By Reynard Loki, Independent Media Institute

7 min read

The facts are clear and they are shocking: Factory farming is unhealthy for consumers, dangerous for workers, and devastating for the environment, and it is the largest cause of animal cruelty in the history of mankind.

In the United States alone, nearly 10 billion land animals are raised on factory farms and killed in slaughterhouses every single year, accounting for 99 percent of farmed animals in the nation. These animals are subjected to physical, psychological and emotional cruelty on a constant basis, living in extreme confinement where they experience fear and pain daily until they are killed for their meat. The normal lifespan of a chicken is five to eight years. But on a factory farm, they live just 47 days before they are sent to slaughter.

In addition to being the main cause of animal cruelty in the world, factory farming is a primary source of environmental degradation. The industrialized meat industry accounts for 37 percent of worldwide emissions of methane, a global warming gas 84 times more potent than carbon dioxide in the first two decades after its release. It is also responsible for 65 percent of human-made emissions of nitrous oxide—a gas 300 times more potent than carbon dioxide—that depletes the ozone layer, which protects the Earth’s surface from the Sun’s harmful ultraviolet radiation.

Factory farming also depletes the planet’s fresh water. Just a single egg takes more than 50 gallons of water to produce. A pound of chicken, 468 gallons. A gallon of milk, 880 gallons. A pound of beef, 1,800 gallons. It also requires vast tracts of land, which means the industrial meat industry is also the cause of massive deforestation around the globe, destroying ecosystems, threatening Indigenous communities and their traditional ways of life, and endangering a host of wildlife. Data shows that companies in the supply chain of JBS, the world’s largest supplier of meat, are potentially responsible for the destruction of up to 124 square miles of Brazilian rainforest every single year to produce beef that is exported around the globe.

It won’t be easy to transform the world’s food systems from animal to plants, but as Richard Trethowan, the director of the IA Watson Research Center at the University of Sydney’s Narrabri Plant Breeding Institute, writes in the Conversation, we can feed the human population with plant protein—without increasing the amount of farmland: “governments around the world must turn away from heavily [subsidized] but protein-poor cereals, and aggressively pursue legume production.”

Earth | Food | Life (EFL) contributor Josephine Morris, an expert in food policy and animal welfare with the Humane Society of the United States, works with the largest food companies, from fast-food chains like McDonald’s to foodservice firms like Sodexo, to uphold their commitments to improving the lives of animals in their supply chains. Last month, she wrote about the Food Industry Scorecard, a survey of 95 companies that looked at the progress being made (or not made) in terms of their stated public promises on increasing animal welfare.

“We’ve found that some of them are trying diligently to improve the lives of animals used in their supply chain; others are lagging behind or have backtracked from their pledges altogether,” she writes on NationofChange. “Sodexo is more than 60 percent compliant toward its goal of using only cage-free eggs and is actively working to increase its percentage of plant-based entrees,” Morris reports. “On the other hand, Marriott (and other companies) have repeatedly failed to keep their animal welfare promises, and Subway reports no progress made toward its 2012 promise to ‘rapidly eliminate’ cruel gestation crates from its pork supply.”

The coronavirus pandemic has laid bare the harsh realities of factory farming, as EFL contributor Linda Tyler, a fellow at Sentient Media who covers animal welfare issues, recently reported on Citizen Truth. “The COVID-19 crisis has played havoc with factory farming’s relentless raise-and-kill operations,” she writes. “Thousands of meatpacking and processing workers have been infected with the coronavirus, leading to the closing down of dozens of slaughterhouses. The animals destined for those slaughterhouses have had nowhere to go, and farmers have killed millions of animals, often in crude and cruel ways, including shooting, suffocation, and even heating the animals to death. Grown animals, as well as born and unborn baby animals, have been slaughtered. Farmers are ill-prepared to carry out this gruesome task, and animals are suffering horribly as a result.”

In addition to being exposed to coronavirus, factory farm workers—often undocumented immigrants—are routinely exploited by factory farm owners as a source of cheap labor and are forced to deal with dangerous working conditions: There is a 50  percent chance that a factory farm worker will be injured on the job. No wonder that U.S. factory farms, despite employing more than 500,000 workers, have one of the largest turnover rates in the nation: up to 100 percent annually.

What can be done? Well, the information gathered in the Food Industry Scorecard can help consumers make decisions about which companies they want to support, and which companies they want to avoid. It can also help shareholders decide where they want to invest and—if they’ve already invested in companies that have failed on their animal welfare commitments—where they might want to apply pressure. “Shareholders owning at least $2,000 worth of stock for at least one year can introduce a resolution,” writes Cameron Harsh, who manages the “Raise Pigs Right” campaign at World Animal Protection, a nonprofit. “In some cases, the submission of a resolution alone can lead to action by the company to address the issue of concern without requiring a full vote. It is in the interest of the company to avoid a public vote, and it can project a progressive image to shareholders ahead of the annual meeting.”

But the best thing we can all do is to reduce—or better yet, eliminate—our meat intake. For each person who chooses to switch to a meat-free diet, an estimated 100 animals per year could be spared a terrible fate. In addition to leaving animal cruelty and the environmental destruction caused by the meat industry off their plates, eaters who move to plant-based diets can experience a wide array of health benefits. Rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains and legumes, plant-based diets are full of fiber, packed with vitamins and minerals, low in calories and saturated fat, and cholesterol-free. That translates to better health on multiple fronts: It can reduce the risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, certain types of cancer, and other major illnesses, including Alzheimer’s disease and other cognitive conditions. Many people who have transitioned to a plant-based diet “report bigger fitness payoffs, more energy, reduced inflammation, and better health outcomes after making the switch,” reportsForks Over Knives.

Some lawmakers are taking action. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) joined forces to advance federal legislation that would ban large-scale factory farming in the United States over the next two decades. The Farm System Reform Act seeks to place a moratorium on large-scale factory farming. It would also strengthen the Packers and Stockyards Act of 1921 to require country of origin labeling on beef, pork and dairy products. Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) is also co-sponsoring the effort, introducing companion legislation to the House of Representatives.

