A Drone Flew Over A Pig Farm To Discover It’s Not Really A Farm.

[tflaris]

See link for videos

http://www.upworthy.com/a-drone-flew...ing?g=2&c=ufb1

The owner of this drone, filmmaker Mark Devries, had an idea of what he'd discover here, but still ... whew.


He wanted to get a look at some pig farms operated by Murphy-Brown, a subdivision of Smithfield Farms, far and away the world's largest pork producer. There are over 2,000 farms like this in North Carolina alone.
As the drone comes over the trees, it comes across a lake.

But that's no lake at all.
It's an open sewage lagoon filled with pig feces and urine.
And it's the size of four football fields.

Beyond the lake are buildings in which thousands of pigs live, often packed in so tightly they can't even turn around. For months at a time.

It's unbelievable treatment of a creature believed to be both highly intelligent and self-aware.
Here's an unforgettable post we shared a while back that shows what happens to animals raised as food.
This is no farm. It's a factory built for efficiency.
When the pigs poop and pee, it falls through slats in the floor and gets flushed out into the "lake."
And it gets worse.
The operators of the factory farm have to clean out the cesspool when it gets too full. How do they do it?

They spray pig waste over the fields around the farm — and over neighbors' homes.

"It can, I think very correctly, be called 'environmental racism' or 'environmental injustice' that low-income people, people of color, bear the brunt of these practices."
— Steve Wing, Ph.D., associate professor of epidemiology, University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health

There are studies showing increased levels of asthma in kids nearby, as well as upper respiratory problems and elevated blood pressure in adults.
Here's the video Devries and his drone made.
It's unbelievable, really.

Did you know about all this? Not me.
When the filmmaker calls this "among the most bizarre and disturbing environmental phenomena that have ever confronted America," he's not exaggerating.
Step 1 in stopping these practices is bringing them into the light — and remember, there are thousands of factory farms like this.
Please share this with your friends if you agree that this isn't the kind of secret that should be kept.




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[patpicos]

Raining #### not good

[JillHeinerth]

This is more common that you might think. And here is a real catch... you can't film a farm in Florida without permission, even if you are doing so from public property such as a roadside.

[caveflyer]

Sick - and one reason why I'm vegetarian

[Michael F]

Thanks for this information Tony and helping to open our eyes to the many environmental and human atrocities that happen daily behind our backs.

With a short Google tour there's even more to this horror story. Apparently this Corporation is owned by guess who??? CHINA!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smithfield_Foods
http://www.snopes.com/food/warnings/smithfield.asp

[Red Hat Jef]

...you can't film a farm in Florida without permission, even if you are doing so from public property such as a roadside.

Really? I'm not doubting you but it seems really wrong. I've been told in my photography classes that if I can see it I can take a picture. The only exceptions I've heard are about very specific things like some wartime photos and topics, which makes sense. I don't understand how a rule like that helps anyone but the farmer with the questionable practices in the first place.

[WEPIV]

This is more common that you might think. And here is a real catch... you can't film a farm in Florida without permission, even if you are doing so from public property such as a roadside.

Jill, that is alarming as (at least for Florida and the US) it used to be anything seen easily from a public area can be photographed. The rare exceptions were regarding privacy issues like children at a school.
This is what we were taught in media law at UF in the late 80's, but who knows what all has changed since then. (I figure you guys found this out doing one of the PBS docs with Wes...?)
As a former photojournalist, I was always happy to know that we could shoot almost anything from any public access. I remember the cases involving the paparazzi and Jackie Kennedy Onassis as well as some actress photographed topless with a long lens from a wooded area adjacent to her property. Two cases where the law did not side with the photographer and rightly so. There was also a case in Jacksonville where a photojournalist shot the interior of a house fire where you could see the outline of one of the victim's bodies after it had been removed. Also ruled an invasion of privacy.
Why a farm can't be shot from a public road is beyond me. In my old days, I would happily shoot anyway and have it challenged in court (while working for a paper so they'd pick up the legal defense bill)!
I'm much happier shooting mostly pretend stuff now....

[oya]

Sick - and one reason why I'm vegetarian

My wife and I had wondered if we were the only veggie cave divers!

I don't understand how a rule like that helps anyone but the farmer with the questionable practices in the first place.

The farmers are more oppressed by these rules than they are the beneficiaries. Many farmers would far rather see the animals in their charge treated far more humanely, but simply can't afford to do what they'd like because of the demands of the industry.

Why a farm can't be shot from a public road is beyond me.

Many, many states have recently passed "Ag Gag" bills after heavy lobbying from the various meat industries. All for the exact reason that if people sees what goes on in there they'll start to notice just how horrible it is.

[TONY CHANEY]

And this really surprises you? Going back to around 1987, I first heard of the Neuse river pollution: http://www.riverlaw.us/enforcement.html
http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/...ducer-20061214

OTOH, the Neuse river has the biggest catfish I have ever seen with some over 65 lbs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YujYTVQ4_S0

[Squirrel Girl]

This is more common that you might think. And here is a real catch... you can't film a farm in Florida without permission, even if you are doing so from public property such as a roadside.

Apparently, the Ag-gag bill failed in Florida.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ag-gag


But even so, it's got to be unconstitutional (even if there's a state law) when the photograph is taken from a public place. I corresponded with a guy from the Deco Stop on another hobby we shared, and it turns out he and his wife have had a long-term project to document the California coastline over history. He was sued by Barbra Streisand because her house was in one of the shots. She lost.