Industrial farms in the news.

[Lou]

I couldn't find an good existing thread for this.

but here is some good news!

US judge condemns ‘appalling conditions’ on industrial farms​

‘Suffocating closeness’: US judge condemns ‘appalling conditions’ on industrial farms

Pork giant Smithfield has settled with North Carolina residents who sued over stench, flies and truck traffic from Kinlaw Farms

www.theguardian.com

A US judge has issued a blistering condemnation of industrial farming practices. The judgment comes as one US meat giant finally settles after a six-year legal battle with plaintiffs who sued the company over the stench, flies, buzzards and truck traffic coming from its industrial swine farms in North Carolina.​

​

.... the recognition that treating animals better will benefit humans. What was neglected is that animal welfare and human welfare, far from advancing at cross-purposes, are actually integrally connected.​

​

Juries in 2018 and 2019 had awarded hog farm neighbors almost $550m. The US district court in Raleigh, North Carolina, knocked the awards down to about $98m because of a state law capping punitive damages.​

​

This situation was covered in a documentary. But I can't remember which one. Can anyone remember which one it was.

 

[Ahimsa]

I couldn't find an good existing thread for this.

but here is some good news!

US judge condemns ‘appalling conditions’ on industrial farms​

‘Suffocating closeness’: US judge condemns ‘appalling conditions’ on industrial farms

Pork giant Smithfield has settled with North Carolina residents who sued over stench, flies and truck traffic from Kinlaw Farms

www.theguardian.com

A US judge has issued a blistering condemnation of industrial farming practices. The judgment comes as one US meat giant finally settles after a six-year legal battle with plaintiffs who sued the company over the stench, flies, buzzards and truck traffic coming from its industrial swine farms in North Carolina.​

​

.... the recognition that treating animals better will benefit humans. What was neglected is that animal welfare and human welfare, far from advancing at cross-purposes, are actually integrally connected.​

​

Juries in 2018 and 2019 had awarded hog farm neighbors almost $550m. The US district court in Raleigh, North Carolina, knocked the awards down to about $98m because of a state law capping punitive damages.​

​

This situation was covered in a documentary. But I can't remember which one. Can anyone remember which one it was.

I hope this legal action sets a precedent for further cases of this nature. However, "cleaning up their act" falls far short of the welfare of either the animals or the people, but I guess it's a start.

 

[Lou]

I still can't remember the documentary that covered this travesty. Usually with this kind of stuff your hearts go out to the animals but in this case I felt so bad for the poor people who were living in the area.

The suit was brought by the people and the cash goes to them. but I thought it was nice that the judge recognized the animal rights issue in his judgment.

i do think that this is a step in the right direction.

 

[Ahimsa]

I still can't remember the documentary that covered this travesty. Usually with this kind of stuff your hearts go out to the animals but in this case I felt so bad for the poor people who were living in the area.

The suit was brought by the people and the cash goes to them. but I thought it was nice that the judge recognized the animal rights issue in his judgment.

i do think that this is a step in the right direction.

For the people concerned maybe, but they eat the animals and generally couldn't care less how they are treated so in a way they get their karma. In another sense, why aren't these people equally as concerned about all the harmful growth hormones and antibiotics etc they're putting into themselves, and their children, as well.

 

[Lou]

For the people concerned maybe, but they eat the animals and generally couldn't care less how they are treated so in a way they get their karma. In another sense, why aren't these people equally as concerned about all the harmful growth hormones and antibiotics etc they're putting into themselves, and their children, as well.

I suppose it's a fair generalization about the people eating animals but the lawsuit wasn't about that. it was about the terrible living conditions of the neighbors of the "farm". Even if they all turned vegan they would still have to live there. Their only "crime" is that they are poor and black.

These industrial farms purposely set up in poor black neighborhoods with the understanding that these poor people are not going to get the considerations that a rich white neighborhood would get. Just another example of racism.

So I'm glad to see a little comeuppance.

And I'm glad that the judge included some consideration for the pigs - even though they were not littigants.

I tried to use the Google Machine to figure out which documentary it was that included this info. but I couldn't figure it out.