“Our food system was not broken by the pandemic and it was not broken by independent family farmers. It was broken by large, multinational corporations like Tyson, Smithfield, and JBS that, because of their buying power and size, have undue influence over the marketplace and over public policy,” Booker said. “That undue influence was on full display with President Trump’s recent executive order prioritizing meatpacker profits over the health and safety of workers.”

In June, Care2 launched a public petition—already signed by more than 131,000 people—to give Americans a chance to lodge their support of the Farm System Reform Act. In addition to signing this petition, you can contact your senators and representative to urge them to co-sponsor these bills. Animals trapped in our broken, inhumane food system don’t have a voice. So it’s up to all of us to speak on their behalf. Together, we can move the country to a healthier, more humane future. As Gandhi—who espoused a total commitment to nonviolence—wisely observed, “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.”

• Sign the petition to support Cory Booker and Elizabeth Warren’s bill to ban factory farming in the United States by 2040.

Cause for concern…

• Vegan activist targeted by death threats (Robyn Wuth, Forbes Advocate)
• Sioux City pork plant cited by regulators for inhumane slaughter (Nick Hytrek, Sioux City Journal)
• Horrifying secret footage shows factory farm workers abusing young sheep at Spanish slaughterhouse (Charlotte Mitchell, Daily Mail)
• Delhi: Farm animals being slaughtered in violation of laws (Shivam Patel, The Indian Express)
• Livestock transport must end: Ship carrying 5,800 cows from New Zealand to China sinks (Maritime Executive)

Round of applause…

• Moby discusses his new documentary “Takeout,” which shows how meat is killing the rainforests (LIVEKINDLY)
• The green movement: The push for a plant-based diet is getting bigger worldwide (Vaishali Dar, Financial Express)
• Polish parliament votes to ban $1.8 billion industry of kosher and halal meat for export (Cnaan Liphshiz, Jewish Telegraphic Agency)
• The vegan cookbook that’s also a call to action (Arati Menon, Food52 via MSN)
• Vegan tuna is the latest addition to the world of plant-based dining(Prestige)

Parting thought…

“Our relationship to most living things is and must be, I think, a moral one, not a practical one.” —Carl Safina

Earth | Food | Life (EFL) explores the critical and often interconnected issues facing the climate/environment, food/agriculture and nature/animal rights, and champions action; specifically, how responsible citizens, voters and consumers can help put society on an ethical path of sustainability that respects the rights of all species who call this planet home. EFL emphasizes the idea that everything is connected, so every decision matters.

Click here to support the work of EFL and the Independent Media Institute.

Questions, comments, suggestions, submissions? Contact EFL editor Reynard Loki at [email protected]. Follow EFL on Twitter @EarthFoodLife.

By Reynard Loki, Independent Media Institute
September 15, 2020

The catastrophic wildfires that are raging across California, Oregon and Washington state have consumed 5 million acres of dry forest. In the last week alone, they have killed at least 24 people. “I drove 600 miles up and down the state, and I never escaped the smoke,” Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) said Sunday on the ABC News television show “This Week With George Stephanopoulos. “We have thousands of people who have lost their homes. I could have never envisioned this.”

As firefighters continue to battle the deadly blazes, the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly opens Tuesday at the UN headquarters in New York. One of the high-level meetings will be the Summit on Biodiversity, which will be held on September 30. Though wildfires are not mentioned in the event program, they must be discussed, as wildfires continue to pose a direct threat to biodiversity across the planet. A new report by WWF found that there has been a 68% average decline in species population sizes since 1970. The underlying cause: humanity.

Cataclysmic wildfires—the intensity and frequency of which have been increased by human-caused climate change—are not just an American phenomenon and impact far more than human life, trees and the built environment. “[A]s many as 1.25 billion animals—including iconic Australian species such as koalas, kangaroos, wallabies and gliders—have been killed or displaced by the fires,” Earth | Food | Life (EFL) reporter Robin Scher wrote on Truthout in April, about Australia’s “Black Summer,” the colloquial name of the 2019-20 Australian bushfire season, which was unusually intense. “In some instances, certain species may have even gone extinct,” Scher reported.

Writing about the Amazon wildfires for Truthout in June, EFL reporter Daniel Ross noted the “illegal logging, encroachment from agribusinesses and profit-driven government policies” that underpin Brazil’s wildfires, which have impacted wildlife, threatened Indigenous communities and created an air pollution-related health crisis in the nation’s urban areas. This month fires raging in Brazil’s Amazon worsened and are now threatening virgin forest.

In addition, the fires—many of which are illegally started to create pasture for cows that supply the nation’s multibillion-dollar beef industry—have created a dangerous situation for the global climate. “New research suggests that some deforested regions of the rainforest are exhaling more carbon dioxide than they’re taking in,” Ross reported. And make no mistake: a rapidly and unnaturally changing climate is a direct threat to the planet’s biodiversity, the variety of life on Earth that provides the foundation for a host of life-supporting ecological services such as clean air, clean water, healthy soil and crops, plant pollination, pest control, wastewater treatment and outdoor recreation.

Some organizations are fighting back. Amnesty International reported that “63% of the [Brazilian Amazon] deforested from 1988 to 2014 has become pasture for cattle—a land area five times the size of Portugal.” The group has launched a public petition urging the Brazilian company JBS, the world’s largest meat supplier, to take cows that have been illegally grazed on protected lands out of their supply chain. And earlier this month, Care2 launched a public petition—signed by more than 65,000 people—urging the Brazilian government to ban the human-created fires that are destroying the Amazon rainforest.

In July, BirdLife International, a global partnership of non-governmental organizations working to conserve birds and their habitats, launched a public petition—already signed by nearly 94,000 people—urging the United Nations to recognize the right to a healthy natural environment at the UN Human Rights Council, in the UN General Assembly and as an urgent topic at the UN Summit on Biodiversity later this month—and ultimately in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

“We must completely change the way we treat our home,” the group writes. “Human rights movements have a long and successful track record at transforming society and, with governments meeting in September to discuss the fate of our planet at key UN meetings, there has never been a greater need for action.”

