Agriculture

Lead Author: Stephen Lukas, B.S Environmental Science ’17

Contributing Authors: Maximillian Teibel, B.S Turfgrass Management ’17 and Adele De Crespigny, B.S Animal Science ’17

INSIDE THE BEAST: POULTRY FARMING IN MODERN AMERICA

The camera pans to a paper hung on a sheet metal wall that reads a quote by American philosopher Wayne Dryer: “…the highest form of ignorance is when you reject something you don’t know about.”  Seconds later, farmer Craig Watts leads the film crew through the entrance of the windowless aviary, behind the iron curtain of Watts’ family “partner” farm of the Perdue Company.  Inside, hundreds of featherless, and sickly bird-like creatures cover the feces-ridden cement floor, barely leaving space for Watts and the crew to enter.  This can only be described as a concentration camp for Gallus gallus domesticus – the domesticated chicken.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wm5MdlDeEk0[/youtube]

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Julia Hathaway (Environmental Science)

Lauren Rae (Animal Science)

Evan Lunetta (Forestry)4323

Have you ever taken a bite out of your favorite food or sipped tap water and thought to yourself, “is this going to make me sick?”  Perhaps poured an ice-cold glass of water from the sink, gulped a refreshing sip and wondered if it could kill you?  Most people would say no.  Unfortunately, in just a short-while, this will no longer be a question we can answer no too.  The New York Times posted an article just a few days ago titled, “Fear, Then Skepticism, Over Antibiotic-Resistant Genes in Beijing Smog,” reporting smog over China containing antibiotic resistant genes. The Times described the smog spreading through the city, “like pathogens in a pandemic disaster movie” (Tatlow, 2016, para. 5). Chinese citizens are scared, especially for their children. The article quoted a young Chinese actress saying she wanted to pick up her 11-month-old daughter and run away because the smog would make it easier for her daughter to become sick (Tatlow, 2016). The most alarming part is the Chinese are so used to their disease ridden air, the antibiotic resistant contaminated air is only of mild concern given their other current environmental hazards (Tatlow, 2016). As alarming as that truth is, the Chinese are not the only people impacted by antibiotic resistant bacteria. The Center for Disease Control stated that antibiotic resistant bacteria now affects 2 million Americans each year and results in 23,000 deaths (CDC, 2016, para. 2).  The CDC estimates by 2050 antibiotic resistance will have killed 10 million people worldwide (Walsh, 2014, para. 1).  Imagine, in just a few more decades as human population reaches an all time high, death by antibiotic resistant bacteria will become even more common than death by cancer and unlike cancer, there is no hope of treatment (Walsh, 2014). Continue Reading →

Fig 1. Comparison of yolks in eggs produced by grass-fed chickens (left) and grain fed chickens (right).
Paige, E. (2009, 13 September). Free range eggs versus confined grain fed eggs. Health Banquet. Retrieved from http://www.healthbanquet.com/free-range-eggs.html)

Un-ideal free-range system
‘Survival Gardner’. (2015, 18 August). Free-range eggs versus regular eggs – a scam? Retrieved from http://survivalgardener.com/2015/08/free-range-eggs-vs-regular-eggs-a-scam/

Ideal free-range system
Bufkin, M.T. (2015, 28 March). The truth about free range chickens. The Truth About Agriculture. Retrieved from https://thetruthaboutag.wordpress.com/2015/03/28/the-truth-about-free-range-chickens/

Conventional caged system
(2015, 23 August). Why the Israelites could eat grasshoppers but not pork: the reason for old testament dietary laws and the huge implication they have for our health today. Wellness in the Word. Retrieved from http://www.wellintheword.com/single-post/2015/08/23/Why-the-Israelites-could-eat-grasshoppers-but-not-pork-The-reason-for-Old-Testament-dietary-laws-and-the-huge-implication-they-have-for-our-health-today

Kelly Dalton – Building and Construction Technology

Mackay Eyster – Environmental Science

Jonah Miller – Natural Resources Conservation

Perhaps one of the most ubiquitous illustrators of the ability for individual choice is the number of different products available at a grocery store. Stores contain row after row of bright boxes, innovative packaging, and promotions emphasizing which products are the healthiest or most natural. Each eye-catching box presents a nutrition label, and consumers are expected to use that information, combined with the claims on the boxes and in the aisles, to decide which products are the best for them and their families. There is an ever-growing emphasis on purchasing ethical products, but misleading labeling practices can make it difficult for consumers to effectively make ethical purchasing decisions. Consumers may be presented with eggs labeled “cage-free” or “free-range,” and they may choose to support those products due to the implication that the laying hens were treated better or more humanely than those who produced the unlabeled eggs; unfortunately, this is not always the case. While unlabeled eggs come from hens living in their own individual chicken-sized shoe boxes, eggs with labels such as “free-range” may differ only in that they come from hens living in one collective, slightly-larger shoebox. The latter hens’ shoebox might have a door to the outside, but they may not ever actually go through it. While the latter hens are more able to move around than those in the individual shoeboxes (commonly referred to as battery cages), they often become aggressive and violent towards each other due to the constant forced interaction. Even still, the eggs from the shared shoebox carry a “free-range” label that portrays them as more ethical than those from the conventional systems, and consumers attempting to make ethical choices pay higher prices for free-range eggs under the assumption that they truly are. It should not be a consumer’s responsibility to ensure that provided information is accurate, and producers should not be able to manipulate consumers with misleading information in order to charge a higher price. As such, the matter of empty “free-range” labeling must be addressed. 

Consumers should be able to read labels on products and understand their meaning without being mislead by producers.

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Drew Fournier, Bacherlor of Science in Natural Resource Conservation

Natalie Boisvert, Bachelor of Science Animal Science

Jim Shea, Bachelor of Science Turf Grass Science and Management

Kevin Calantone, Bachelor of Science in Building Construction Technology

An 11 year old perfectly healthy athletic girl named Addie suddenly became sick with a high grade fever and hip pain that refused to subside. Her mother promptly took her to the hospital where they diagnosed her with an antibiotic resistant staphylococcus infection (Pond, 2015). Within twenty-four hours of the diagnoses, she was being kept alive by machines and was declining by the hour (Pond, 2015). Doctors used every known antibiotic and drug to combat the vicious infection however, it was not enough. After suffering from a stroke Addie lost the capability to use her left arm and leg. She also lost vision in her left eye and nearly lost vision in her right eye in addition to losing ? of her body weight (Pond, 2015). This tragedy happened so fast that no one could have foreseen or cured the horrific illness. Addie is not the only victim to suffer from life threatening bacteria and for sure will not be the last. Continue Reading →