 

[Ahimsa]

I suppose it's a fair generalization about the people eating animals but the lawsuit wasn't about that. it was about the terrible living conditions of the neighbors of the "farm". Even if they all turned vegan they would still have to live there. Their only "crime" is that they are poor and black.

These industrial farms purposely set up in poor black neighborhoods with the understanding that these poor people are not going to get the considerations that a rich white neighborhood would get. Just another example of racism.

So I'm glad to see a little comeuppance.

And I'm glad that the judge included some consideration for the pigs - even though they were not littigants.

I tried to use the Google Machine to figure out which documentary it was that included this info. but I couldn't figure it out.

True, poverty is part of the equation and you're quite right in saying that these CAFOs are built in poor areas. However, over 70% of North Carolina is actually, white!

 

[Lou]

Oh, that's Kip Anderson. so it must have been What The Health?

 

[Lou]

True, poverty is part of the equation and you're quite right in saying that these CAFOs are built in poor areas. However, over 70% of North Carolina is actually, white!

Hogwashed, Part 1: Hundreds of Poor, Mostly African-American Residents of Eastern North Carolina Say Big Pork Is Making Their Lives Miserable

Editor’s note: This is the first of a three-part investigation into North Carolina’s hog-farming industry. This story will examine claims by lower-income African-American residents of eastern North Carolina that neighboring hog farms have polluted their properties and efforts by lawmakers to...

indyweek.com

 

[Lou]

These guys just lost a major lawsuit. This is their response?

The North Carolina hog industry's answer to pollution: a $500m pipeline project

Instead of implementing safer systems, activists say Smithfield Foods is seeking to profit from hog waste under the guise of ‘renewable energy’

www.theguardian.com

 

[anarchist100]

Petition · Justin Trudeau: Ban factory farming · Change.org

 

[crgtheman]

Petition · Justin Trudeau: Ban factory farming · Change.org

Thanks for the link.

 

[Lou]

Fox's Maria Bartiromo Tricked by Animal Rights Activist Posing as Meat Company CEO​

During the interview, he warned viewers that factory farms like the ones Smithfield operates could create the next pandemic, without raising any suspicion from Bartiromo, who simply plowed forward with the segment.​

​

“The truth is that our industry, in addition to the outbreaks that are happening at our plants, our industry poses a serious threat in effectively bringing on the next pandemic.” He called the company’s farms “petri dishes for new diseases” and noted that hog farming also “causes immense damage to our air and waterways.”​

Maria Bartiromo Tricked by Animal Activist Posing as Meat Company CEO

The protest group Direct Action Everywhere took credit for the stunt, which lasted more than six minutes on Fox Business Network on Wednesday morning.

www.thedailybeast.com

 

[Jamie in Chile]

These guys just lost a major lawsuit. This is their response?

The North Carolina hog industry's answer to pollution: a $500m pipeline project

Instead of implementing safer systems, activists say Smithfield Foods is seeking to profit from hog waste under the guise of ‘renewable energy’

www.theguardian.com

If they are taking methane that would otherwise have been leaked into the atmosphere, and stopping that happening, it is, relatively speaking, a climate change benefit. Methane is so bad for climate change that you can actually burn it and even though it produces carbon dioxide it is still a lot better than just leaking methane into the air.

 

[Sax]

Brazilian beef farms ‘used workers kept in conditions similar to slavery’

Workers on farms supplying world’s biggest meat firms allegedly paid £8 a day and housed in shacks with no toilets or running water

www.theguardian.com

 

[Lou]

Brazilian beef farms ‘used workers kept in conditions similar to slavery’

Workers on farms supplying world’s biggest meat firms allegedly paid £8 a day and housed in shacks with no toilets or running water

www.theguardian.com

We should boycott that meat company!!
....
Oh. Wait

 

[Lou]

I love this headline.

'Let's get rid of friggin' cows' says creator of plant-based 'bleeding burger'

Impossible Foods working on milk and fish substitutes as Patrick Brown pledges to put an end to animal agriculture industry

www.theguardian.com

“I want to put the animal agriculture industry out of business. It’s that simple. The goal is not because I have any ill will toward the people who work in that industry, but because it is the most destructive industry on Earth,” Brown says.