Industrial Farm Animal Production, the Environment, and Public Health

Factory farms are responsible, wherever they arise, for cruelty to animals, foodborne illnesses, the abuse of workers, the destruction of rural communities, and environmental harms on an industrial scale. This fine book contains all the proof. One day we will look back in amazement that America ever allowed food to be produced this way.

Jim Merchant and Bob Martin, with a distinguished group of collaborators, expose the harms visited on the health of the public by the oligarchic agro-industrial complex that controls the vast majority of farm animal production in the U.S. The industry weakens rural communities, exploits farmers, abuses food animals, and pollutes water, air, and soil. The authors present a compelling case for major reform and provide a viable path forward.

This hard-hitting book defies meat industry pressure and obfuscation to document the devastating effects of its current production methods on the quality of air and water and on human health. It doesn't have to be this way. Here's a roadmap for a healthier and environmentally sustainable meat production system.

This powerful and important book puts one more nail in the coffin of the 'agrarian myth,' the belief that small farm owners in rural America are happier, healthier, independent businessmen living close to nature. It documents the increased risk of illness and injuries to workers in the industrial farm world and the numerous negative health impacts of air and water pollution on the surrounding communities.

Making our food system more competitive, resilient, just, and humane starts with understanding the ways that our current, broken system hurts everyone, from farmers to workers to consumers alike. This book catalogues some of the alarming consequences of a consolidated, industrialized food system that benefits only the big corporations that dominate it.