It’s not just pig farms that produce massive pools of waste. Olivera egg ranch in northern California has a 16.5 acre lagoon filled with waste sludge from its more than 700,000 caged hens. The stench and eye-burning fumes cause headaches and nausea for the neighbors.
Waste lagoons like this (which are on all factory farms) are the leading cause of soil and groundwater contamination in the US and contribute greatly to the vast greenhouse gas emissions that fuel the global warming problem.
Even though factory farms are responsible for more than 18% of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide (which is much larger than the carbon footprint of the transportation industry), and 37% of those gases are derived from methane (which has 23 times the global warming impact of CO2), the farming industry is not subject to industrial emissions standards required by the Department of Environmental Conservation and the Environmental Protection Agency.
Just before leaving office, the Bush administration issued a regulation exempting farms from reporting to federal regulators the releases of air pollution from animal waste. (Really?!) The regulation is being challenged by environmental groups in federal court.
Massive Waste Lagoon
When you buy conventional eggs, order eggs at restaurants, or eat items that contain eggs, you are contributing to this industry.
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Breakfast: Pancake breakfast (hosted by the building manager to welcome new tenants to our office building)
Lunch: Salad bar from Harris Teeter
Dinner: Meatless crumbles and black bean tacos (cooked in a pan together with taco seasoning), with Daiya vegan cheese (it melts!), cilantro, tabasco, and tortillas from San Antonio
2 comments
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Christina says:
Wednesday, March 24, 2010 at 11:29 am (UTC -5)
So the cheese? You like it? You can’t buy it anywhere in SA yet.
Powered By Produce says:
Sunday, March 28, 2010 at 2:58 pm (UTC -5)
Ya, the Daiya cheese is pretty fantastic! It melts great and has real flavor!