Consumption // Current

"From Trees to T-issues: Raising Awareness on Our Beloved Trees" Picture

Excerpt: "By using a tissue box made from 100% recycled paper and the graphic of a... more

lookatmypix
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6 days ago
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"Consumption by the Few Hits Global Tipping Point"

And where will your children and their children play? Consumers "are still... more

SeaJade
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1 month ago
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7 comments

Weather worsens Mexico City's water shortage

I wish "people" cared as much for this as they do about legalizing drugs. Excerpt:... more

JanforGore
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2 months ago
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43 comments

How-To Grow Food in a Small Space

You want to grow your own food, but you live in a cramped apartment. What to do? With... more

GristTV
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3 months ago
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5 comments

Consumption: the root cause of climate change

Do you only use what you need, or what makes you comfortable? Are they the same? Not... more

JanforGore
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4 months ago
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2 comments

Gavin Newsom on New Technologies

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom is interviewed by Current Green's Leah Lamb about the... more

mario_a
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5 months ago
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2 comments

Britain revamping food date labelling to target unnecessary waste

As part of its war on waste, the Department for the Environment plans to revamp the... more

JanforGore
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5 months ago
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A Cautionary Video About America’s ‘Stuff’

The thick-lined drawings of the Earth, a factory and a house, meant to convey the... more

covelogibbs
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6 months ago
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3 comments

Dubai Golf Course Uses 4mil Gallons of Water Per Day

"The new Tiger Woods Gold Course needs four million gallons of water to be pumped on... more

ninthstate
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7 months ago
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41 comments

Schmurgen's Blog

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Schmurgen
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8 months ago
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The hidden link between factory farms and human illness.

You may be familiar with many of the problems associated with concentrated animal feeding operations, or CAFOs. These “factory farm” operations are often criticized for the smell and water pollution caused by all that concentrated manure; the unnatural, grain-heavy diets the animals consume; and the stressful, unhealthy conditions in which the animals live. You may not be aware, however, of the threat such facilities hold for you and your family’s health — even if you never buy any of the meat produced in this manner.

A 2008 report from the Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production, a joint project of the Pew Charitable Trusts and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, underscores those risks. The 111-page report, two years in the making, outlines the public health, environmental, animal welfare and rural livelihood consequences of what they call “industrial farm animal production.” Its conclusions couldn’t be clearer. Factory farm production is intensifying worldwide, and rates of new infectious diseases are rising. Of particular concern is the rapid rise of antibiotic-resistant microbes, an inevitable consequence of the widespread use of antibiotics as feed additives in industrial livestock operations.

Scientists, medical personnel and public health officials have been sounding the alarm on these issues for some time. The World Health Organization and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) have recommended restrictions on agricultural uses of antibiotics; the American Public Health Association (APHA) proposed a moratorium on CAFOs back in 2003. All told, more than 350 professional organizations — including the APHA, American Medical Association, the Infectious Diseases Society of America, and the American Academy of Pediatrics — have called for greater regulation of antibiotic use in livestock. The Infectious Diseases Society of America has declared antibiotic-resistant infections an epidemic in the United States. The FAO recently warned that global industrial meat production poses a serious threat to human health.
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We are out of control as a species. Our wasteful consumptive lifestyle is killing us, as is industrialization of farms for profit.You may be familiar with many of the problems associated with concentrated animal... more