Egg on the Face of Factory Farms

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A half a billion and counting. That’s the number of eggs recalled this past month in the U.S. due to widespread salmonella contamination linked to two large-scale Iowa egg farms, and more than 1,300 cases of salmonella poisoning. The incident is yet another in a long string of food safety scares linked to the factory-farming, intensive confinement, and inhumane conditions in which poultry and livestock are raised for human consumption.

One of the egg producers linked to the most recent salmonella case has a history of violations dating back to 1994, according to Fox News, but the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says that the past violations were outside of its regulatory arena. The USDA has never had an inspector dedicated to food safety visit the farms in question, reported Fox News.

Have you seen photos of these farms? In CAFOS, or Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations such as the farms in question, poultry are packed to the rafters in long, corrugated metal, warehouse-like buildings. Often, their beaks are cut off so they don’t peck at each other due to the intensive and stressful crowding. They are kept in close cages where they can barely stand or turn around. Drugs such as antibiotics are administered regularly on a preventive basis, as diseases spread rapidly amidst such close quarters. In fact, the overuse of antibiotics in conventional agriculture has been linked to increases in antibiotic-resistant diseases in human populations. The efficient disposal of animal waste becomes a polluting problem, too, with such large farm operations. They are not sustainable.

Score One For the Chickens
However, in a major animal welfare victory announced in August, farmers and animal rights activists in Ohio reached an agreement that will sharply restrict the close confinement of hens, hogs and veal calves. This is the latest sign, says the New York Times, that “so-called factory farming – a staple of modern agriculture that is seen by critics as inhumane and a threat to the environment and health – is on the verge of significant change.”

Urged by Governor Ted Strickland, Ohio farm leaders met in secret with the Humane Society of the United States; they were hoping to avoid a November 2010 ballot referendum on humane animal treatment that some farmers feared they would lose. The result was that the sides agreed to ban new construction of egg farms that pack birds in cages, and to phase out the tight caging of pregnant sows within 15 years and veal calves by 2017.

Coming on the heels of factory farming limits imposed by California voters in 2008, this agreement between farmers and animal rights activists is a huge step in the right direction. It’s important, too, in that Ohio is the second largest egg producer, after Iowa.

However, the agreement does not affect the large factory farm operations already in place in Ohio; the New York Times described one typical barn at a large-scale egg farm as containing 268,000 small white hens living in cages “about the size of an open newspaper, six or seven to a cage.”

As the salmonella egg recall spreads, egg production has come to the fore of the debate because more than 90% of the country’s eggs are produced in the stacked rows of cages that animal welfare advocates call inhumane, says the Times.

Don’t Panic; Buy Organic
Organic eggs may be more expensive, but I submit that they are worth more, and they may be better for your health. Produced under humane conditions where animals have access to the outdoors and where they are not over-crowded, organic eggs may contain more essential fatty acids and other nutrients. Some say, including me, that organic eggs are more flavorful, with richer, deeper yolks. No antibiotics, synthetic growth hormones or pesticides are used in their production, thus helping to reduce your dietary exposure to toxic synthetic chemicals.

Retailers in my area such as Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage, Sprouts and Whole Foods Market sell humane, natural and organically produced eggs, including Horizon, Organic Valley, Cyd’s Nest Fresh and Vital Farms, to name a few. I’m partial to the mixed dozen of fresh green and brown eggs I buy from Grant Family Farms, located just north of Fort Collins; they’re available through Grant Farms’ CSA, and also in Whole Foods’ Colorado stores.

For budget minded consumers (aren’t we all?) who want to support ethical treatment of animals, visit the natural and organic foods coupon sites; Organic Valley offers $1 off coupons on their website; Horizon offers coupons on its website. Here’s an organic egg coupon resource, too: http://www.organicfoodcoupons.com/organic/coupons/food/eggs/.

Humane animal treatment – what an egg-cellent idea!

Japan, I Love You, But What’s Up With the Whaling?

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One might think we don’t have to hunt and kill the most majestic creatures on earth to make golf balls, detergent and hair color anymore…but no! One of America’s greatest sins in harvesting animals for food and other products is the intensive confinement of chickens, pigs, cows and other livestock in what is called CAFOS or Confined Animal Farming Operations.

