The National Pork Producers Council says a report issued Tuesday ignores the progress America’s farmers and ranchers have made in producing safe, affordable food while improving animal well-being, protecting the environment and using animal health products responsibly. The Center for a Livable Future – the institution that initiated Meatless Mondays and is part of the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health – has released an update of a 2008 report from the Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production that was highly critical of modern animal agriculture. At that time – the work of the Pew Commission was directed by the Center. The Commission called for phasing out certain production practices, banning certain animal antibiotics and placing new restrictions on the use of manure.
This updated report claims the animal agriculture industry has made the problems worse over the past five years in addressing the commission’s concerns. NPPC President Randy Spronk says the charges against animal agriculture made in the report bear little resemblance to the truth. He says the report is wrong in every aspect and ignores the extensive steps animal agriculture has taken over the last decade or more to address various industry challenges. The Animal Agriculture Alliance released a report Monday that belies the CLF report.
You can access that report online at animalagalliance dot org (https://animalagalliance.org).