NEW REPORTS ATTACK ANIMAL AGRICULTURE
News Date May 06, 2008
The Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production (PCIFAP) has issued a comprehensive report on animal agriculture and production resulting from a two-year study. The report says that the current large scale animal production system poses "unacceptable" risks to human health and the environment.
The goal of the Pew project is to impact both federal and state policy on large scale farming and the report makes recommendations in several areas including public health, environmental impacts, animal welfare, and rural economies. The report says animal wastes threatens waterways and air quality degradation is a problem. The group called for action to ban the non-therapeutic use of antimicrobials in food animal production, implement a disease monitoring system to allow 48-hour trace back, and phase out inhumane production practices. The report is available at: http://www.ncifap.org/index.html.
Another report has been issued by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) titled "CAFOs Uncovered: The Untold Costs of Confined Animal Feeding Operations." The USC report also covers issues such as environmental impacts, antibiotic resistance, and animal welfare. It is posted on their website at http://www.ucsusa.org/food_and_environment/sustainable_food/cafos-uncovered.html. (Contact: Charlie Ingram)