Green Options » pig

Can We Escape the “Meatrix”?

Rhonda Winter — Sun, 03 May 2009 00:10:12 +0000

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The Meatrix is a clever animated short that explains how incredibly cruel, destructive and dangerous factory farming truly is. Even the recent over-hyped outbreak of swine flu has been linked to poorly managed factory farms in Mexico, that are actually owned by US Agribusiness giant Smithfield Foods, the world’s largest industrial pork producer. “Industrial farms are super-incubators for viruses,” said Bob Martin, former executive director of the Pew Commission on Industrial Animal Farm Production, and a vocal critic of “contained animal feeding operations.”

Swine Flu and “Factory Farming”

Brenda Keener — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 23:23:16 +0000

Today’s news is ablaze with stories about the recent swine flu outbreak, an outbreak that may have been fully preventable through the use of green farming practices. At the time I write this post, 50 cases of swine

flu have been reported in the US alone, with one death attributable to the mutated virus. Although most cases have been mild, the fear factor alone is leading to school closures and cancelled vacations across the world.

Could this have been prevented? In my opinion, yes. Pig farmers today are more concerned about profit dollars and pounds of pork produced than the quality of the meat. This means pigs are kept in tight quarters, creating an excellent breeding ground for viruses as well as virus mutation. Flys and other insects that thrive in pig excrement provide a ready medium for transmission of these new forms of “bugs”, completing the cycle.

There is considerable speculation on the web that this new form of virus originated in the pig farms owned by Smithfield Farms in Perote, Mexico, which is where the disease was first spotted. Over 950,000 pigs are raised in these facilities. There is no way of proving culpability, of course, but it stands to reason that free range pig farming (and sustainable farming of other food animals), provides a healthier alternative to overpopulated pig “tenements”.

But until we stop “hogging” profit dollars and see the greener picture, health risks will continue to rise. I plan to wash my hands often.

Swine Flu in Mexico Linked to Poorly Managed Factory Farms

Levi Novey — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 16:43:54 +0000

Investigations now reveal that the swine flu epidemic that began in Mexico and spread worldwide is probably connected to pollution caused by unsanitary pig breeding farms in the region.

Various news outlets are covering the story, and here are some excerpts from articles where you can find more information about this breaking news:

Life Cycle: Greening the Other White Meat

Simran Sethi — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 15:31:58 +0000

Sarah Smarsh and Simran Sethi are writing a series on the impacts of everyday things. They will be posting previews on Green Options before launching the posts on Huffington Post Here’s a peek at pork.

It’s lunchtime, baby. Panda Garden. Porky goodness. Mooshu style.

The “other white meat” in your takeout container falls behind beef and chicken in American consumption, but we do pig out on pig—on average, each of us consumes 51 pounds of Wilbur annually. That translates to big impact on our water and air.

Due to the high variety of bacteria, worms and other undesirables in pig flesh, and because of the quick-spread disease potential of crowded pig farms, heavy doses of antibiotics are administered routinely. Those same drugs end up in your body via waste streaming into our water supply, and via that Mooshu pork to go. Other side dishes you might not have ordered include growth hormones to encourage meat-heavy livestock and vaccines injected to avoid profit-damaging disease.