Going Whole Hog

Going Whole Hog

Like a lot of things, there are problems when you scale up. Iowa and NC have similar problems, but neither are addressing them adequately.

It's the old joke about "what's that smell?" It's the smell of Money.

It's likely to get worse, as the owners of production live continents away...

There have been attempts to come up with better, safer practices, but with no penalties or incentives, there is little progress.

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/business/article150016642.html

http://www.ehn.org/water-pollution-hog-farming-2504466831.html

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/sep/20/north-carolina-hog-industry-pig-farms

https://www.indyweek.com/indyweek/hogwashed-part-1-hundreds-of-poor-mostly-african-american-residents-of-eastern-north-carolina-say-big-pork-is-making-their-lives-miserable/Content?oid=6825525

https://www.indyweek.com/indyweek/hogwashed-part-2-environmental-advocates-say-hog-facilities-antiquated-waste-disposal-systems-are-threatening-the-states-waterways/Content?oid=6943627

https://www.indyweek.com/indyweek/part-3-solutions-exist-for-the-hog-industrys-waste-management-problem-why-arent-they-being-used/Content?oid=7019789
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/why-is-china-treating-north-carolina-like-the-developing-world-w517973

Comments

  1. Geo. TirebiterMarch 23, 2018 at 9:21 PM

    I found this the crux of the whole situation:
    " In the case of Smithfield Foods, WH Group inherited a practice in which local farmers are encouraged to build facilities on credit for raising pigs set for slaughter. As a result, the company now owns the hogs, the most lucrative part of the business, while the North Carolina farmers own the shit – and all the environmental and human liabilities from it." And, hell, you haven't lived until you find yourself downwind from a pig farm! Yikes!

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