[Craic] Carbon cowboys vs. concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs)
Arthur Blomme
art at integralshift.ca
Fri Jun 12 09:06:20 PDT 2020
Carbon Cowboys Versus CAFOs
Story at-a-glance
* The system created to serve concentrated animal feeding operations
(CAFOs) has cracked during the pandemic, putting U.S. food supplies
in jeopardy
* “Carbon cowboys” — those who have embraced an alternative method of
food production that works with nature instead of against it — not
only are surviving the upheaval but thriving, all while providing
nutritious food to their communities
* Regenerative farmers are seeing a three- to 10fold increase in
demand compared to last year, thanks to their ability to market
directly to consumers
* Reduced capacity at conventional processing plants, along with the
distribution of protective equipment, could drive up conventional
chicken prices by 25% to 30%
* The conditions in which cheap meat is raised and processed are the
same that have been found to contribute to antibiotic-resistant
disease as well as the emergence of diseases that may be transmitted
from animals to humans, a high cost for all of humanity
* The Processing Revival and Intrastate Meat Exemption (PRIME) Act
would allow farmers to sell meat processed at smaller slaughtering
facilities, making locally raised meat more accessible
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought many fragile industries to the
breaking point and highlighted systemic problems in others, including
the industrialized, centralized food system in the U.S. Major meat
processing plants have emerged as hotspots for transmission of
SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
Prior to the Defense Production Act, which compels meat plants to stay
open in order to protect the functioning of the U.S. meat and poultry
supply chain, being invoked in April 2020, many were forced to shut
down. As threats of meat shortages emerged, farmers were faced with the
grim prospect of killing thousands of food animals just because they had
nowhere to send them to be processed.^1
The system created to serve concentrated animal feeding operations
(CAFOs) has cracked during the pandemic, putting U.S. food supplies in
jeopardy. Meanwhile, so-called “carbon cowboys” — those who have
embraced an alternative method of food production that works with nature
instead of against it — not only are surviving the upheaval but
thriving, all while providing nutritious food to their communities.
‘Carbon Cowboys’ Persevere, Thrive During Pandemic
The dichotomy between CAFOs and carbon cowboys could not be more stark,
with CAFOs
<https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2019/01/01/cafo-california-air-pollution.aspx>
that control the majority of U.S. meat and poultry largely reliant on a
limited number of large processing plants. “The coronavirus is showing
how food supply has become too centralized, especially for meat
processing,” Peter Byck, an Arizona State University professor, told Fox
News.^2
Byck directed a 10-part documentary titled “Carbon Cowboys,” following
farmers who use regenerative grazing techniques
<https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2019/06/01/farmers-footprint-regenerative-farming.aspx>,
allowing them to largely avoid chemical pesticides, fertilizers and
other pitfalls of industrial farming while building carbon-rich soil
that increases crop health and livestock yields.
“We could use a lot more mid-level meat processing plants, all around
the country. So, if one plant went down, there would be others to pick
up the slack. It’s one of the reasons the farmers in the film are often
making so much more money — because they’ve created their own supply
chain and selling direct to customers,” Byck said.^3
Indeed, regenerative farmers who sell their products directly to
consumers and rely on small processing plants are not facing the
hardships that CAFOs are seeing. While meat from small, custom
slaughterhouses is not permitted to be sold to grocery stores, schools
or restaurants, it can be sold directly to customers who have purchased
an entire animal prior to slaughter through a share program, as well as
via local farmers markets.
Allen Williams, a sixth-generation farmer and chief ranching officer for
Joyce Farms, is one of the carbon cowboys featured in the film. He cited
a 400% to 1,200% increase in demand for regenerative producers, and
though the film has been in the works for six years, the farmers it
features stated they’re seeing a three- to 10fold increase in demand
compared to last year, thanks to their ability to market directly to
consumers.^4
Will Harris III, owner of White Oak Pastures in Bluffton, Georgia, also
cited the need for smaller, decentralized processing facilities to free
up the bottleneck that’s placing a hardship on so many farmers. By
creating “at least one medium-sized plant in every state,” food that
currently travels an average of 1,500 miles to get to consumers would
only need to travel 100 or 200 miles. This, he says, is key to
transforming the U.S. food system:
/“We have to build out additional capacity. We need processing of
the middle. We don’t need a lot more mom-and-pop processors. We need
processing facilities with 100-500 per day capacity to start …/
/With more processors, more farms can transform and thus grow small
businesses and the rural economy. These communities that are dead
and boarded up will come to life and rural economies will surge. The
country’s economy surges when small businesses and communities
thrive.”/^5
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Meat Prices May Rise as Plants’ Poor Conditions Spread Virus
Tyson, JBS USA, Smithfield Foods and Cargill Inc. control the majority
of U.S. meat and poultry, processing it in a handful of centralized
mega-processing plants. The plants are notorious for their poor working
conditions even under ordinary circumstances, but in the midst of a
pandemic, the elbow-to-elbow spacing and fast line speeds have made the
low-paying job even more hazardous.
