Mark Thorson > wrote:

>Baloney. Concentrated operations only appear to be
>damaging to the environment when seen (and smelled)
>up close because they have lots of manure in a small
>place. Distributed operations produce the same amount,
>but you don't see so much all in one place. When you
>have it in one place, you can apply technologies (like
>turning it into methane) that are not practical on the
>scale of a mom-and-pop farm.
>
>Also, a large operation can afford a vet and lab to catch
>occurrences of pathogens that are not detected by a
>mom-and-pop operation.

One impact of CAFO has been to drive down the price
of meat/poultry so that Americans consume way more of these
products than they otherwise would. This, in turn, creates a larger
impact on the environment than is necessary.

Want a dead zone in the Gulf? Eat more meat. Offshore drilling
unnecessary.


Steve