 Industrial
farms not only produce foods that are potentially harmful to our
health, but they also negatively affect local economies,
community health and the surrounding environment.
Local Economies
Agribusiness often claims that its presence will have a positive
impact on a local economy by creating new jobs and investing in
the community. Recent experience, however, has shown that when
large-scale farms enter communities and replace small farmers,
they can actually create a downturn in the local economy.
For example, a Michigan study demonstrated that small hog
farms proportionately spend almost 50% more at local businesses
than large farms do, primarily because the larger farms buy feed
in bulk from sources outside of the community. i
Since factory farms are vertically-integrated,
farm materials are bought within the corporation, rather than at
the local feed or hardware store. In addition, industrial farms
are often too large to be locally-supplied, so they must buy
feed and other materials in bulk from distant suppliers. For
example, Wisconsin dairy farmers – who traditionally grew
their own feed on the same land where they kept their cows -
have turned to importing feed because there isn’t enough
local acreage for both cows and crops.ii
Despite the fact that industrial farms invest less in
local economies than small farms, they could still boost local
economies by increasing property values and tax revenue. Yet
numerous studies have shown that property values are often
negatively affected by large-scale livestock production, mostly
due to undesirable and highly unpleasant odors coming from their
facilities. An Iowa study showed that property values dropped
approximately ten percent when large confined animal feeding
operations were opened upwind of those properties.iii
One Missouri study indicated that homes and businesses located
within .1 miles of an industrial farm had property values as
much as a fifth lower than those 3 miles away.iv
Another study of communities in Missouri demonstrated that
houses located within one tenth of a mile of an industrial farm
lost as much as 88 percent of their value.v
There is almost no data showing how industrial
agricultural facilities affect tax revenues, but some evidence
suggests that the effect is negative. One Iowa study of hog
farms suggested that local and state revenues increase when herd
sizes grow toward 300 sows, and then decline as the herd size
approaches 3,400.vi Another report estimated that a
20,000-head cattle feedlot could have a large impact on local
roads because of the constant transport of cattle in and out of
the facility, and the funding required to maintain those roads
would offset any increased tax revenues from the farm.vii
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As recently as 2004, the U.S. agricultural industry
consistently experienced record profits,viii but this
agricultural boom did not create more opportunities for the
average farmer or rural worker. The percentage of the rural
workforce employed on farms dropped by about half in the 1980s
and 1990s.ix Some of these job losses might be offset
by increased opportunities in processing plants or related
industries, but those new jobs are often located far away, so
the workers located near the farms do not have access to them.
While many workers have lost jobs as a result of
industrial farming, farmers are losing control over the way they
farm and the prices they can ask for their products because of contract growing. Today, few poultry
growers actually own the chickens they raise, and hog-growers
are increasingly raising their herds for outside owners as well.x
These farmers have no say over what breeds of animals they
raise, and are often required to buy feed and other products
from the same companies that own their animals. As corporate
farms grow bigger and more centrally-controlled, small farms are
unable to compete and eventually disappear. In the last forty
years of the twentieth century, both the number of U.S. farms
and the number of farmers dropped by approximately 60 percent.xi
Community Health
Factory farms directly affect community health by introducing
potentially hazardous substances into the air and water. Air pollutants such as
hydrogen sulfide, ammonia, and particulate matter are released
in significant quantities by these large confined animal feeding
operations, and all have the potential to negatively affect
their surrounding communities.xii People living near
hog farms, for example, often have increased respiratory
problems, most likely due to the large quantities of ammonia
emitted by those types of facilities.xiii One recent
study indicates that children attending schools located near
industrial farms may be at a higher risk for asthma.xiv
Large farms also often pollute local water sources,
mainly through the release of nitrates and nitrites from
chemical fertilizers.xv A study of almost 2,000 wells
across the country showed that 9 percent of domestic wells and 2
percent of public-supply wells had nitrate concentrations in
excess of the EPA’s maximum contaminant level.xvi
Nitrate poisoning can cause dangerously low blood-oxygen levels
in babies (or blue-baby syndrome), spontaneous abortions, and
possibly cancer.xvii This is an especially serious
problem in rural communities, because rural Americans are
heavily reliant on ground-water and domestic wells.xviii
While many physical problems have been linked to factory
farm runoff and air pollution, there is evidence that
psychological and social problems can also result from living
close to such facilities. xix Studies suggest that
symptoms such as fatigue, depression, and mood disturbances
occur in higher proportions near confined animal feeding
operations.xx Several studies also suggest that the
presence of industrial farms can cause an increase in disputes
between neighbors and the loss of social status, mutual trust,
social cohesiveness, and other measures of “social
capital.”xxi A study of one Oklahoma county
from 1990 to 1997—a period in which large-scale hog
farming was being introduced—indicated dramatic increases
in violent crime, theft, and civil court cases. Counties which
did not experience such changes in agricultural practices had
decreases in all of those problems during the same period.xxii
Local Environment
Industrial farms also take a toll on the environment in ways that affect the
local community even when they don’t pose an immediate
threat to human health. For example, the particulate matter
emitted from such farms contributes greatly to haze.xxiii
Foul odors—which are always a nuisance, but which may or
may not be hazardous—are almost always emitted by large
livestock operations. Ammonia emitted from farms can contribute
to haze, loss in forest production, and a loss in biodiversity.xxiv
The nitric oxides produced in large quantities by farms,
especially in manure application,xxv are among the
leading sources of acid rain.xxvi
Phosphorous and nitrogen pollution from fertilizers can
cause fish kills, toxic algae blooms, and other significant
changes in water systems.xxvii Metals such as copper,
zinc, lead, chromium, arsenic and cadmium are often added to
animal feed, and when they are excreted through manure they
often end up on fields as part of fertilizers.xxviii
They are all toxic to humans. Some of these metals, like copperixxx
and cadmiumxxx, can be directly absorbed by crops,
and most of them can pollute drinking water as they either seep
into groundwater or exit the fields along with other harmful
pollutants via water runoff.
What You Can Do
The best way to keep factory farms out of communities is by
purchasing foods directly from small farmers. You can check out
the Eat
Well Guide to locate sources of sustainable meat and dairy in
your area, and visit farmers markets, farm stands, or join a CSA
group to keep small farms afloat and factory farms out.
Another way to build community around food and
sustainable farming is by hosting
a sustainable community event. Once you’ve found your
local farmer, get your friends and neighbors together to
celebrate and support local farms!
Finally, if your community is being threatened by a
proposed factory farm or a factory farm that’s already in
place, visit the GRACE Factory Farm Project and gather the
tools you need to overcome this negative presence.
Did You Know?
- Odor alone—even if the
individual chemicals that cause it are not hazardous—can
cause adverse health effects in certain situations.xxxi
- About 1/3 of all U.S. farms are
located within metropolitan areas, comprising 18% of the total
U.S. farmland.xxxii
- The rural population of the U.S. (as
measured by percentage of the total population) has declined
every decennial census since 1820, most markedly over the
twentieth century.xxxiii The total number of people
living on farms has also fallen over the twentieth
century—especially after 1940—as has the percentage
of the U.S. labor force working on farms.xxxiv
For More Information
Visit the GRACE
Factory Farm Project to learn about what communities are doing
to fight industrial farms.
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