Factory farming
Over the last 50 years, the method of producing food animals in the United States has changed from a system of small family-scale farms to a system of large, intensive operations that look more like factories than farms.
These factory farms — or Confined Animal Feedlot Operations (CAFOs) — are able to produce food in high volume but create concentrated waste and pollution. Compared to family farms, they have negative impacts on the environment, public health and food safety, rural communities, and the health and well-being of the animals themselves.
PCC actively supports policies against concentration and consolidation in agriculture. See our quality standards and policy statements.
Read Putting Meat on the Table: Industrial Farm Production in America, a new report by The Pew Charitable Trusts and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health about the harmful impacts of factory farming.