Response to the President of the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association: Use of Roxarsone in poultry and swine feed defies “sustainability.”

Wednesday, September 30th, 2009

Responding to Congressman Steve Israel’s (D-NY) proposed ban on roxarsone - an arsenical growth-promoting additive to swine and poultry feed - John Starkey, President of the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association, claimed use of the antimicrobial drug in poultry feed “…increases sustainability of production.”  Mr. Starkey’s use of the term “sustainability” requires clarification - is [...]

Filed under: Agriculture, Food Production, Industrial Food Animal Production, Public Health | 2 Comments »

How Much Does U.S. Livestock Production Contribute to Greenhouse Gas Emissions?

Tuesday, August 4th, 2009

A round of applause for Washington Post reporter Ezra Klein for pointing out last week the undeniable fact that meat production is a major contributor to global warming, and that consumers can make a difference by cutting out their meat consumption just one day a week. How big a difference in greenhouse gases reduction it [...]

Filed under: Agriculture, Climate Change, Environment, Food Production, Food Systems, Industrial Food Animal Production, Public Health | 9 Comments »

Is Smithfield Decision Not to Replace Gestation Crates Ethical?

Monday, July 13th, 2009

Alan Goldberg, Ph.D., is a former commissioner of the Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production and is a guest blogger today for Livable Future.
The largest pork producer in the world, Smithfield Foods Inc., says it can’t afford to go through with one of its much-ballyhooed animal welfare improvement plans. The company said that [...]

Filed under: Agriculture, Food Production, Food Systems, Food and Farm Policy, Industrial Food Animal Production | 2 Comments »