Food for Thought: Beware the CAFOs
Originally Published In Radish Magazine
By Dave Murphy
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The future construction of a new Triumph Foods slaughterhouse in East Moline, Ill. — which will kill and process 16,000 hogs a day at full capacity — has led many Quad-Citians and neighbors from surrounding communities to voice their concerns.
Proponents have billed the plant as the biggest economic development project to land in the Quad-Cities in 30 years. They talk about an increase in jobs, an influx of workers and an increased tax base. The problem is what they don’t talk about — confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs), to which Triumph will turn to meet its demand for 5.84 million live pigs each year at full capacity.
An average CAFO holds 2,400 pigs. If the stock is turned over twice a year it would take 1,217 CAFOs to meet Triumph’s needs. If each plant turned over its stock three times a year (the maximum), 811 CAFOs could do the job. And to maximize returns and diminish transportation costs, these 811 to 1,217 CAFOs would need to be within a 50- to 75-mile radius of the plant, says Chris Petersen, president of the Iowa Farmer’s Union.
This many CAFOs in one compact area will radically alter the economy, environment and quality of life for residents in Scott, Clinton, Cedar, Muscatine and Jackson counties in Iowa and Henry, Mercer and Rock Island counties in Illinois.
It will be the end of economic development. Contrary to what Triumph has promised and what local officials have been led to believe, the density of this many CAFOs in an area will only lead to economic ruin for the towns and residents near them. Numerous studies have found that the arrival of large CAFOs in an area can severely undermine a community’s opportunity to expand its economic base and will contribute to the decline of communities as jobs grow scarce and neighbors are forced to move. One study by Colorado State University found that proximity to hog confinements can decimate property values. According to the report, “one county in Iowa has decreased the assessed value of homes within a half mile of a hog operation by 40 percent, within 1 mile by 30 percent, 1.5 miles by 20 percent and 2 miles by 10 percent …”
It will be the end of fresh air. Residents will be inundated with the stench of over 200 bacteria, chemicals and toxic gases that are emitted from hog confinements on an hourly basis. Two of the most insidious gases that residents near CAFOs will be exposed to are hydrogen sulfide and ammonia, which can produce a variety of symptoms including breathing difficulties, burning sensations in the nose and throat, nausea, vomiting, headaches, dizziness and sleep problems.
It will be the end of clean water. In Iowa alone more than 2.6 million fish were killed in a 10-year period from 329 documented manure spills, according to a report by the Environmental Integrity Project. A report by American Rivers declared the Iowa River to be No. 3 on the list of the nation’s most endangered rivers. A leading factor listed as a source of that pollution was CAFOs.
If all this weren’t bad enough, residents of eastern Iowa and western Illinois also will have to worry about the proven negative health impacts that CAFOs impose. Proximity to hog confinements has been linked to respiratory illnesses, asthma and increased rates of depression, anxiety and fatigue, among other illnesses. A recent study by the University of Iowa found that nearly 20 percent of children who attended a school within a half mile of a CAFO had been diagnosed with asthma. Even more alarming are reports of antibiotic-resistant diseases that have been found in the waters and air near hog confinements due to overuse of antibiotics, which are used to stimulate growth and control the spread of disease within the confinements.
The situation in the Quad-Cities area is nothing new. In state after state, from North Carolina to Utah, Minnesota to Indiana, the fight against giant corporate hog confinements has been fought for nearly 20 years. If the East Moline Triumph plant and inevitable CAFOs are built, many residents of eastern Iowa and western Illinois will have to shut their windows for good to keep out the smell. Children will no longer be able to play out in their yards. There’ll be no more wading in streams or eating fish from local rivers. Recreation and outdoor activity will become next to impossible in the hot summer months. Like the buffalo and the wide open prairie, these will become things of the past.
For more information on CAFOs and how to mobilize to improve the agricultural landscape, read “The CAFO Dilemma”.
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