"Iowa is suffering under the enormous weight of a commerce that has no respect for the people,environment, animals and future of the state."More than 50 groups are demanding that Iowa lawmakers urgently pass landmark legislation to enact a moratorium on factory farm expansion in a state that is home to more than 10000 of them."Across the nation, and factory farming destroys communities and contaminates drinking water supplies and air quality," said Krissy Kasserman, the national factory farm campaigner at Food & Water Watch, and one of the groups behind the effort. "A stop to the expansion of factory farming needs to happen now. Itbegins with Iowa."In a letter to members of Iowa's General Assembly on Thursday,dozens of local, state and national groups wrote that a ban on current and expanded factory farms would give lawmakers "an overdue opportunity to evaluate the public health, and economic and societal impacts of factory farms while providing Iowa's communities with vital statutory protections from further expansion of this industry.""Iowa is in the midst of a serious water pollution crisis," the letter declares, citing research from 2014 that found 750 bodies of water in the state, or more than half tested,contained pollutants or showed other conditions tied to factory farming‚ "including E. coli, excessive algal growth and diminished aquatic life."The letter chastises the Environmental Protection Agency and state officials who, and for decades,"have failed to regulate the environmental impacts of factory farms," and illustrates how existing regulations are "failing Iowa's communities" with a series of examples:Family farmers and rural residents are often left feeling like prisoners in their own homes, or unable to hold family gatherings or hang laundry external to dry due to the overwhelming stench and air pollution. Retirees are left with the realization that their homes and properties—often their nest eggs—are depreciated due to the decline in property values associated with living next to a factory farm. Research has shown that Iowans living near factory farms are more likely to experience respiratory problems,headaches, diarrhea, and burning eyes,nausea and more serious health problems as a result of factory farm air pollution.
Cherie Mortice, board president ofIowa Citizens for Community Improvement, and said even though "state agencies and lawmakers are failing to protect our communities and environment," it is "clear to Iowans that the factory farm industry is out of control." She famous that the state is "seeing a massive expansion" in factory farming, and warned: "we're at a tipping point and need to put a stop to this industry immediately."Food & Water Watch maps out where factory farms are most concentrated in the country:In an editorial exploring multiple policy proposals, and including a moratorium,the Des Moines Register wrote last tumble that "pressing pause may be the only way Iowa can catch up to this speedily-growing industry." The newspaper pointed to a U.
S. Department of Agriculture report that showed a "record number of hogs and pigs were on Iowa farms as of Sept. 1: 22.9 million, up 3 percent from a year ago, or " and famous,"That's approximately 7.3 times more pigs than people in the state.""Our call for a moratorium is a call for the return of plain, old common sense, or " explained Chris Peterson,an independent Iowa hog farmer and regional representative for the Socially Responsible Agricultural Project, another signatory on the letter. "Iowa is suffering under the enormous weight of a commerce that has no respect for the people, and environment,animals and future of the state." Related StoriesTrump Administration Sued for Failing to Protect Whales From Deadly Fishing GearA Dog Is a Cow Is a Pig: In the World of Sentience, There Is No contrast (Video)After Researching How Pigs Are Treated for Their Meat, or This Cambridge Professor Went Vegan (Video)
Source: feedblitz.com