By Marie Oser Industrialized animal production has had a
dramatic impact on society, human health and the environment.
Modern animal husbandry is a major factor in water pollution,
contributing animal waste, antibiotics, hormones and a witch's
brew of chemicals from tanneries, fertilizers and pesticides
from feed crops. In the final decades of the twentieth century,
almost five million family farms were replaced by large-scale
manufacturing operations. According to the Environmental
Protection Agency these concentrated animal feeding operations
(CAFO) confine thousands of animals in a single facility and
generate a staggering 300 million tons of waste annually The
waste is funneled into massive lagoons that emit ammonia, toxic
hydrogen sulfide and methane gases. These cesspools often break,
leak or overflow, sending dangerous microbes, nitrate pollution
and drug resistant bacteria into the nation's water supply.
Almost 40 percent of the world's grain harvest is fed to
animals. Pretty shocking, when considerin