Independent report calls for major reforms to industrial animal farming

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Independent report calls for major reforms to industrial animal farming

 

Industrial animal farming in the United States needs to make many major reforms

in order to protect public health and the environment, an independent

two-and-a-half-year study by the Pew Charitable Trusts and Johns Hopkins

Bloomberg School of Public Health has concluded. The report criticized the

widespread use of antibiotics to promote animal growth, saying the practice can

lead to antibiotic-resistant bacteria and may expose the public to antibiotics

that would then be less effective when used to treat human diseases. The heavy

concentration of pollution created by crowded factory farms, the quick spread of

disease in tightly packed feedlots, and inhumane treatment of confined animals

were also singled out for criticism and should be reformed as well, the study

said. However, one of the most troubling issues the study authors encountered

was industry influence on agricultural research and regulation. Robert Martin of

the Pew Commission warned of the tremendous negative influence of " the

agro-industrial complex -- an alliance of agricultural commodity groups,

scientists at academic institutions who are paid by the industry, and their

friends on Capitol Hill. "

 

 

 

sources: The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal

 

 

What gets us into trouble is not what we don't know, it's what we know for sure

that just ain't so.

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