“The choking smoke cast a dark pall over the skies and created a vision of climate-change disaster that made worst-case scenarios for the future a terrifying reality for the present,” reported the New York Times about the wildfires blazing across the western United States. To overcome our terrifying reality, let’s hope that representatives at the United Nations—and leaders and legislators of all nations—make solving the climate crisis a top priority.

Take three minutes to take action:

• Sign the petition urging JBS to stop using cattle illegally grazed on protected lands.
• Sign the petition urging the Brazilian government to ban human-created wildfires.
• Sign the petition urging the United Nations to recognize the right to a healthy natural environment at the UN Human Rights Council.

Cause for concern…

“I found out our insurer has more than $1 billion invested in fossil fuels,” EFL contributor Tony Dunn wrote earlier this year in Truthout. Dunn, a former fire ecologist, lost his home to a California wildfire in 2018, but his insurer refuses to pay for the damage. “In fact, insurers working in California have more than half a trillion dollars invested in fossil fuels, and many of them provide insurance coverage for fossil fuel infrastructure like coal plants and oil pipelines.”

• Wildfires bring another climate crisis: Homeowners can’t get insurance (Christopher Flavelle, The New York Times)
• Many forests scorched by wildfire won’t bounce back (Conor McCue, CBS Denver)
• More than half of world’s oceans already being affected by climate change (University of Reading, Phys.org)
• The palm oil problem we’re all part of (Khara-Jade Warren, Elephant Journal)
• Starving pigs forced to eat each other in shocking catalogue of neglect at “high standards” farm (Alex Winter, The Sun)

Round of applause…

“Fashion will become more and more about expressing who you are and about sharing your beliefs, morals and codes through what you’re wearing,” designer Stella McCartney recently told Vogue. For her spring 2021 collection, McCartney—an outspoken animal rights activist—created unique, limited-edition pieces by upcycling old stock fabrics, minimizing waste and the use of raw materials.

• 15 designers, scientists and environmental activists on sustaining the fashion industry (Vogue)
• Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein ban exotic skins in effort to “drive fashion forward for good” (Liam Gilliver, Plant Based News)
• ‘Loneliest elephant’ heads to Cambodia (Khmer Times via Manila Times)
• What you can learn from 20 athletes who went vegan to get stronger (Hailey Welch, The Beet)
• 10 exceptional white wines you didn’t know were vegan (Sarah Phillips, VegNews) 

Parting thought…

“Veganism is a practice—doing our best to be a force for healing and kindness in the world, no matter what other people may be doing or saying.” —Will Tuttle

Earth | Food | Life (EFL) explores the critical and often interconnected issues facing the climate/environment, food/agriculture and nature/animal rights, and champions action; specifically, how responsible citizens, voters and consumers can help put society on an ethical path of sustainability that respects the rights of all species who call this planet home. EFL emphasizes the idea that everything is connected, so every decision matters.

Click here to support the work of EFL and the Independent Media Institute.

Questions, comments, suggestions, submissions? Contact EFL editor Reynard Loki at [email protected]. Follow EFL on Twitter @EarthFoodLife.

In June, Earth | Food | Life reporter Daniel Ross examined the Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s “aggressive deregulation and increased commercial exploitation of the Amazon’s resources.” Now a new report by Human Rights Watch, the Institute for Health Policy Studies and the Amazon Environmental Research Institute reveal that “unchecked deforestation” from human-created fires “are poisoning the air millions of people breathe, affecting health throughout the Brazilian Amazon.”

Care2: The fires blazing in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest this year are beyond anything we’ve ever seen before. Every year—and now, it seems, every month—it gets worse as more and more people intentionally set fire to the lush, rare habitat that is the Amazon to provide the food that you and I eat. But now more than ever, we need the Amazon rainforest, which is frequently referred to as “the Earth’s lungs.” As this critical ecosystem burns to the ground, not only is climate change ramping up, but the air quality is also declining. Now, the pollution has gotten so bad, people in Brazil are getting sick and dying from it. A recent study shows that the situation has intensified so drastically, there are now thousands of air quality-related hospitalizations in the country just because of the fires alone. This could not come at a worse time, since we are already in the middle of a global respiratory pandemic and Brazil is suffering some of the worst COVID-related fatality rates in the world. The report explains that President Jair Bolsonaro, his administration, and their failure to do anything to stop these human-caused fires are directly at fault for all of this sickness and death. Brazilians can’t afford any more illnesses, and the global community can’t afford any more greenhouse gas-emitting deforestation. These fires must end now.
>>>Demand that the Brazilian government bans human-created fires that are destroying the Amazon rainforest.

Environmental Action: Red wolves ended last year on a hopeful note: A federal judge ruled that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) is not permitted to capture and kill them. But this story is not over quite yet. We need to make sure the future fulfills last year’s promise that red wolves will be managed in a way that allows them to thrive. One fact hasn’t changed: There are still only a few dozen wild red wolves, and they still need our help. North Carolina’s tiny red wolf population faces terrible threats from natural dangers and humans alike. We know for a fact that the FWS is capable of managing red wolves responsibly—history proves it. Years of hunting once drove red wolves extinct in the wild. But then, over the intervening decades, a remarkable conservation effort took shape: FWS reintroduced them to their natural habitat and protected the delicate new population until their numbers swelled to over 120. But then things changed. Under pressure from private landowners, the FWS altered their management to allow red wolves to be killed. They stopped releasing new animals and monitoring pups’ health. The wild population plummeted again. FWS has not yet announced what its newest revised red wolf management practices will look like. We need to make sure their management plan repeats the proven success of their very first one, or else risk losing these animals forever.
>>>Urge the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to use the breadth of their experience and the best possible science in designing their final red wolf management plan.