It’s unknown just how many COVID-19 infections have occurred among the
more than 500,000 workers employed by the approximately 7,600 slaughter
and processing facilities in North America,^6 but internationally it’s
suggested that more than 10,000 meat workers have been infected while at
least 30 have died as a result.^7 The cases aren’t confined to inside
the processing plants but, rather, are spreading to the community.
An analysis by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) found that counties
with meatpacking plants
<https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2020/05/26/covid-19-infections-nearly-double-in-meatpacking-counties.aspx>,
or within a 15-mile radius, reported 373 COVID-19 cases per 100,000
residents, which is close to double the U.S. average of 199 cases per
100,000.^8
To slow the spread of infection, some plants have slowed production to
adhere to social distancing measures, while others have installed
barriers between workers and in common areas. Other processing plants
are ramping up efforts to automate the process, accelerating plans that
have been in the works since long before the pandemic.
“You are going to see a bifurcation where the larger, more profitable
facilities are going to move toward a vastly more automated meat
processing facility,” Decker Walker, an agribusiness expert at Boston
Consulting Group, told the Longview News-Journal. “Incentives for
automation have never been higher.”^9 Ultimately, consumers will pay for
the changes being implemented throughout the industry.
Sanchoy Das, a professor at the New Jersey Institute of Technology,
predicted that reduced capacity at processing plants, along with the
distribution of protective equipment, could drive up conventional
chicken prices by 25% to 30%, adding, “The 99-cents per pound chicken
could be in short supply very quickly.”^10
Is Big Meat Really Cheap?
The increase in meat prices, as well as the increased demand for higher
priced niche meats like heritage pork and grass fed beef, is also
highlighting a socioeconomic divide in the U.S. While some grocery
outlets are running out of supplies of low-priced CAFO meat, demand has
ramped up for specialty meat products, for those who have the income to
support it.
However, as the processing facilities spread disease and necessitate
shutdowns, we’re now seeing the high price that is ultimately paid for
the convenience of cheap meat, whereas regenerative farming
<https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2019/01/29/top-reasons-to-support-regenerative-agriculture.aspx>,
while often producing a higher-priced product, remains able to supply
food to local communities, without the environmental destruction and
disease outbreaks caused by industrial agriculture. As Bloomberg
reported:^11
/“The virus has had limited impact on the output of specialty meats
for some of the same reasons those products are more expensive. The
plants aren’t run on huge economies-of-scale, where hundreds of
workers are jammed into elbow-to-elbow working conditions processing
thousands of animals each day./
/Instead, livestock are raised on organic feed and pastures and then
processed in relatively tiny plants or local butcher shops. It’s
small-scale production, which means social distancing is easier and
companies can more readily enforce sanitary precautions. Even if one
plant goes down, it only accounts for a small fraction of supply,
and the larger chain isn’t broken.”/
Meanwhile, prices for specialty meat are holding steady while
conventional meat prices have risen sharply in recent months. The price
for conventional ground chuck, for instance, increased by 57% compared
to a year ago, according to USDA data.^12
Ultimately, if demand for grass fed meat increases, and processing
facilities are available to distribute it, it can become more accessible
for all. And, it’s important to remember that real costs come with Big
Ag’s “cheap meat.” The Organic Consumers Association (OCA), in fact, has
sued pork giant Smithfield Foods for claiming its products are the
safest U.S. pork products.
