Editor, Times-Union: This is a response to Craig Latham trying to convince the public that it is OK and healthy to cram animals in cages for their entire existence.
Anyone who has done their research are educated enough to know CAFO, aka factory farming, is one of the most corrupt industries in the U.S. The pure motive behind these unnatural, disgusting farms are nothing more then to maximize profit. This is an industry that has lost its bearings and willing to inflict any degree of neglect and suffering on animals that nourish our bodies.
Here is a little insight: Breeding sows are confined in crates normally two-by-seven-foot cages which prevents them from turning, stretching or even comfortably laying down. They can do nothing but stand and lay on concrete floors, breathing in toxic ammonia emanating from massive waste pits beneath. Hens are caged in a space no larger then a piece of paper stacked on each other. The bottom hens are soaking in the excrement from top caged hens in turn passing salmonella on to the hen which transfers into consumers eggs.
Let’s not forget the Hallmark plant in California in 2008 had the largest meat recall in U.S. history not because of FDA inspections, that were continuously passing the meat in order to cut corners, but by an employee that went undercover with a video camera. Therefore, proving major sanitary issues also showing the public what these places are really like. Do not be fooled by the words “cage free,” this just means the birds are on the floor stacked together usually unable to walk.
Let not forget the antibiotics these animals are pumped with due to overcrowding and unnatural living conditions. Therefore, creating an entirely new set of problems instead of fixing the underlying problem.
Farming has changed to the point the practices are unrecognizable yet corporate farmers continue to claim they represent rural values, even as they impose the harshest industrial values in the country. Do some research of your own and join the fight against the CAFO. Maybe if enough voices are heard, this way of mass producing will be phased out and a healthier way of farming implemented. I’m sure excluding the farmers trying to fill their pockets, most people would agree we want a more natural humane way of receiving our food.