Change: The city of Denver has a contract with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Wildlife Services (APHIS-WS) to kill Canada geese under the misconception that geese droppings contain harmful bacteria. No scientific research supports this notion. “Geese feces are no more dangerous than other feces and probably a lot less so than human feces,” says David E. Stalknecht of the University of Georgia, who co-authored a study on bird droppings for The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. Geese present no more of a health risk than any other species, including cats and dogs, says Dr. Julia Murphy, public health veterinarian for the Virginia State Department of Health. “Certainly there’s a possibility of pathogens in fecal material, but as a particular risk factor in and of itself, there simply is no direct link,” says Murphy. You would have to ingest droppings to experience discomfort (such as mild gastrointestinal cramps or upset stomach), she adds. “APHIS-WS is a strategically misnamed federal program that wastes millions of taxpayer dollars each year killing wild animals using traps, snares, poisons, gas and aerial gunning,” writes Colorado-based animal activist Ellen Kessler, who started a petition to save the geese. According to their reports, they have slaughtered more than 34 million animals in the last decade alone.
>>>Demand that Denver permanently terminate its contract with APHIS-WS and cease the useless and costly killing of Canada Geese.

Cause for concern…

Last year, Earth | Food | Life reporter Daniel Ross investigated an underexplored solution to climate change: healthy soil, which has a powerful ability to sequester carbon, with three times the holding capacity than the atmosphere. Now a new study by the University of Basel has found that climate change and intensive agriculture could greatly increase soil loss across the globe over the next 50 years. The researchers are calling for more sustainable land cultivation.

• Climate change and land are accelerating soil erosion by water (University of Basel)
• Big Dairy is heating up the planet and hollowing rural communities (Shefali Sharma, Institute for Agriculture & Trade Policy)
• Brazilian Amazon drained of millions of wild animals by criminal networks (Sharon Guynup, Mongabay)
• New study warns: We have underestimated the pace at which the Arctic is melting (University of Copenhagen, Environmental News Network)
• How billions in EU farming subsidies are being misspent (Lund University)
• Big mammals at higher risk of extinction in world’s poorest countries (University of York)
• Water availability has changed, and humans are to blame (CMCC Foundation, Smart Water Magazine)
• COVID-19 pandemic should be a wake-up call for water security (University of Birmingham)
• The wool industry means suffering for sheep (Humane Decisions, Animal People Forum)
• USDA says current poultry food safety guidelines do not stop salmonella outbreaks (Society for Risk Analysis)

Round of applause…

“Conservationists at Mount Rainier National Park in Washington State have spotted a wolverine mother and her two offspring, known as kits,” reports George Dvorsky for Earther. “A reproductive female hasn’t been seen in this national park for over a century, which suggests ecological conditions in the area are improving.” 

• Wolverines return to Mount Rainier after 100-year absence (George Dvorsky, Earther)
• U.K. seeks to ban supermarkets selling goods linked to deforestation (Jessica Shankleman, Bloomberg Green)
• Dutch government to shut down all mink farms by next year (The Mainichi)
• Elephant trails may lead the way to better conservation approaches (Purdue University)
• A photographer turned his Mumbai window into a butterfly garden during lockdown (Kiran Mehta, Atlas Obscura)
• University of Adelaide bans inhumane animal testing (News.com.au)
• Pesticide-free crop protection yields up to US$ 20 billion/year benefits in Asia-Pacific (CABI)
• Our son wanted to be vegetarian, and we’re proud he stood up for what he believes in (Beth R, Popsugar)
• Vegan milk no longer just a trend with millennials as third of Britons buy non-dairy alternatives (Helena Horton, The Telegraph)
• Majority of French public wants better treatment for animals, poll says (Mike Woods, RFI)

Parting thought…

“It’s a small thing to help one animal, but to that one animal it’s a big thing,” —Gene Baur

Earth | Food | Life (EFL) explores the critical and often interconnected issues facing the climate/environment, food/agriculture and nature/animal rights, and champions action; specifically, how responsible citizens, voters and consumers can help put society on an ethical path of sustainability that respects the rights of all species who call this planet home. EFL emphasizes the idea that everything is connected, so every decision matters.

Click here to support the work of EFL and the Independent Media Institute.

Questions, comments, suggestions, submissions? Contact EFL editor Reynard Loki at [email protected]. Follow EFL on Twitter @EarthFoodLife.

Care2: Scientists warn that in less than 80 years, polar bears could go extinct due to climate change. But at the same time when one of the world’s most iconic species is on the brink of extinction, Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is fast-tracking rollback after rollback of important environmental protections in order to benefit the fossil fuel and construction industries. It’s hard to keep up, with a new rollback announced almost daily. As of July 15, Trump had successfully taken away 68 regulations, and still has his sights on eliminating 32 more. With these rollbacks, he is increasing the amount of permissible emissions from power plants and vehicles at a time when we know emissions need to shrink. He is also opening up vital wildlife habitat, some of which is the very habitat polar bears rely on, for oil and gas drilling.
>>>Urge the EPA to halt the relentless attack on legislation that was put in place to curb climate change.

Care2: Birdcalls in the morning are becoming quieter. As the sun rises, these chipper friends often rise too, welcoming the start of the day. But now, our morning singers are at risk of disappearing completely—and it’s thanks to Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Determined to protect profits above everything else, the EPA has rolled back restrictions on pesticides that are so toxic, they’re actually illegal in many parts of the world. Neonicotinoids, used in agriculture, have been linked to massive bee population loss, and they’re also taking a toll on our avian friends. Farmers apply poisonous neonicotinoids to their crops by treating the seeds before planting, so birds eating these seeds are immediately exposed to the deadly toxins. Even when the seeds have become a full-grown plant, the noxious chemicals remain in every part of the crop, ready to kill animals. In one U.S. county where neonicotinoids were used, bird populations dropped by more than 2% compared to other areas where safer pesticides were used. The U.S. and Canadian bird populations combined have plummeted by almost 30% in the past 50 years. But because these toxins have long, lasting effects on bird populations like owls, sparrows and meadowlarks, we likely won’t know the true magnitude of the devastation for years.
>>>Demand that the EPA immediately ban the use of neonicotinoids in the U.S.

