Here's the latest from Mark Bittman's blog:
Could Industrially Raised Meat Be Illegal?
If greenhouse gases are a hazard to human health, as the EPA has declared, and the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act authorizes strict regulatory action on substances if there's a reasonable basis to conclude that there's "an unreasonable risk of injury to health or the environment," and industrially raised livestock causes an estimated 18 percent of greenhouse gas (some estimates are much higher), could there be a legal case for tougher regulation of animal production?
The way I see it, he's got a great point... and I bet you there is absolutely nobody in our government with the cajones to make such a statement because industry would have their head on a platter in minutes. As it stands now, few government officials are willing to even embrace Meatless Monday (I've heard Vilsack take the question and weasel out of it).
On the extreme opposite end of the spectrum is a recent Meatingplace op-ed called Why do you think we have "factory farms?" The author claims that pre-factory farmed meat was expensive and if we ditch factory farms now, meat will go back to being a luxury that most Americans won't be able to afford every day. She says:
How about the classic chicken? Herbert Hoover's 1928 campaign "A chicken in every pot and a car in every garage;"will once again be a dream for many. Theses classic breeds take longer to mature and use significantly more feed to reach market age. They will be rarer and more expensive. You can buy a domestic goose at your local discount grocery for $50 today and they have little meat compared to the amount of bone. Have you shopped for a domestic duck lately? It's a luxury item. That is the future of chickens if these proponents of small family farms have their way. Pork will likely precede the chicken down the same path.
I have to call bullshit on her claim about pork, as much of America's pork was still raised on family farms until the 1990's. But about the larger point, that without factory farming, prices on meat would go up, making daily meat consumption out of reach for many Americans, I say GREAT. During the time we've made meat cheap via factory farming, we've also seen diet-related illnesses skyrocket. This is no coincidence. A recent study found that eating 4 oz of red meat (including pork) daily dramatically increases one's chances of dying within the next 10 years. Meat is supposed to be a luxury. I am not calling on our nation to go vegetarian, but I think the facts are in that we need to eat less meat and we need to quit factory farming. |
