Waste & pollution
The industrial food system pollutes the air, water and land.
Most water pollution from industrial farms results from animal waste. Every day, an average dairy cow produces about 21 times as much waste as an average human, so a factory farm with 15,000 cows generates as much animal waste as a city of 315,000 people! This waste is stored in manure lagoons, which emit toxins into the air and water.
The toxic gases and chemicals produced through industrial agriculture take a significant toll on public health.
In October 2008, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released pollution control requirements for large livestock feedlots. The rule allows feedlot owners to determine whether they should seek a pollution permit, and they won’t have to get a permit if they claim the facility will not put harmful discharges into nearby waterways. Critics of the rule say that allowing feedlot owners to regulate themselves is a clear conflict of interest and that it allows industrial meat farms to avoid the Clean Water Act.