Action Network: U.S. researchers are seeking government approval to legalize the widespread release of unproven genetically engineered (GE) trees into forests. This would be a giant open-air experiment. The risks are huge. If approved, these trees, GE American chestnuts, will spread their GE pollen and seeds freely. This would be the first-ever GE tree approved in the U.S., opening the floodgates to others. It would also be the first-ever intentional release of a fertile genetically modified organism (GMO) into wild ecosystems, opening the door to other uncontrollable GMO releases. For years, companies have sought approval to use GE trees in industrial timber plantations, but public opposition has stopped them. Now they are promoting this GE tree for “forest restoration” to try to win public approval of GE trees. This experiment would threaten wild American chestnuts with contamination from GE chestnut pollen. Decades of progress to restore wild American chestnut trees would be lost. There are no long-term risk assessments of this scheme and scientists warn such assessments are not possible. American chestnuts can live hundreds of years and have deeply intertwined relationships with other trees, and with insects, songbirds and other wildlife. In a violation of indigenous sovereignty, tribes and First Nations would have no ability to keep these GE trees out of their territories. Additionally, any town or county that has or wants “GMO-free” status would have the same problem. Farmers who are growing organic and non-GMO chestnuts are also threatened, as chestnut orchards may be contaminated by GE chestnut pollen.
>>>Urge the U.S. Department of Agriculture to reject all genetically engineered trees.

Cause for concern…

• It could be decades before emissions cuts slow global warming, scientist warn (Marlowe Hood, AFP via ScienceAlert)
• Millions of pounds of extra pollution were released before Hurricane Laura hit (Rebecca Hersher, NPR)
• As hurricanes bring chemical fires, minority neighborhoods take a hit (John Schwartz and Hiroko Tabuchi, The New York Times)
• Air pollution linked to higher risk of young children developing asthma (Hanna Geissler, Express)
• Air pollution impacts the health of wild pollinators (Devrupa Rakshit, The Swaddle)
• Trump Interior expands hunting at 147 wildlife refuges, hatcheries (Rachel Frazin, The Hill)
• States must stop exporting unwanted toxic chemicals to poorer countries, says UN expert (Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner, United Nations)
• Elephants almost extinct in Nigeria, conservationist laments (Premium Times)
• Live export ship to take 7,300 cows from Napier to China (Shannon Johnstone, New Zealand Herald)
• Study finds high levels of toxic pollutants in stranded dolphins and whales (Gisele Galoustian, Florida Atlantic University)

Round of applause…

On Friday, a coalition of 21 states sued the Trump administration for rolling back what they say is a “rule that is, at its heart, the gutting” of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). For half a century, the nation’s bedrock environmental law has required the government to assess the environmental impact of their proposed actions before approving new factories, pipelines, highways, drilling permits, new factories or any major federal land management actions.

• 21 states sue White House over rollback of bedrock environmental law (Rebecca Beitsch, The Hill)
• Thousands protest in Mauritius over dead dolphins, demand resignations (Giulia Paravicini, Reuters)
• Vietnam bans wildlife trade over pandemic risk (BBC News)
• Northeast U.S. climate pact has major side benefit: healthier children (Brian Bienkowski, The Daily Climate)
• Restoring mangrove forests in the Niger Delta (Inès Magoum, Afrik 21)
• New device can measure toxic lead within minutes (Rutgers University)
• Eco-friendly leather made from cactus could be the next big thing in vegan fashion (Ellen Scott, Metro)
• Nestlé launches vegan alternative to tuna (Silke Koltrowitz, Reuters)
• Dairy farmer retires cows and moves to ethical oat milk production (Plant Based News)
• Is going vegan the next best thing for post-COVID America? (Summer Anna Burton, Austin Monthly)

Parting thought…

“Love animals. The way we treat them is a reflection of our own humanity.” —Ahad Raza Mir

Earth | Food | Life (EFL) explores the critical and often interconnected issues facing the climate/environment, food/agriculture and nature/animal rights, and champions action; specifically, how responsible citizens, voters and consumers can help put society on an ethical path of sustainability that respects the rights of all species who call this planet home. EFL emphasizes the idea that everything is connected, so every decision matters.

Click here to support the work of EFL and the Independent Media Institute.

Questions, comments, suggestions, submissions? Contact EFL editor Reynard Loki at [email protected]. Follow EFL on Twitter @EarthFoodLife.

Environmental Action: The Trump administration is barreling ahead with approvals for destructive oil and gas drilling in the sensitive Arctic National Wildlife Refuge—some of the best polar bear denning habitat in the country. Make no mistake: Drilling is bad for wildlife and the environment. Land near the Arctic Refuge bears the scars from fossil fuel sites that were shuttered decades ago. Spills and accidents still occur at nearby oil and gas sites, damaging delicate ecosystems and the irreplaceable wildlife that makes its home within the refuge. Polar bears den here, but the noise and traffic that could come with new drilling could disturb polar bear moms, causing them to abandon their cubs. Without a mother, cubs have little chance for survival. This special place is not only home to polar bears, but also the world-famous Porcupine caribou herd and other irreplaceable wildlife. It should not be sacrificed for the sake of more fossil fuels that contribute to climate change.
>>>Urge congressional leaders to restore federal prohibition on oil exploration and drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Center for Biological Diversity: On the West Coast, Southern Resident killer whales have plummeted to an astonishing new low in the past three decades, with just 76 individuals remaining—the lowest it has been in 34 years. They’re in a dangerous decline because of a lack of food, pollution, and noise and disturbance from boats. But there’s new hope, despite annual surveys showing a severe decline in their condition due to lack of food. New ways to study orcas, like collecting fecal samples from boats with the help of dogs, have given scientists undeniable evidence of the importance of Chinook salmon in orcas’ diets. Now it’s time to use that science to stop overfishing of salmon and leave enough for the whales.
>>>Urge the Pacific Fishery Management Council to pass new measures for reducing the salmon harvest if the health of either the fish or orcas doesn’t meet certain levels.

