Waterkeeper Alliance mobilizes a network of advocates stretching from the mountains to the coast in North Carolina to address the environmental and public health impacts of industrial animal agriculture. Agriculture is the largest source of pollution to the Bay, and while many farmers have good intentions, there is no way around the fact that certain agricultural practices compromise public health, harm our waterways, and ignore the long-term health of the soil.Īs a means to address this pollution problem, Waterkeepers Chesapeake, through its Fair Farms Campaign, is working to fix the root of this issue: our broken food system. Fair Farms brings together consumers, farmers, public health professionals, and conservationists to advocate for responsible farming practices and increased support for visionary farmers to build an equitable and sustainable food system. Waterkeepers Chesapeake is deeply concerned about the threat posed to the Chesapeake Bay by the massive expansion of industrial poultry operations on the Eastern Shore. Waterkeepers Chesapeake – a coalition of 19 independent Waterkeeper organizations – is working to ensure the waters of the Chesapeake and Coastal Bays are fishable, drinkable, and swimmable. A 2017 EPA report shows that only 30% of the largest industrialized livestock facilities have permits as required by the Clean Water Act to control this pollution and many of the states with the highest density of facilities have the lowest level of Clean Water Act compliance. In the United States, state and federal regulators unfortunately too often turn a blind eye to this pollution. Significant problems arise because growers often apply waste far in excess of the amounts needed for crop production and allow that waste to flow into local waterways, contaminating water resources and damaging the health of downstream communities. So the companies benefitting the most from industrial transformation have effectively hidden behind farmers to avoid liability for the negative externalities stemming from the new company-dictated means of production.ĬAFOs frequently dispose of untreated animal sewage on adjacent croplands.
And, while corporations rake in the profit generated by industry concentration, they contractually disavow responsibility for managing the waste generated by their animals. CAFOs can produce as much waste as a small city, but without the most basic waste treatment system to process it. Naturally, the increased concentration of animal production led to the concentration of high volumes of waste. By contracting with formerly independent farmers, the controlling corporations have attempted to shift liability for the pollution caused by their unsustainable, industrial-scale production methods to these farmers. This is particularly true with respect to waste management.
These contracts, drafted by corporate lawyers, are often unfair to the contract grower. Now, by entering into contracts with growers, companies own the livestock and dictate nearly every facet of production, from the type of animals to the size of confinement facilities, right down to the sort of feed and medical treatment provided to the animals.
In the past, an independent family farmer could raise his own animals based on his professional judgment and experience. The key to this industry transformation was the growth of contract farming. Thus, although national meat production has more than doubled since the 1950s, the number of farms in the United States has decreased by 80%. Animals are now raised in enormous, confined facilities - referred to as Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) - that can confine tens of thousands of animals indoors throughout their short life cycle.
To maximize profits, these companies engineered a shift away from traditional production methods that involved small herds of grazing animals and on-farm feed production. Rapid industry expansion and vertical integration, led by multinational corporations, nearly destroyed the independent family farm. The meat production industry was fundamentally transformed in the last half of the 20th century. We lobby state and federal authorities to strengthen and enforce existing prohibitions on the discharge of animal waste into our waterways, seek to hold corporations that dictate facility operations accountable for waste management practices, promote sound policies that protect our waterways and support independent farmers, and take legal action against the most egregious violators. Waterkeeper Alliance educates the public and decision-makers about the impacts of industrialized livestock operations, supports communities and local farmers, and advocates for sustainable food systems.