Food Processing

1. Food Processing Marissa Henze, Noah Hurley, Celia Guyer, Houston Kelly, NermaMrguda, AnnMarie Mews

2. Video http://www.humanesociety.org/news/magazines/2010/07-08/from_homeland_to_wasteland_1.html

3. Factory Farming • Historical Context • Began in the 1920’s with the discovery of vitamins A and D • It evolved in the 1940’s with the use of antibiotics and the assembly line

4. Factory Farming • Geographical Context • http://www.factoryfarmmap.org/ • Almost half of factory farm hens are in Iowa, Indiana, California, and Pennsylvania • Iowa • Factory farmed hogs increased 75% between 1997 and 2007 to 17.9 million • Egg factory farms tripled to 1.3 million also between 1997 and 2007

5. Factory Farming • Major Players • Tyson- largest poultry producer in the world • HFA- Humane Farming Association

6. Factory Farming • Sources of Conflict • The treatment of the animals is often very cruel and inhumane • Often criticized for the enormous amounts of manure and waste produced • Whether growth hormones and antibiotics should be fed to the animals

7. Factory Farming • Solutions • Go vegan • No dairy or eggs • Use humane slaughtering methods • Bring livestock back to a ranch or farm style

8. Factory Farming • Impacts on the US • Pollution from manure waste • Its seeping into the water table • Hormones in the meat might affect humans • Hormone residues excreted by the livestock can affect animals in other habitats

9. Animal Abuse Chickens are confined to small cages often with many chickens in one cage. Hens are de-beaked Bulls are castrated and have their horns chopped off Cows are branded repeatedly Veal calves are chained to impede movement and are fed a diet that causes anemia

10. Historically Until 100 A.D. slaughtering was done mostly at home or on small livestock farms and shipped domestically. In between the years 100 A.D. and 103 A.D. large slaughterhouses started to show up in large cities such as Rome, London, and Paris. This is where abuse is thought to have started as we think of it today Once man could produce mass amounts of meat the prices went down and so did the quality of the product and lives of livestock. But compared to the treatment of livestock today it was humane. In the late 1900’s a new slaughterhouse blue print was drawn up by Dr. Temple Grandin. This new design of slaughter houses funnel cows and chickens single file into the slaughtering rooms.

11. Grandin and her blueprint

12. Major Players Anyone that consumes meat is a player in abusive slaughtering. Unless you get only local meat from trusted farmers. But the biggest players in abusive slaughtering are fast food companies like McDonalds and Burger King etc. Tyson being the worlds biggest provider of meat is right up there with McDonalds.

13. Proposed Solutions Start a vegetarian or white meat campaign since chicken, turkey, and pork have less greenhouse gas output. Start letting livestock have normal lifespan of at least 4 years without growth hormones and minimum antibiotics in open air. Yes this will kill company incomes for the first 4 years but after that there will be a steady stream of animals coming in for slaughter after a normal lifespan.

14. Growth Hormones and Antibiotics • Historical Context • In 1930 materials were taken from the pituitary gland of a cow and injected back into its system. • Bovine was the material found to promote growth. • In the 1980’s, enough pure bovine was mass produced using recombinant technology. • rBGH (recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone) was approved in 1993 by the FDA. • Antibiotics first showed up in animal feed in the 1950’s. • Now three types are used: therapeutics, preventatives, and growth promoters.

15. Growth Hormones and Antibiotics • Geographical Context and Major Players • Hormones and antibiotics are widely used in the U.S. by industrial meat producers. • Iowa, Nebraska, and Kansas are the 3 largest producers of beef enhanced with hormones and antibiotics. • Children, pregnant women, and their unborn children are most vulnerable to the harmful effects of hormones.

16. Growth Hormones and Antibiotics • Sources of Conflict • Today, 2/3 of marketed meats are produced with hormones and antibiotics. • Six harmful hormones, three natural and three synthetic, affect human hormone balances. • Hormones pass through with manure which is dumped, contaminating surface and ground water.

17. Growth Hormones and Antibiotics • Impact on U.S. • The U.S. and Canada are the only countries mass using hormones in their meat production. • Hormones and antibiotics provide a fast and inexpensive way of producing meat. • Our fish ecosystems are being weakened.

18. Growth Hormones and Antibiotics • Solutions • Farmers can choose to stop using hormones and antibiotics. • Consumers can choose to buy hormone free meat/dairy. • Choose USDA certified organic foods.

19. Air Pollution The air contains gases, fumes, dust and other harmful things Heavily farmed areas around the world Factory farms generate 500 million tons of manure From manure, there is over 160 gases that contaminate the air

20. Effects of Air Pollution Gases include Carbon Dioxide, Methane, Ammonia, Hydrogen Sulfide, and many more This causes respiratory diseases and global warming to the Earth and people who live near 18% of Human induced greenhouse gas Asthma, respiratory inflammation, allergies, headaches, eye irritation, and nausea

21. Sources http://www.sustainabletable.org/issues/factoryfarming/ http://www.humanesociety.org/issues/campaigns/factory_farming/ Video http://www.humanesociety.org/news/magazines/2010/07-08/from_homeland_to_wasteland_1.html

22. Sources cont http://animalrights.about.com/od/animalsusedforfood/a/SolutionFactory.htm www.sustainabletable.org www.envirocancer.cornell.edu http://www.factoryfarmtaxprotest.org/FactoryFarmFactSheet.pdf http://www.epa.vic.gov.au/air/aq4kids/pollution.asp