Editor’s Note: This is part of Mr. Ben Mah’s forthcoming book (his third book) America in the Age of Neoliberalism, posted here in view of the connection of swine flu with factory farming.* Unregulated monopoly capital is creating another disaster for mankind while the other one is not under control yet!
* http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article6182789.ece

  http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=13413

The concept of agribusiness and factory farming was initiated by the Harvard Graduate School of Business as a result of a four-year research project funded by the Rockefeller Foundation. It was a major attempt to revolutionize the U.S. food production by “vertical integration.”1. The vertical integration of U.S. food production was virtually accomplished during the Reagan era of deregulation. However, “deregulation by government merely opened the door to de facto private regulation by the largest and most powerful corporate groups in a given industy.”2.

In agriculture, Florida citrus sector was the first to be “industrialized”, as the small citrus farmers were driven out of business and the industry was soon dominated by the large orange juice processors such as Sunkist who controlled the distribution and processing.2. The industrialization of citrus farms was followed with the consolidation of American family farms, as individual independent owners of the land became the “contract farmers.” In hog farms, these contract farmers were “responsible only for feeding and maintaining concentrations of thousands of animals in giant pens. He no longer owned the animals or the farm. He was effectively becoming like a feudal serf, indentured through huge debts, not to Lord of the manor, but to a global multinational corporation such a Cargill, Archer Daniels Midland, Smithfield Foods or ConAgra.”3.

Similarly, the chicken growers were supplied with one-day-chicks by the conglomerates. The company supplies the feeds and technical support. The growers supply the poultry house and fuel. The typical owner worked hard with long hours and was deeply in debt, and “earned perhaps $12,000 a year. About half of the nation’s chicken growers leave the business after just three years, either selling out or losing everything.”5.

As a result of consolidation, the income of farmers plunged nationwide, as they lost control of marketing to the agricultural giants. Hundreds of thousands of independent farmers were out of business by the end of 90s, as they were in no position to compete against the corporations in this capital-intensive business. Consequently, American farming communities were devastated, and “rural towns became ghost towns.”3.

Meanwhile industry concentration greatly accelerated, as 3 percent of U.S. hog farms produced more than 50 percent of hogs, and “four largest beef packers controlled 84 % of steer and heifer slaughter and 64 % of hog slaughter. Four companies controlled 89% of the breakfast cereal market.”3. Thus, America became the nation of factory farms and the industrialization of American agriculture was virtually completed.

In this factory farming operation, hogs, cattle and chickens are now confined to the smallest possible space with no daylight and totally devoid of any care unlike traditional practices where the animals roam the open fields and receive individual owners’ attention when sick. This new method of production is called CAFO—Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations, where pigs weighing as much as 600 pounds each, locked in a cage of concrete, were not able to lie down and developed severe foot problems.3.The inhumane treatment of the animals leads to madness, sometimes with “bar biting” and “senseless chewing.”3. The annual death rate of animals in CAFO averages 10 percent annually, and “up to 28 percent for some types of chickens.”3.

Chickens in egg factories are raised in a small wire floor with five to eight of them held in one cage. Due to foot deformation, and unnatural living environment the birds become very aggressive, and as a result, are constantly fighting among themselves. 4. In recent years, animal waste and pollution of ground water from factory farms have presented a huge problem for many neighboring communities. “It was estimated that the factory farms produced more than 130 times the waste that humans did, or some 2.7 trillion pounds of animal waste a year.” 6.

Manure and urine in factory farms are funneled to huge lagoons, installations that often “leak nitrate pollution and drug-resistant bacteria into water supplies, and “also emit toxic gases such as ammonia hydrogen sulfide and methane.”7. The waste from the factory farm manure would overflow in rivers, streams, or lakes, killing marine life and contaminating water supplies. According to the NRDC report in 2005, “water contaminated by animal manure contributes to human diseases such as acute gastroenteritis, fever, kidney failure, and even death.”6. It is estimated that more than 40 diseases can be transmitted to humans through manure. Diseases such as spontaneous abortion are linked to a high level of nitrate in drinking water from the wells neighboring the animal feedlots.6.

In addition to waste, there is the problem of the feeding of antibiotics to the animals. It is estimated in 2005, animals consumed 40 million pounds of antibiotics, which would enter the water supplies and food chains. As a result, new strains of bacteria resistant to antibiotics are developing in humans, rendering medicine useless in the treatment of infectious disease.6. 

Another health hazard of factory farming is emission of hundreds of gases from the decomposition of manure. One of these gases is hydrogen sulfide, which is very dangerous at very low levels, as “its effects -- which are irreversible -- range from sore throat to seizures, comas and even death. Other health effects associated with the gases from factory farms include headaches, shortness of breath, wheezing, excessive coughing and diarrhea.”7.  

