{"id":773526,"date":"2023-09-04T07:20:58","date_gmt":"2023-09-04T11:20:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/animalrightswatch.us\/?p=773526"},"modified":"2023-09-04T08:19:58","modified_gmt":"2023-09-04T12:19:58","slug":"agricultural-exceptionalism-the-myths-we-tell-ourselves-about-american-farming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/animalrightswatch.us\/?p=773526","title":{"rendered":"THE LIES WE BURY: The myths we tell ourselves about American farming"},"content":{"rendered":"\t
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The billions of animals farmed each year in the US for food generate nearly 2.5 billion pounds of untreated waste EVERY DAY, and a lot of it is washed away into rivers and streams. Yet, the Environmental Protection Agency appears to be fine with that. On top of this, farms are also exempt from the Animal Welfare Act, leaving billions of animals raised for meat, eggs, and dairy raised in terrible conditions on factory farms. Big Ag often argues its exceptional status is justified because farming is indeed exceptional, given the essential nature of its product: food. But we don\u2019t apply exceptionalist logic to any other industry, such as energy production that, like food, is also highly polluting and essential to human flourishing.<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/blockquote>\n\n

KENNY TORRELLA:<\/strong> If you were to guess America\u2019s biggest source of water pollution, chemical factories or oil refineries might come to mind. But it\u2019s actually farms \u2014 especially those raising cows, pigs, and chickens. The billions of animals farmed each year in the US for food generate nearly 2.5 billion pounds of waste every day \u2014 around twice as much as people do \u2014 yet none of it is treated like human waste. It\u2019s either stored in giant pits, piled high as enormous mounds on farms, or spread onto crop fields as fertilizer.<\/em><\/p>\n

And a lot of it washes away into rivers and streams, as does synthetic fertilizer from the farms growing corn and soy to feed all those animals. \u201cThese factory farms operate like sewerless cities,\u201d said Tarah Heinzen, legal director of environmental nonprofit Food and Water Watch. Animal waste is \u201crunning off into waterways, it\u2019s leaching into people\u2019s drinking water, it\u2019s harming wildlife, and threatening public health.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Yet in practice, the Environmental Protection Agency appears to be largely fine with all that. When Congress passed the Clean Water Act in 1972, it explicitly directed the EPA to regulate water pollution from \u201cconcentrated animal feeding operations,\u201d or factory farms, among other businesses. But according to Food and Water Watch, fewer than one-third of the largest factory farms are actually regulated \u2014 and lightly, at that. Earlier this month, the EPA told Food and Water Watch it\u2019s going to stay that way. The EPA rejected a 2017 joint petition from the group and other environmental organizations, calling on the agency to better regulate factory farms under the Clean Water Act.<\/em><\/p>\n

The kind of regulatory evasion that allows for so much water pollution is just the latest example of what food industry reformers call \u201cagricultural exceptionalism,\u201d which lets the sector operate under a different set of rules than other parts of the economy, leading to widespread abuse in the food system. It\u2019s fueled by romanticized myths about farming that mask the original sins of American agriculture \u2014 most notably slavery and mass land expropriation from American Indians \u2014 and the modern-day issues of mass pollution, animal cruelty, and labor exploitation. And it\u2019s come to affect virtually every part of how food gets from the farm to your table.<\/em><\/p>\n

Rather than regulate more factory farms for pollution, the EPA said in its recent decision that it will set up a committee next year to further study the issue for 12 to 18 months. The agency denied an interview request for this story, but a spokesperson said in an email that \u201ca comprehensive evaluation is essential before determining whether any regulatory revisions are necessary or appropriate”…<\/em><\/p>\n

On top of exemptions from critical environmental and labor legislation, farms are also exempt from the Animal Welfare Act, leaving billions of animals raised for meat, eggs, and dairy \u2014 almost all of whom are raised in terrible conditions on factory farms \u2014 with virtually no federal protections. The federal law that\u2019s meant to reduce animal suffering at slaughterhouses exempts chickens and turkeys, which make up 98 percent of land animals raised for food…<\/em><\/p>\n

Agricultural exceptionalism trickles down to the state level, too. Most states exempt livestock from anti-cruelty laws, and many states have passed \u201cag-gag laws,\u201d which criminalize activists and journalists for simply recording what goes on at farms. Most state environmental agencies \u2014 including in progressive states like California \u2014 don\u2019t do much to regulate farm pollution…<\/em><\/p>\n

While the entire food sector benefits from agricultural exceptionalism, animal agriculture is especially privileged. Meat and dairy producers get far more subsidies than farmers growing more sustainable foods, like beans, vegetables, fruits, and whole grains. A recent analysis from Stanford University researchers found that livestock farmers receive 800 times more public funding than non-animal farmers”…<\/em><\/p>\n

Big Ag often argues its exceptional status is justified because farming is indeed exceptional, given the essential nature of its product: food. But… we don\u2019t apply exceptionalist logic to any other industry. Energy production, for example, is highly polluting but essential to human flourishing, just like food, so we push to make our laws and economy limit the industry\u2019s externalities and scale renewable forms of energy. Exemptions are granted to the agricultural industry not because we\u2019ve ever really been at risk of famine, but because of the powerful myths we tell ourselves about farming. SOURCE…<\/strong><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

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