Change: Chinchillas are notable for their kindness to one another. For example, reports PETA, “if a chinchilla mum has problems producing milk to feed her babies, another female will often step in to assist, while male chinchillas will often help out with babysitting.” Quiet and shy, they have a natural lifespan of 10 to 20 years. But on fur farms, these gentle animals are killed at just eight months old by extremely cruel practices, including electrocution or breaking their necks. No animal should ever be treated like this. It takes over 200 chinchillas to make just one fur coat. Fashion is not worth an animal’s life.
>>>Urge the European Union to ban the farming of chinchillas.

Cause for concern…

• Trump’s EPA dumps methane emissions rule for oil, gas fields (Associated Press via Marketwatch)
• Greenland ice sheet lost a record 1 million metric tons of ice per minute in 2019 (Damian Carrington, The Guardian)
• Global deforestation accelerates during pandemic (Anna Gross, Andres Schipani, Stefania Palma and Stephanie Findlay, Financial Times)
• Canada’s last intact ice shelf has collapsed (Mindy Weisberger, LiveScience)
• “Massive poisonous shock”: Scientists fear lasting impact from Mauritius oil spill (Duncan Miriri, Omar Mohammed and Matthew Green, Reuters)
• Air pollution remains worst in U.S. communities of color despite progress (Emily Holden, The Guardian)
• U.S. air conditioning use could surge nearly 60% by 2050 (Dharna Noor, Earther)
• Migratory river fish populations plunge 76% in past 50 years (Damian Carrington, The Guardian)
• Washington state says Navy’s testing program would harm more orcas (Lynda V. Mapes, Seattle Times)
• Factory farms disproportionately threaten Black, Latino and Native American North Carolinians (Sarah Graddy, Environmental Working Group)
• Mink farms incubate cruelty and COVID-19 (Wayne Pacelle, Animal Wellness Action)
• There’s so much poop along the Texas coast, swimming could make you sick (Sanford Nowlin, San Antonio Current)

Round of applause…

• U.K. conservationists have successfully brought back butterflies declared extinct in 1979 (Annie Reneau, Upworthy)
• Norwegian pension fund to divest over $47 million from 27 companies, including Exxon and Chevron (Associated Press)
• More coal power generation closed than opened around the world this year (Adam Morton, The Guardian)
• U.S. House bill seeks to create animal cruelty crimes unit in DOJ (Jessica Savage, WTOC 11)
• Restoring mangrove forests in the Niger Delta (Inès Magoum, Afrik 21)
• These 3D printed tiles are helping restore devastated coral reefs (Ben Dahl, Cool Material)
• ‘World’s loneliest elephant’ finally released to sanctuary after 35 years in zoo (Doloresz Katanich, Euronews)
• Handmade nest lures golden eagles back to Highlands estate (Patrick Barkham, The Guardian)
• 500,000 sign petition for French vote on animal cruelty (Joanna York, The Connexion)
• New television ad shows top food critics tricked by vegan meat (Maria Chiorando, Plant Based News)

Parting thought…

“Nature is painting for us, day after day, pictures of infinite beauty if only we have the eyes to see them.” —John Ruskin

Earth | Food | Life (EFL) explores the critical and often interconnected issues facing the climate/environment, food/agriculture and nature/animal rights, and champions action; specifically, how responsible citizens, voters and consumers can help put society on an ethical path of sustainability that respects the rights of all species who call this planet home. EFL emphasizes the idea that everything is connected, so every decision matters.

Click here to support the work of EFL and the Independent Media Institute.

Questions, comments, suggestions, submissions? Contact EFL editor Reynard Loki at [email protected]. Follow EFL on Twitter @EarthFoodLife.

Rainforest Rescue: Fish and other seafood from aquaculture are often touted as an environmentally friendly alternative to conventional fishing, but the reality is much grimmer: Fishing fleets are emptying the oceans to produce fishmeal and fish oil as feed for the aquaculture industry. Global seafood consumption has more than doubled over the past five decades. Every year, 80 million tons—almost half of the seafood on our plates—is produced by aquaculture, an industry that builds floating cages for salmon, artificial ponds for prawns on the coasts, and tanks for seafood in factory buildings—essentially, aquatic factory farms. But aquaculture is not the solution to overfishing that it is often touted to be. In fact, it is worsening the problem. Trawler fleets sweep up vast quantities of wild fish and grind them into fishmeal and fish oil to feed farmed fish. Far from being sustainable, this is an incredibly inefficient and wasteful process: It takes up to five kilos of edible fish such as anchovies, mackerels or sardines, for example, to produce a single kilo of salmon. More than two-thirds of the fish meal produced worldwide and three-quarters of the fish oil are now used as feed for farmed fish. The Dutch foundation Changing Markets has investigated how fishing fleets are emptying the oceans off Africa and Asia to supply fishmeal factories in the Gambia, India and Vietnam. The fishmeal and fish oil produced there is supplied to industrial aquaculture operations in countries such as China, Norway and the UK. The seafood thus produced ends up in the coolers of supermarkets such as Sainsbury’s, ALDI, Lidl, Co-op, Tesco, Asda, Iceland, Morrison’s, Waitrose and Marks & Spencer. Aquaculture pollutes the local marine environment with vast amounts of excrement, chemicals, antibiotics and other waste. The industry occupies bays, coastlines and mangroves, destroying natural ecosystems and ruining the livelihoods of traditional fishing communities.
>>>Urge European supermarkets, including Sainsbury’s, ALDI, Lidl, Co-op, Tesco, Asda, Iceland, Morrison’s, Waitrose and Marks & Spencer to withdraw from industrial aquaculture.