We crowd our animals by the thousands in small confines and fill them full of growth hormones so we can maximize production in the shortest amount of time possible. We inject them with antibiotics as a preventive measure so that they won’t get sick from other animals in close proximity. Many times their pens are so small that the animals can’t even turn around or lay down in comfort. It is inhumane, and it’s the main reason I became a vegetarian.

I will write more about factory farming and Big Food in the future and recommend seeing the movie Food Inc. to gain a greater understanding of America’s industrial food and agriculture woes—and what we can do about them.

However, I’d like to focus this post on what I consider to be the other great sin—the continued hunting of whales for meat and to make products like golf balls, detergent and hair color.

It is a fact that Japan, Iceland and Norway—the three main hunters of whales despite a 1982 global moratorium on their slaughter—are still applying for patents for the use of whale parts. The Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society reported in June that it had found thousands of approved patents that list whale oil and other parts of the marine mammals for use in goods such as golf balls, hair color, detergent, candy, bio-diesel and health drinks—all products that can be readily manufactured without ingredients taken from these majestic, intelligent creatures.

One would think that in 2010 we would have moved beyond brutally hunting down these amazing animals with harpoons. But, like Captain Ahab in the mid-1800s, that vengeful, dogged character in Melville’s allegorical opus Moby Dick, Japan stubbornly pursues its single-minded hunting and slaughtering of whales in the name of “research” despite international protests.

Well, call me Ishmael, but I hope that we can save what whales we have left. The Right Whale, so named by whalers of old because it floated when harpooned and was thus deemed the “right” whale to hunt, is down to just 30 living animals in the entire eastern Pacific Ocean, according to researchers at NOAA's Southwest Fisheries Science Center. These same scientists express concern for the long-term survival of the species.

Japan, Iceland and Norway have used loopholes in the whaling moratorium to continue to hunt whales, to the tune of more than 30,000 whales killed for commercial use in the past 25 years. Japan has even threatened to withdraw from the International Whaling Commission (IWC), which oversees the ban, so it can hunt whales more freely. This year, the Japanese plan to harvest up to 1,000 whales in the Antarctic for “research” purposes. Yet, whale meat continues to show up on the shelf in Japanese food stores and in sushi restaurants.

Whale activists all over the world breathed a sigh of relief when the global whaling ban established 28 years ago was not overturned despite efforts to do so at a recent meeting of the IWC. However, given the loopholes in the ban that are so big you could sail a modern-day Japanese whaling ship through them, we must continue to be vigilant and speak up for our giant sea-faring cetacean brethren, for they cannot speak in a language we understand.

A recent study estimated that whale watching is a $2 billion-plus industry, growing by 10 percent a year. Perhaps it is time that these whaling nations still clinging to outmoded ways will realize that live whales are more valuable than dead ones.

Resources to Take Action:

• Greenpeace (www.greenpeace.org)

• International Fund for Animal Welfare (www.ifaw.org)

• Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (www.wdcs.org)

• Ocean Alliance (www.oceanalliance.org)

• WhaleWatch (www.whalewatch.org)



Sustainability = Innovation

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How do we grapple with the specter of climate change and integrating sustainability into meaningful business strategies in the communities we serve?

Sustainability is a doorway through which business leaders can alter the impact on the environment of products brought to market. According to an article published in the September 2009 Harvard Business Review, sustainability is not the bottom line burden many executives believe it is. Instead, becoming environmentally friendly can lower costs and increase revenues and it is the driving force for innovation. With examples from case studies, the authors claim that “only companies that make sustainability a goal will achieve competitive advantage – that means rethinking business models as well as products, technologies, and processes.”

Many of you may already be on the path of integrating sustainable principles into your business strategy. Also you may already have a handle on your direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions and how the cost of carbon will impact the supply chains you depend upon. However, if this aspect is new territory or you are not sure where to start or even if it is relevant or is just going to add costs, then be assured there is growing expertise available to help you. Climate change is now an important issue that needs to be integrated into your business practices. Be open to the vast terrain of sustainable, eco-friendly practices as that is the home of innovation and distinction. And don’t be afraid to ask for directions….

