Last Week on Larry King Live, Vice President Al Gore, however reluctantly, stated that eating less meat, and by extension, the lowered output of factory farms, would be conducive to a healthier environment. Congressman, and US Senate candidate, Kendrick Meek of Florida's 17th District is against the factory farm, and in fact, states, on his website, that 90 percent of Florida's farms are operated by small businesses and families. In short: "Florida's farmers have a friend in Kendrick Meek." and Al Gore, who appeared with Meek this past weekend to fundraise, is right behind him.
Though Gore and Meek oppose factory farming, and the expansion of agribusiness into conglomeration for different reasons, the facts of their respective cases are undeniable, and both of ostensible importance to Floridians, even more so in South and Central Florida; The Redlands west of Miami being a major crop producer in the State.
The factory farm, a concept developed to streamline livestock and crop production to a science, often involves a large amount of pollutants being introduced into the local ecosystem, something liberal politicians in Florida (and most of the US) seek to limit. According to the Johns Hopkins University Center for a Liveable Future, factory farms produce 61 million tons of waste (or about 30 times the amount of waste created by humans), something that, as a State Senator, Meek sought to keep out of Florida, and continues to keep Florida's farms independent of such large-scale pollutive practices.
The issue of Animal Welfare aside, the economy of Florida depends strongly upon the farms remaining owned by small-and-medium sized businesses rather than national corporate entities, only second to tourism as the pillar of the State Economy. Though largely comprised of crops, rather than livestock, the year-round agriculture industry makes the State the largest producer of citrus and sugarcane, among others.
Across the State of Florida, one of the larger projects being undertaken by Florida Democrats is the strengthening of the Florida agriculture industry, however, stealing thunder from Republicans who claim to support small businesses. For example, Kendrick Meek's platform seems to be telling corporate farmers, who would need to convert the agriculture in Florida to a live-stock based system, to stay out.
President Obama, while addressing Florida Power and Light employees this week, was vehement in his assertiont that legislation to protect the environment was gaining momentum (despite Senator Inhofe declaring Obama's, and Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), efforts had failed) and that issue would be among the priorities to be tackled.
Obama and Meek have been appearing together since Meek campaigned for the President during the primaries and during the general election, and now that Meek is seeking a Senate seat, and running on a platform bolstered by keeping Factory farms out of Florida (the cause of a startling majority of pollution in the US), he's not only protecting the small businesses, but the environment as well; a goal shared by Obama and Gore.
While Obama's views on the matter are not widely known (neither major candidate in the 2008 election addressed agribusiness as it pertains to factory farming), but he holds the widely-corroborated view that Global Warming is man-made, and this legislation, in the macro sense, would seek to limit pollution that originates with industrial waste (which, certainly, includes factory farms), and then automobile exhaust ("Cash-for-Clunkers" is along the lines of what some cynics are expecting about the latter).
The need for agribusiness to remain in the hands of small farms is being expressed by this triumvirate (though not explicitly by Obama) in hopes of achieving slightly different, but (possibly inadvertent) equivalent ends, that is to say, that it begins and ends with a discussion about the future of our environment.
Comments
you know, I really appreciate you taking the time to express these issues because this topic especially hasn't been getting that much attention :)
This is kind of ignorant of reality... The "waste" is phosphorous runoff. BMP's have been implemented long ago, and the sugar industry is absolutely as clean as you will get with agriculture anywhere. Any pesticide residue on food is minimal. There is little phosphorous runoff.
The phosphorous we see now is sediment in Lake O. The absurd 10 ppm phosphorous numbers desired by environmentalists are below what was realistically around before drainage and development. All the sugar areas are below 50, with many below 25. Lake O itself is 100. Where the "runoff" - aka natural flow of those lands - meets Everglades proper, it is even lower due to BMP's.
The cane is downstream of the lake. How, I may ask, is it possible that the sugar industry is polluting uphill, upstream?
You want to find the real waste? Go look at what is flushed out of toilets and showers in the Kissimmee chain of lakes. Quit blaming "big sugar" and "evil corporations" for all of life's problems.
Your points are valid, but the article was addressing only livestock farming, and a hypothetical opposition to factory farming (which is entirely livestock) by Floridians, which is not a large presence in Florida (given the large percentage of sugarcane crop, etc.) Florida's agricultural landscape is not particularly vulnerable to conversion to factory farming.
I have nothing against big businesses, but in the case of factory farming, there's a lot of disapprove of, but I'll be the first to admit that it's sort of a moot point in Florida given that factory farming does not have a future here because the centerpiece of our State's agribusiness is based in citrus, sugar, and the like.
The run-off you refer to, coming from the farmland I refer to, actually runs off into the Everglades rather than "Lake O", as does most water-related services in South Florida as a result of the complex canal system in Miami-Dade and Broward county.
Additionally, the "waste" I refer to from factory farms, since it is centered around a rotation of thousands of animals per year, is not only phosphorous, but biological waste, groundwater contaminants, and the removal of "spent" animals, or in the case of Cows and Pigs, the remains.
This is common practice in small farms, as well, and certainly does not exonerate them, but this is a problem that does not begin and end with Big Business; so you're absolutely right, no one can completely pin the blame on "Evil corporations".
Also, Florida is immune to a lot of this given that farming in Florida (outside of Citrus and Sugar production) does not have a particular risk of being conglomerated the way livestock farms do, so I apologize for the misunderstanding; I did not mean to imply that Sugar Cane production contributed to any waste problems in the macro sense, because, obviously, the bulk of it is processed, consumed, and when crop-waste is reintroduced to the ecosystem, it "degrades".
Thanks for the responses!
I was unsure what sort of farming you were referring to - and my post addressed only growers in the EAA. My personal experience is only with this, I know little of factory farming or any sort of agribusiness outside of Florida.
The runoff does flow into Everglades proper, but current BMP's used by growers prevent as much as possible of phosphorous from entering.
Canal system - wouldn't that canal system essentially do the opposite? One of the largest complaints of coastal environmentalists is the mass pumping of excess water out the canals - not down to the Everglades, but directly into the Ocean. I may be wrong - enlighten me!
I can certainly understand the multitude of injustices of factory farming, but generally when Florida agriculture is discussed, it is EAA agribusinesses who are demonized.
On an aside - though I agree with the ideas, why would Meek make opposing factory farms a central part of his campaign? As you said - FL is not at risk
In response to your question about Meek: His motivations for keeping Factory farms out of Florida really has less to do with environmentalism and animal welfare than it does to do with keeping Florida's economy self-contained. While Florida is not at an immediate risk of small and medium-sized farms from being absorbed by corporations who do factory farm would not be enriching the economy of the State since factory farms are usually national conglomerates, which usually purchase farmland from smaller farms that cannot support themselves (this is usually the case in the mid-west, Florida tends to have a singularly independent agribusiness economy). This is something I mentioned, but really should have elaborated upon.
The environmental aspects of factory farming are just really are just afterthoughts of Meek's campaign given the lack of real risk of such conversion to livestock-based agribusiness.
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