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  • From: "Tradingpost" <tradingpost@lobo.net>
  • To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [Livingontheland] Factory Farm Nation: Map Charts Unprecedented Growth in Factory Farming
  • Date: Tue, 30 Nov 2010 21:10:47 -0700


Really cool. Go to www.factoryfarmmap.org and click on a state, then a county.

Factory Farm Nation: Map Charts Unprecedented Growth in Factory Farming
Food & Water Watch Analysis Finds Livestock on Factory Farms Grew by 20
Percent in 5 Years
Tuesday, November 30, 2010 by Food & Water Watch
http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/press/press-releases/factory-farm-nation-map-charts-unprecedented-growth-in-factory-farming/

WASHINGTON - Food & Water Watch today unveiled the newest version of its
pioneering Factory Farm Map (www.factoryfarmmap.org) that charts the
concentration of factory farms across the country and the impacts these
massive operations have on human health, communities, and the environment.
The interactive map illustrates the geographic shift in where and how food is
raised in the U.S. and allows anyone to quickly search for the highest
concentration of animals by region, state and county.

Food & Water Watch analyzed U.S. Department of Agriculture Census data from
1997, 2002 and the most current census, 2007, for beef and dairy cattle,
hogs, broiler meat chickens and egg-laying operations, and found the total
number of livestock on the largest factory farms rose by more than 20 percent
between 2002 and 2007-while the number of dairy cows and broiler chickens
nearly doubled during the same time, making them the fastest-growing
population of factory farmed animals.

Despite the fact that the number of livestock farms across the country has
decreased, the Food & Water Watch Factory Farm Map illustrates that big farms
are getting bigger, with specific regions and states bearing the brunt of
intensive animal production.

"While more and more light is being shed on the ways our food system is
broken and consumers are increasingly interested in knowing where their food
comes from, there is still a lot of information that's hidden from public
view," said Wenonah Hauter, Food & Water Watch's executive director. "The
purpose of the Factory Farm Map is to provide an easy-to-use tool that anyone
can access to learn more about where our food is really coming from."

Key findings in Food & Water Watch's analysis and map show:

* In five years, total animals on factory farms grew by 5 million, or more
than 20 percent.
o Cows on factory dairy farms nearly doubled from 2.5 million cows in 1997 to
4.9 million in 2007. Factory dairy farms growth in western states like Idaho,
California, New Mexico and Texas shifted the dairy industry away from
traditional states like Wisconsin, New York and Michigan.
o Beef cattle on industrial feedlots rose 17 percent from 2002 to 2007 -
adding about 1,100 beef cattle to feedlots every day for five years.
o Nationally, about 5,000 hogs were added to factory farms every day for the
past decade.
o The growth of industrial broiler chicken production added 5,800 chickens
every hour over the past decade.
o Egg laying hens on factory farms increased by one-quarter over the decade.

* The average size of factory farms increased by 9 percent in five years,
cramming more animals into each operation.
o In 2007, the average factory-farmed dairy held nearly 1,500 cows and the
average beef feedlot held 3,800 beef cattle.
o The average size of hog factory farms increased by 42 percent over a decade.
o Five states with the largest broiler chicken operations average more than
200,000 birds per factory farm.
o Over a decade, average-sized layer chicken operations have grown by 53.7
percent to 614,000 in 2007.

Food & Water Watch released a companion report, Factory Farm Nation, which
explains the forces driving factory farms, as well as the environmental,
public health, and economic consequences of this type of animal production.
The report also examines the causes for industrial-scale livestock and the
demise of small and medium farms.

"This map shows the extent to which factory farms have taken over farming and
our communities," said Robby Kenner, director of the Academy Award-nominated
film Food, Inc. "Through the Factory Farm Map, Food & Water Watch is shining
a spotlight on the mega-corporations that need to be held accountable for the
damage they're doing to our health, environment and rural economies."

In addition to the map itself, the website ranks the top concentrations of
factory farmed livestock nationwide as well as by state and county. It
features a newsfeed for monitoring local and national factory farm news and
social media tools that allow users to share the map and its data via
Facebook, Twitter, email and RSS feed. The Factory Farm Map website includes
a widget that bloggers and other websites can embed on their sites and a
variety of other online tools for activists to spread the word and encourage
local, regional or national action.

"Whether you live near a factory farm and are subject to the groundwater
contamination or air pollution it causes, or live thousands of miles away and
eat the meat or eggs from potentially unsafe facilities, very few people are
spared the risk that these operations bring," said Hauter. "The Factory Farm
Map arms consumers with critical information about how our food is being
produced and what we need to do to chart a course to a more sustainable food
system."

The Factory Farm Map and the companion report can be found at
www.factoryfarmmap.org.





  • [Livingontheland] Factory Farm Nation: Map Charts Unprecedented Growth in Factory Farming, Tradingpost, 11/30/2010

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