National CAFO Perspective
There are lots of things relating to CAFO’s out on the net today. I’m a little buried, but I’ll give you a brief rundown of where you need to look:
Start out at the Indiana Law Blog. Marcia has a piece up about a Marla Cone LA Times Article. Ms. Cone says she has reviewed pertinent scientific studies on the impact of CAFO’s on rural residents and communities and the news is bleak: “More than an unpleasant odor, the smell can have dramatic consequences for rural communities whose lives are rooted in enjoying the outdoors,” says the report, compiled by researchers in Iowa, Illinois and North Carolina. “The highly cherished values of freedom and independence associated with life oriented toward the outdoors gives way to feelings of violation and infringement…. Homes become a barrier against the outdoors that must be escaped.
But Ms. Cone is not alone in her effort to review the existing science. A well financed and highly placed study commission was started in March of this year to take a fact based look at existing CAFO impact science, gather information in 8 public meeting and issue a report in 2008:
The National Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production continues to conduct its two-year study of how concentrated animal feeding operations may impact public health, animal health and well-being, rural sociology, and the environment.Formed in March, the NCIFAP held its second public meeting in September in Washington, D.C., and, at press time, was gearing up for the next meeting in November 2006 in San Francisco.
The independent commission was formed by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Pew Charitable Trusts provided a $2.6 million grant for the commission to JHSPH.
Link (American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA)).
