. According to Rick Dove, the Neuse Riverkeeper, industrial hog factories have "significantly contributed to the death of more than one billion fish." Furthermore, leaking lagoons, which can lawfully leak up to .036 inches a day, can cause contamination of ground water. If a lagoon leaks at this rate, it can lead to millions of gallons of waste leaked each year. Studies have shown that waste seeps into groundwater and leads to a rise in nitrate levels near hog factories. Fortunately, steps have been taken to get rid of lagoons in North Carolina. According to www.hogwatch.org, "Smithfield Foods and Premium Standard Farms, Frontline Farmers, a group representing 160 contract hog farmers, have promised to convert their farms to alternative waste treatment systems once they become available. If the three agreements are fully implemented as promised, more than 400 of the state's 2,500 intensive hog operations will convert to alternative hog waste systems over the next few years."

These hog farms are detrimental not only in North Carolina, but also here in Illinois. Steps need to be taken here through grass roots organizing to hold corporations accountable for the environmental effects of the CAFOs.

When natural disasters hit, there are catastrophic consequences for the hogs and the environment. The Humane Society of the United States reports, "When Hurricane Floyd hit North Carolina in 1999, approximately 30,000 pigs drowned, at least five lagoons burst, and about 47 additional lagoons were completely inundated with flood water, causing manure to flow out with the floodwaters."

Family farmers, rural communities, and the consumer of pork products have suffered from the corporate takeover of pig farming. Family farmers who raise pigs in a humane and sustainable fashion have lost their way of life. According to the Humane Society, "Since 1985 the number of U.S. hog farms has decreased from 600,000 to 157,000, while the number of hogs being raised has stayed about the same." Unfortunately, taxpayer dollars support hog factory farms through corporate welfare tax exemptions and credits. Our tax dollars are devastating the family farmer.

Rural communities near the hog factories are adversely affected by the air pollution that the hog factories create. Residents in the rural communities near the factory hog farms have reported increased occurrences of headache, diarrhea, tension, fatigue, depression, runny nose, sore throat, excessive, coughing, and burning eyes. Air pollutants from these plants include toxic gases, endotoxins, organic dust, and other harmful pollutants. This problem is evident in Knox County where a dairy factory has stunk up the air. Karen Hudson, president of FARM (Families Against Rural Messes), writes: "In 1998, a dairy factory was built in our community. Recently, I visited a neighbor of the dairy factory...Candles burn frequently in this home in an attempt to quell the stench that permeates the walls." She goes on to say that the neighbors say that the odors are "worse than they have every been." In an even more extreme case, she points to a case in Mississippi. "A 57 year old cotton farmer spoke out about his health problems, 'Sometimes when I walk outside, I end up vomiting....The stench can give you diarrhea and sinus headaches. It's like living in a gutter.'" This assault on rural communities needs to be stopped.

Consumers of products from hog factories are affected adversely due to the antibiotics that are used on the pigs. Disease spreads easily because the pigs are raised in unsanitary and overcrowded areas. The use of antibiotics is essential in these conditions. Antibiotics are also used to create more growth in the pigs. The medical profession has criticized this practice because bacteria build up resistance to antibiotics that may endanger the lives of children, the elderly, and individuals with suppressed immune systems. David Wallinga, a senior scientist at the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy states, "We just have a huge amount of antibiotics being used, and they're being used in such a way that they're finding their way all over the farm."

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has expressed alarm at the use of antibiotics on livestock. They report that antibiotics have become 17% less effective on pneumonia germs in recent years. The CDC puts the blame directly upon the animal agribusiness industry, which in the U.S. today uses over 50% of all administered antibiotics. In June 2001, the American Medical Association called for a partial ban on feeding antibiotics to animals. They followed a long list of organizations over the past twenty years who have called for a similar ban. The European Union already prohibits antibiotic use on hogs. This practice is contradictory to public health.

Hog factories represent another attempt by the corporate elite to compromise the public welfare and put the environment at risk for their own profit. As informed citizens, we must speak out against this type of injustice. I urge anyone who feels obligated towards family farmers, the environment, or their own family's well being, to take action to eliminate this type of farming. Investigate the sources of the food products that you consume. Try to eliminate your purchasing of any products that come from factory farming. Become active or support groups such as Farmers Against Rural Messes, which is an Illinois-based organization fighting for protection of family farmers, rural communities, water and air quality, and property values. These are just some of the things you can do. For more information visit the Humane Society of the United States at www.halthogfactories.org.

If we as informed consumers and empowered human beings want to see a more just and sustainable world, we need to become more knowledgeable about issues like this, so we can make a difference and leave this world a little better than we found it.