I took off to the land of minimal internet (aka only the cell phone), so I'm going to come back around....
First off, my "local" CAFOs are exactly that - licensed CAFO's. Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations. These in particular are dairies, however, looking through the licenses, one I forgot was the State Univeristy, which operates as a mixed CAFO (I've personally set foot in the dairy, sheep and swine units, however have not been to the chicken units).
The "big" crop farmer around here does mainly crops, but also had a very large herd of Black Angus, which he uses on field rotation and sells for a pretty penny for those "Certified Black Angus" packs of meat you see.
The CAFO folks also crop farm, as a way to increase their marginal profit - like any good farmer, they rotate crops - corn, soy and winter wheat are the best growers for this climate. Some of them grow hay as well. This climate usually runs about 3 to 4 cuttings, and irrigation is not generally necessary here.
I'd like to link one of the dairies near here, with 6500 acres, and 9500 cattle. It definately is a CAFO, by every definition.
http://www.greenmeadowfarms.com
If you look through, (and if you're in mid-MI, check them out, they offer guided and unguided tours), you don't see abuse, nastiness, horribleness. That's not the way to make money. That's not the way you get a world record milker. That's not how you drive a community either. This particular farm sells for very cheap, or donates, calves to 4H students to raise. They work with the university to try new methods for safer and better animal and waste management. They are active in the community. However, they will be tied under the label as "commercial", "factory" and "CAFO". While the big picture painted is gruesome and gross, when you get down to the bottom of it, most of these operations are family businesses. This area is "Big Ag", if you go by quantity, but each and every person who is at the base of the farms here, CAFOs and non alike, are almost ALL started as family farms. As demand grew, so did they, and that's how you end up with a Green Meadows with 9500 head. They didn't drive anyone out, nor have the folks I grew up with. They just took the reins from their parents and their parents parents. Land was cheap years and years ago, and the folks who tamed it are the forefathers of the folks today who manage it.
Just like the "big" granary here - which is "owned" by ADM, but is operated by local folks (including my brother at one point in his life.) ADM does work with Monsanto. Both are "Big Ag". However, very few folks would have to money or resources to process the mass quantity of grains this area produces. There are small mills around here as well that do a good business, but they are in business to process grains for livestock and personal use, not the grains that are necessary to feed the world. Harvest time here is big time. Most of the traffic on the road at that time isn't Chevy, Ford or Dodge, it's International, Case, Kubota, New Holland and John Deere.
While I suppose on an ethics level it would be nice to cut out ADM and Monsanto, realistically it would completely and utterly destroy so many people, not just to the folks I know, but even the end consumer, who would be without the millions of tons of soy, wheat, oats and corn that make the world go round. Heck, even sitting here indulging in a few sticks of my rare treat, Twizzlers, incorporate corn, wheat and soy.
If one doesn't care for a company's practices, it's right to say so. It's right to use your pocketbook to vote for your choices. Why else do you think the one farm near me chose to go the grass fed "Certified Black Angus" route? I personally don't think it's superior meat in flavor or quality, but then, I prefer wild venison
The drive for grass fed and specifically the marketing for "Certified Black Angus" made a niche he could fill, and he did.
Farmers wanted a crop that could thrive at the same time they suppressed weeds, and RoundUp Ready was created. It was a niche that was filled. Now, maybe it wasn't such a hot idea. DDT was a hot idea back in the 50's and 60's, it filled a niche, until it wasn't such a great idea (though it is still produced and used in various areas of the world.) Sometimes we are quick to jump on a bandwagon, until we find out it's not the best made deal, but rather than toss it and find something else, we should evaluate what is going on with an open mind and see what failure and progress has been made. Tossing ADM, Monsanto, Tyson, CAFOs etc to the side and shutting them down isn't a wise move, but neither is closing down all home based egg sellers, jam makers, single cow owners, and other small scale food producers. There is a happy medium to find, one that involves safe food, humane practices and environmental care. Without ADM, Tyson, Monsanto, and the like, we'd have a lot of silos filled with molding grains, a lot of bankrupt people, and a lot of starving people. If you don't care for their practices, then continue to support folks who don't use a middleman like those companies, but remember not everyone in the world may have such a choice, and their dollars will continue to go that way, and it's ok. You can spend your dollars how you wish, and I can spend mine.
Most of all, contact your congress folks and let them know you wish to keep your choice and ability to choose your food. I've only glanced at the summary of the bill, and fail to understand it's furor. I have no intention of "adulterating" or "misbranding" any of my food, and I would hope the places I purchase it from would kindly refrain from the same. I would rather Michigan get rid of it's ridiculous laws about the sale of homemade jam
(This post was written with multiple interruptions over a few hours, sorry for the randomness!)
