Hey there! I’m currently on vacation in Iceland, so original blogposts will have to wait until after Easter, but thankfully I have a couple of infographic submissions by readers that have been laying on my backburner for quite some while, and which I am happy to share (though for the record I don’t necessarily agree with 100% of the arguments provided, especially since I haven’t had the time to intensively fact check their sources – so take it as food for thought and with a grain of salt, or let’s discuss these numbers and figures!) The first submission is on the health risks of factory farming, and (rather polemically, in my opinion) called Food Poisoning.
After looking through the infographic, most of these claims make sense to me, though I don’t like that the site didn’t post direct source links, but rather the institution (such as the CDC or EPA) that makes fact checking nearly impossible. On the other hand, there have been increased reports on the health risks related to factory farming, in particular related to their use of antibiotics and the issue of waste management, and I definitely agree with the fact that CAFOs are inherently ethically questionable and environmentally and socially unsustainable. So there – these are my thoughts, but please check out the infographic and add your own! In particular – do you feel that framing the issue in a polemic way (using terms such as ‘poison’ and the color scheme of yellow and black) makes the claims more or less believable?
Source: Health-Science-Degree.com
It’s missing the financial and lifestyle impact on towns and neighboring property, but otherwise all is true.
I do find myself turned off by sensational and provocative infographics and memes in general – I’m glad you mentioned that.
I remember in particular one featuring four photos of cow’s udders to demonstrate the horrors of cafo dairies. Anyone who knew a thing about cows saw it for the sensational misinformation it was, but the vegan who posted and his/her followers didn’t want to hear anything about the truth. That’s not helping.
The longer I am involved with farming, the more I realize it’s just way more nuanced than the books would lead you to believe.
I agree! And also I feel like the more I learn, the more I realize what I don’t know about farming realities today – it’s definitely a humbling experience!