“Consumers are unlikely to know that the USDA has notified Smithfield
slaughter plants on multiple occasions that their pork was more likely
to be contaminated with salmonella than similar products in slaughter
plants of the same size,” said Ronnie Cummins, OCA co-founder and
director.^13
“Failure to report these notifications to consumers is one thing. But
claiming that its products are the ‘safest’ possible pork products in
the U.S. is a blatant misrepresentation of the brand’s actual safety
record,” Cummins said. “The current heightened consumer concern about
safety in the meat industry is all the more reason to hold Smithfield
accountable for false safety claims.”
The conditions in which cheap meat is raised and processed are the same
that have been found to contribute to antibiotic-resistant disease
<https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2016/09/20/stop-antibiotic-resistant-bacteria.aspx>
as well as the emergence of diseases that may be transmitted from
animals to humans, a high cost for all of humanity.
Food System Is Changing, Is Reform Coming?
The pandemic started with Americans hoarding food and has triggered a
newfound, or perhaps old-fashioned, trend to cook more meals at home.
The return to home-cooked meals has been a boon to meal kit companies,
which have cashed in on Americans’ desire to eat at home and have their
groceries delivered while they’re at it.
Meal-kit delivery service Blue Apron noted a 27% increase in demand in
late March and early April 2020, while online food retailer Thrive
Market cited two distinct waves of increased demand — the first for
certain products like toilet paper and hand sanitizer and the second
from those seeking to replicate their normal grocery shopping online.^14
Many of these changes are likely to remain even post-pandemic.
“People are more confident in the kitchen than they used to be before,
and more than half of them intend to cook at home more than they did
before Covid-19, even as things start to settle down,” Blue Apron’s
chief executive Linda Findley Kozlowski told The New York Times.^15
Still, as Americans’ desire for fresh, safe and readily accessible food
has peaked, many small farmers are struggling.
With restaurants and farmers markets closed, small farmers have lost
steady customers. Many have pivoted and have begun supplying produce
boxes directly to consumers, but such changes are labor intensive and
farmers may not be able to keep up with the demand. In a survey of small
farmers, between 30% and 40% predicted they could be bankrupt by the end
of 2020.^16
Representative Chellie Pingree, D-Maine, is among those calling for
reform and suggesting that the pandemic is providing a unique
opportunity for change:^17
/“As the owner of a small farm, I’m frequently amazed at how little
Washington understands the work that goes into putting food on our
plates, but coronavirus has made it impossible to ignore the labor
of grocery store employees, farmers, processors and food producers.
Our nation is collectively acknowledging what’s always been true:
Those who grow, sell and serve our food are essential workers, and
we should treat them as such.”/
In addition to calling for an essential workers’ bill of rights that
would provide benefits to essential workers in the food system, and
expanding access to locally produced food for food banks and
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program beneficiaries, a key part of
the change should be making locally raised livestock processing more
widely available.
Under current government regulations, the USDA, not individual states,
has control over how meat is processed, and small farmers must send
animals to be processed at a USDA-inspected slaughterhouse, which may be
hundreds of miles away. The state of Maine, for instance, has only one
USDA poultry plant in the state.
The PRIME Act Is More Important Than Ever
The Processing Revival and Intrastate Meat Exemption (PRIME) Act would
allow farmers to sell meat processed at smaller slaughtering facilities
and allow states to set their own meat processing standards. Because
small slaughterhouses do not have an inspector on staff — a requirement
that only large facilities can easily fulfill — they’re banned from
selling their meat. The PRIME Act would lift this regulation without
sacrificing safety.^18
“The PRIME Act would change federal regulations to make it easier to
process meat locally, helping small farmers stay afloat during this
economic crisis while simultaneously keeping food on our plates,”
Pingree said. “This bill would shift more safety oversight to states,
some of which already have equally rigorous inspection practices, and
break down barriers for small farms looking to sell their product.”^19
The solution to food reform is not, as some lab-grown meat companies
would like you to believe, to create a fake meat industry
<https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2018/07/18/lab-grown-meat-factory-farming.aspx>
without animals^20 — that is big technology’s ultraprocessed dream.
Replacing farms and livestock with chemistry labs is not the
"environmentally friendly" alternative envisioned by biotech startups
and its chemists. The long-term answer actually lies in the transition
to sustainable, regenerative, chemical-free farming practices, and
making the sustainably-grown foods produced by small farmers accessible
to all.
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