GREY2K USA Worldwide: Dog racing has blood on its hands. Live lure training isn’t just a myth—it’s a reality. GREY2K USA investigators have revealed a multi-state conspiracy of cruelty involving the torture and killing of rabbits to “blood” greyhounds. In live lure training, small animals are used to excite and enhance a chase instinct in young dogs. Typically, screaming animals are dangled before greyhounds, dragged in front of them on ropes, or simply set loose to be attacked. They often suffer cruel and miserable deaths. In March 2020, investigators documented at least forty-five greyhounds killing dozens of jackrabbits over a two-day period on a farm in Keota, Oklahoma, and similar activities were witnessed in Elgin, Texas, and Abilene, Kansas, in June and July. The individuals shown “blooding” or baiting greyhounds have business connections with national dog racing activities and fellow participants from multiple jurisdictions. Every person shown in a new undercover video has business connections with dog racing across multiple jurisdictions.
>>>Urge Oklahoma US Attorney Brian J. Kuester, Texas US Attorney John F. Bash, Kansas US Attorney Stephen R. McAllister and West Virginia Governor Jim Justice to enforce federal and state laws to end this cruelty.

New Zealand Anti-Vivisection Society: Every year in New Zealand, hundreds of thousands of animals suffer for research, testing and teaching. This is typically for cruel and outdated practices, with animals providing a poor scientific model for humans. Developments in human medicine, science and technology are all possible without the use of animals. From cell-cultured organoids and 3D printing, to the use of human cells and sophisticated computer models, there are many scientific methods that can be used instead of cruel, outdated and unreliable animal experiments. Using animals for science does not start in a lab. It is driven by decisions much further down the track. Funding and policy decisions are a major driver of animal experimentation. A lack of transparency and openness means the public rarely knows what is going on. And laws are often weak and selectively enforced. Regulators must improve outdated sections of law that are sending money to the wrong places, laws that fail to monitor animal experimenters, and laws that do not give enough information about what happens to animals used in science.
>>>Urge New Zealand’s House of Representatives to pass legislation that transitions scientific institutions from animal-based methods to non-animal-based methods for research, testing and teaching purposes.

Cause for concern…

Human activities like burning fossil fuels, factory farming and deforestation—tied to a steadily increasing human population—continue to increase the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Now a major new climate study has ruled out less severe global warming scenarios, estimating that the Earth’s global average temperature will most likely increase between 2.3 and 4.5 degrees Celsius. If the warming reaches the midpoint of this new range, it would be catastrophic, warned NASA physicist Kate Marvel, who called it the equivalent of a “five-alarm fire” for the planet.

• Major new climate study found that warming is extremely unlikely to be on the low end of estimates (Piers Forster, Zeke Hausfather, Gabi Hegerl, Steven Sherwood and Kyle Armour, Carbon Brief)
• Earth could hit critical climate threshold in next five years (Alex Fox, Smithsonian Magazine)
• Humans need to do better if we’re to avoid ocean system collapse (Carolyn Cramer, Stellenbosch University)
• Changes in farming urgent to rescue biodiversity (Firstpost)
• Babies born near natural gas flaring are 50% more likely to be premature (Kristina Marusic, Environmental Health News)
• Supreme Court spurns environmental challenge to Trump’s border wall (Jan Wolfe, Reuters)
• Homes of wealthy Americans have carbon footprints 25% higher than lower-income residences (University of Michigan)
• Cuba’s strikingly beautiful snails threatened by illegal trade (Telangana Today)
• Report exposes rampant illegal fishing in North Korean waters (Global Fishing Watch) 

Round of applause…

“A bipartisan bill that would spend nearly $3 billion on conservation projects, outdoor recreation and maintenance of national parks and other public lands is on its way to the president’s desk after winning final legislative approval,” reportsMatthew Daly for the Associated Press.

• Congress passes sprawling plan to boost conservation, parks (Matthew Daly, The Associated Press)
• Michigan to adopt new, low PFAS drinking water limits (Garret Ellison, Grand Rapids Press)
• In neutral situations, pigs turn to humans, initiating interactions as much as dogs do (Eötvös Loránd University, Phys.org)
• Stronger pollution standards could save 143,000 lives (Rachel Frazin, The Hill)
• Plugging orphaned and abandoned oil and gas wells can create jobs, reduce pollution (Jason Bordoff, Daniel Raimi and Neelesh Nerurkar, Center for Global Energy Policy at Columbia University)
• Can India lead the ‘vegan economy’ against future pandemics? (Ankush Das and Kowthamraj VS, Forbes India)
• Increased consumption of plant proteins linked to lower risk of death (BMJ)
• 10th-grade girls discover asteroid nearing Earth while participating in a Space India and NASA school project (Nicholas Rice, Travel + Leisure)

Parting thought…

“When going vegan I think the hardest part was my ego giving up ‘the right to eat whatever I wanted.’ As I sat on that thought I realized doing that is simply taking away animals’ rights to live free lives. I personally could never kill an animal so I wasn’t going to let other people do it for me and then just buy them at the store or a restaurant.” —Ethan Dolan

Earth | Food | Life (EFL) explores the critical and often interconnected issues facing the climate/environment, food/agriculture and nature/animal rights, and champions action; specifically, how responsible citizens, voters and consumers can help put society on an ethical path of sustainability that respects the rights of all species who call this planet home. EFL emphasizes the idea that everything is connected, so every decision matters.

Click here to support the work of EFL and the Independent Media Institute.

Questions, comments, suggestions, submissions? Contact EFL editor Reynard Loki at [email protected]. Follow EFL on Twitter @EarthFoodLife.

League of Conservation Voters: President Trump has ceased enforcement of virtually all environmental laws at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) during the COVID-19 pandemic. The policy is set to expire next month, but the administration may seek to extend it. EPA enforcement must be restored immediately. Every hour these suspensions are in place, pollution can be ramped up without punishment or accountability for Big Polluters. This is a grave danger to public health, particularly for communities of color, as well as Indigenous and low-income communities already suffering the worst consequences of environmental injustice. “By signing this executive order, Donald Trump is muzzling the voice of environmental justice communities, and continues to make clear his total disregard for those speaking out and fighting for racial justice and a sustainable environment,” Senator Chuck Schumer of New York said in a statement.
>>>Demand the EPA to restart enforcement immediately.

