Neighbors of Factory Farms — Yearning to Breathe Free

Literally.

Even if you're not close enough to a factory farm to see it, you can start crying and gagging from the piss and shit stench in the air.  But that isn't even the worst of it.

Like they say about smog, it's the stuff you can't see that'll kill you.  It's already been reported to death — in case the public is paying attention — that factory farms use about 80% of the antibiotics sold in this country.  And we know that these routine doses of antibiotics — administered so the animals will grow faster and won't get sick from living in their own shit — are a major cause of antibiotic-resistant infections.

On top of that, would you believe:  these antibiotics, and the bacteria that are resistant to them, are literally blowin' in the wind.  (Sorry Bob.)  Coming soon to the air near YOU.  From the linked article:

“While it’s well known that the stench of manure and urine travels, there’s little understanding of what rides along with it as winds blow across open-air cattle feedlots. That’s why a group of scientists from Texas Tech University began testing the particulate matter found both upwind and downwind of 10 concentrated animal feeding operations around Lubbock, Texas. Unsurprisingly, the results of the study, published this week by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, are as gross as that feedlot smell: Not only is dust made up of cattle waste, but 'there is significant potential for widespread distribution of antibiotics, bacteria, and genetic material that encodes antibiotic resistance.'”

 The fun is just beginning.

Breathe deeply...