Photo: Compass Natural

Our community of Boulder, Colorado, is tackling the issue by setting a goal of reducing the current carbon footprint to 7% below 1990 levels by 2012 through instituting a host of initiatives and programs to enroll individuals and businesses in reducing their generation of greenhouse gases. Recently in Boulder, Best Organics (an organic and eco-friendly gift company that Steve Hoffman and I co-own), Natural Capitalism Solutions and Sterling Rice Group partnered to host climate hero, Bill McKibben, a renowned author and co-founder of 350.org. The gathering brought together thought leaders, leaders from organic and natural products, green building and alternative energy sectors, as well as staff from the City of Boulder and elected officials. The vision was simple:  have a dialogue and explore together how Boulder is addressing its carbon footprint and how each individual and business has a part to play in meeting the community’s goals.

Today, there is tremendous opportunity for business to be a source of positive change that benefits society while also benefiting the bottom line. As Albert Einstein so aptly said, “No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it.” There is a need for leadership and talent for developing a low-carbon economy.

Drawing once again from the article in Harvard Business Journal, “the current economic system has placed enormous pressures on the planet while catering to the needs of only about a quarter of the people on it, but over the next decade twice that number will become consumers and producers. Traditional approaches to business will collapse, and companies will have to develop innovative solutions. That will happen only when executives recognize the simple truth: Sustainability = Innovation.”

Working for Healthy People, Healthy Planet and Sustainable Business

When I was 15 years old and between my sophomore and junior years of high school, I had the tremendous opportunity to study marine biology and oceanography at the college level at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. In a 12-week program for high schoolers, I was awarded a scholarship by the National Science Foundation. My parents packed me in a bus at Port Authority in New York, and off I went for the first time away from home. It was then, on a field trip with my fellow program students, that I discovered my commitment to the environment. We were visiting a state fisheries research station on an uninhabited barrier island protecting Louisiana’s marshlands from the Gulf of Mexico. It was a spectacular place. After dinner we were all goofing off and went out for a swim at night in the gulf. It was while we were in the water that a group of a dozen wild horses galloped down the beach, right in front of our eyes on a moonlit night.

This recollection has come back to me very strongly in the wake of the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico that continues to pour out at this moment. The gulf coast is one of the richest nurseries of our major fisheries, and an eco-system beyond compare. It is delicate. And it is being devastated by the spill.

The dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico was already an issue. Threatening to kill the area’s $3 billion fisheries industry, the dead zone is caused by synthetic nitrogen fertilizer runoff from conventional agriculture that travels down the Mississippi River and empties into the gulf. Algae feed on the cheap nitrogen and deplete the waters of oxygen, killing all sea life in the region.

Organic agriculture is a solution to the synthetic nitrogen runoff problem, since these chemicals are prohibited under certified organic standards. Additionally, organic agriculture uses on average 30% less energy inputs and is less reliant on fossil fuels. Additionally, healthy organic soils tie up more carbon, keeping it out of the atmosphere and thus helping to reduce agriculture’s impact on global warming. (Agriculture contributes more than 20% of greenhouse gases toward global warming.)

In today’s news, I read about new research conducted by the University of Montreal and published in the journal Pediatrics. In the study, which followed 1,139 children and interviews with parents, researchers found a strong link between children’s attention deficit disorder (ADHD) and exposure to commonly used pesticides on fruits and vegetables. The researchers found toxic, synthetic organophosphate pesticide residues in the urine of 94% of the kids tested. In 2008, an Emory University study found that when kids switched to organically grown fruits and vegetables in the diet, urine levels of the pesticides dropped to undetectable levels.

There is more substantial data out there that links pesticide use to childhood autism, obesity and early onset diabetes. Endocrine disruptors in pesticides and plastic packaging threaten the metabolism and development of our kids—and also all of us are exposed to the same chemicals. It’s just that the kids soak up more per body weight and are much more impacted by these chemicals in their childhood development.

At Compass Natural, we are working to help communicate the benefits of an economic system that accounts for the significant external costs to our health and environment. If you saw such a system in place, then we would also see the true value of natural, organic and sustainable products and businesses, which help keep these costly toxic chemicals out of our bodies, homes and environment. It would put polluting, toxic industries at a competitive disadvantage.

Speaking of which, I hope BP, Halliburton and the other companies involved in the oil spill, that were pointing fingers of blame at each other in congressional hearings, pay through the nose to account somewhat for this oil spill. I don’t care if they go bankrupt over it; it would be a lesson to others. But no amount of money is going to be able to prevent the impact of the environmental destruction already done. Now there’s an external cost that needs to be accounted for.