Until 1997, most cattle in the United States were fed with remains of dead sheep, cattle, cats, and animal organs such brains, spinal cords and intestines. Even chicken manure, containing dangerous bacteria, were allowed to be fed to cattle, thus contaminating slaughterhouse and hamburger meats. 7. U.S. scientists now believe that the “mad cow disease,” or Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) is propagated when the nervous system parts of the infected animals are used as feeding materials. Mad cow disease is one of the most horrific sicknesses in the contemporary world, as there is no medical treatment and no means for consumers to protect themselves, even by cooking the meats.10.

Since 2004, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States has adopted a more stringent regulation on cattle feed. However, the rules are still too lax, as “current FDA regulations allow dead pigs and dead horses to be rendered into cattle feed, along with dead poultry. The regulations not only allow cattle to be fed dead poultry; they allow poultry to be fed dead cattle.”8. Moreover, by the fall of 2006, the U.S. Department of Agriculture scaled back the testing of mad cow disease, with only one-tenth of the number being tested compared to the year before.10.

Cattle in factory farms are fed with corn and soybeans for the last few months of their lives to accelerate their growth. The corn and soybean feedings lead to a high level of acid-resistant E. Coli in their intestinal tract and eventually result in the contamination of meats. Moreover, as the result of industry consolidation, thirteen large meat packers are now responsible for most of the beef being processed in the United States, making it much easier to spread the disease throughout the food chain.9.10. E. Coli has also contaminated vegetables such as spinach, sprouts, salad green, as farms use manure for fertilizer or water containing contaminated animal waste.10.11. Children and elderly are most vulnerable to E Coli infection and it is the leading cause of kidney failure among children in the United States. It is a deadly pathogen, and as few as five organisms contained in a piece of a raw hamburger can be lethal.11.

According to the study by the Union of Concerned Scientists, beef and milk from feedlot-raised cattle deliver less beneficial fats such as omega-3 fatty acids than the cattle fed on grass. Omega-3 fatty acids are essential for a healthy heart and strengthening the immune system.10. Thus, factory farming not only is hazardous to health, but also deprives the consumers of essential nutrients as well. Hormones are being used in factory farms for cattle growth and milk production. It is estimated that two-thirds of cattle in the U.S. are injected with growth hormones, However, beef hormones have been banned in Europe, following. a report issued by the European Commission which found that “residues in meat from injected animals could affect the hormonal balance of humans, causing reproductive issues and breast, prostate or colon cancer.” 10.

 RBGH, a genetically engineered growth hormone has been approved for use to increase milk production in the United States, while it is prohibited in Japan, Europe, Canada and Australia. It is reported that the use of this hormone has increased infection in the animals and is linked to colon, breast cancer in humans and twin births for the past 30 years. 10.

As the result of Harvard studies advocating “vertical integration”, which led to the formation of factory farms, American agriculture has indeed been transformed during the past decades. Consequently, in pursuit of never ending higher corporate profits and increased shareholder value, a new industry practice called CAFO—Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation has been instituted. In this type of factory farm, animals are raised in tight confinement, leading many to die due to disease, stress and injury. Animal manures, as a result of the large scale operation, have polluted the rivers, streams, lake, contaminated the water supplies, and threatened public health. The widely used antibiotics in the factory farms are now entering the food chain and water supplies, creating new strains of bacteria resistant to antibiotics, which have become useless in the treatment of infectious disease. The indiscriminate use of the growth hormones is directly linked to colon and breast cancers, and the E. Coli from meat contamination is one of the most lethal pathogen, directly threatening public health.

Two of the most frightful sicknesses in the new century are mad cow disease and avian flu, both are the results of the standard industry operation called CAFO, courtesy of vertical integration of the farming by the agri-business giants. Vertical integration of agriculture indeed poses threats to human health and the environment, a most unfortunate outcome for the American people. Sadly, American conglomerates, backed by their government, have relentlessly exported this kind of operation around the world.

Notes:
 
1. Engdahl William F.: “Seeds of Destruction” P 133 Global Research 2007
2. Ibid P 134 Global Research 2007
3. Ibid: P 136-139 Global Research 2007
4. Factory Farming Facts   WWW Idausa.org/facts
5. Schlosser Eric: “Fast Food Nation”  P 141  Harper Perennial 2005
6. Engdahl William F. “Seeds of Destruction” PP 140-142  Global Research 2007
7. NRDC: “Pollution from Giant Livestock Farms Threatens Public Health” Natural Resource Defence Council
8. Schlosser Eric: “Fast Food Nation” PP 202-204 Harper Perennial 2005
9. Ibid: P 196
10. Food and Water Watch: “Food Safety Consequences of Factory Farms”
11. Schlosser Eric: “Fast Food Nation” PP 200-201 Harper Perennial 2005