Citizens for Alternatives to Animal Research and Experimentation: Boston Children’s Hospital is killing mice and rats to develop an enhanced version of botulinum toxin, a product already in widespread use for cosmetic and medical use. These live animal tests are deadly, harrowing and completely unnecessary. Since 2011 scientists have developed an in vitro alternative to using mice and rats to study the safety and efficacy of botulinum toxin. Called the cell-based assay, it is considered superior to the mouse test, especially when investigating the cellular and intracellular effect of the toxin. Inexplicably, some scientists at Boston Children’s Hospital are still using barbaric animal tests. In one phase of the test, researchers dissected pregnant rats and removed their living embryos so they could extract cortical neurons from their brains. Another phase involved the egregious LD50 test, which injects enough toxin to determine which dose causes death in 50% of the animals. Botulinum toxin, which causes muscle paralysis, was injected into mice to test for local and systemic paralysis. Systemic paralysis causes a slow death as it gradually affects the respiratory muscles, causing mice to gasp hopelessly for air. Some will die by asphyxiation, but other mice will die because they cannot reach food or water. Their death is the result of dehydration and weight loss, and not the toxin per se, making the animal test even more unreliable, in addition to being incredibly inhumane.
>>>Urge Boston Children’s Hospital to stop paralyzing animals to test botulinum toxin and immediately employ the cell-based assay that was developed for this purpose.

PETA: Droughts and bushfires have decimated Australia’s landscapes and the animals living there, and yet the government continues to allow permits to be issued for the slaughter of wildlife. Extensive research by the Kangaroo Roundtable—a partnership of organizations, scientists, researchers and academics concerned about kangaroo conservation—indicates that reported Australian kangaroo populations are already overestimated. This would be concerning at any time, but after some 7.3 million hectares of land were burned in the recent blazes and an estimated 1 billion animals were killed in them, it’s more important than ever that we take the pressure off our native animals by favoring conservation over cruel killing. And make no mistake: the killing is cruel. Kangaroos are hunted after dark, increasing the risk that the shots won’t kill the animals instantly, subjecting them to long, painful deaths. Hunters are required to shoot at-foot joeys (kangaroo babies out of their mothers’ pouches) and decapitate or “crush the skull and destroy the brain” of those still in the pouch. The government must stop issuing permits to landholders and commercial hunters to kill native animals.
>>>Urge the New South Wales and Victoria governments to stop issuing permits to kill wildlife.

• New report underscores racial prejudices in Superfund sites (Marty Johnson, The Hill)
• Over 5,600 fossil fuel companies have taken at least $3 billion in COVID aid (Emily Holden, The Guardian)
• Facebook is exempting climate change misinformation from fact-checking (Rachel Frazin, The Hill)
• When it comes to animal rights, the philosophy of humanism has significant limitations (Robert Griffiths, Philosophy Now)
• The long history of murdered animal rights and environmental activists (Brandon Kirkwood, Vegan News Now)
• Growing farmland in Europe could reduce endangered bird habitat by up to 50% in the next century (University of East Anglia, ScienceDaily)
• UN expert calls out exploitation of Moroccan women on strawberry farms (Kristen Gianaris, Morocco World News)
• Big pharma’s u-turn threatens 450-million-year-old species on front line of coronavirus defense (Nishan Degnarain, Forbes)
• Mortality of trees triggered in 2018—the hottest, driest year on record—will continue for several years (University of Würzburg)
• Consumption of products derived from vulnerable wildlife species pervasive in Laos (San Diego Zoo Global, American Association for the Advancement of Science)
• Light pollution gives invasive cane toads a belly full of grub (Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Phys.org)
• Microplastic fiber pollution in the ocean impacts larval lobsters at each stage of their development (Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences)
• Rising water temperatures could endanger the mating of many fish species (Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research)

Round of applause…

• Your sunscreen may be killing coral reefs—here are the brands to try instead (Rebecca Carhart and Dobrina Zhekova. Travel + Leisure)
• VIDEO: Ex-poachers are now protecting endangered sea turtles (Katie Valentine, Lady Freethinker)
• Hugh Laurie: How we treat animals now will be condemned in 100 years (Liam Pritchett, LIVEKINDLY)
• For the first time in nearly 50 years, endangered California condors have been spotted at Sequoia National Park (Kailyn Brown, The Los Angeles Times)
• Bali hosts first center to return captive dolphins to the wild (Sultan Anshori, Reuters)
• A London bakery turned vegan overnight after owner watched a video on the dairy industry (Liam Gilliver, Plant Based News)
• “Protect 30% of the planet for nature,” scientists urge in new report (Heather D’Angelo, Arizona State University)
• Global wildlife surveillance could provide early warning for next pandemic (Tamara Bhandari, Washington University School of Medicine)
• Four ways life as an animal activist taught me to change the world (Christine Jackson, PsychCentral)
• Fish alternatives are next big thing in vegan products (Elizabeth Green, Food Ingredients First)
• Plant-based diets can help promote healthful aging and mitigate the global burden of disease (Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine)

Parting thought…

“Oh Beautiful for smoggy skies, insecticided grain,
For strip-mined mountain’s majesty above the asphalt plain.
America, America, man sheds his waste on thee,
And hides the pines with billboard signs, from sea to oily sea.” 
―George Carlin

Earth | Food | Life (EFL) explores the critical and often interconnected issues facing the climate/environment, food/agriculture and nature/animal rights, and champions action; specifically, how responsible citizens, voters and consumers can help put society on an ethical path of sustainability that respects the rights of all species who call this planet home. EFL emphasizes the idea that everything is connected, so every decision matters.

Click here to support the work of EFL and the Independent Media Institute.

Questions, comments, suggestions, submissions? Contact EFL editor Reynard Loki at [email protected]. Follow EFL on Twitter @EarthFoodLife.