Scientific American: U.S. Pig Farms May Be 'Flu Factories'

If the SHTF it might be good to have a few hogs, some chickens, goats ...... Yea hogs and all farm animals can be nasty ..... but think about it ...either they grow it or you grow it ??? and if it gets bad I want to be the one with a few hogs, chickens and goats .... cows would be nice but require more year round maint .....

Originally posted by Logarock

Originally posted by Dimitri Dzengalshlevi
Of course they are. Same with other factory farmed animals like chicken and cow. The American corporations behind the agriculture and meat markets will stop at nothing to acheive maximum profit and they have no problem with farming animals in extremely disturbing conditions which creates new forms of pathogens, only to cover up the problem with chemical solutions.

The entire food industry of the US is a plague. Think the red tone in the beef that you buy is blood? It's actually red colouring added to the beef which is bleached white to kill off potential ecoli strains that develop from the diplorable conditions that these animals suffer under.

Ok, show me some figures on hog farm workers and their children having flu at a much higher rate than the rest of us and I will buy in. Otherwise this is the beginning of putting the small farmers out of the deal. The big boys will never go down this is amied at the little guy. Trying to get joe blow with 50 chickens and 10 hogs to see it as a hazard to his health and to others around him.

The corporations have been assimilating real family farms in America for some time now. It is a proven fact that a real farm or ranch can produce much more for much less, it's just not as controlled as corporations like.

reply to post by Logarock

...this is the beginning of putting the small farmers out of the deal. ...this is amied at the little guy. Trying to get joe blow with 50 chickens and 10 hogs to see it as a hazard to his health and to others around him.

Nope - not aimed at the little guy. Factory farms are like petrie dishes - crowded, warm - and full of chemicals and antibiotics to boot. Perfect for breeding new mutations, creating new diseases.

Small mixed farms don't pose the same dangers at all.

...but you're right - the agri-industry lobby IS trying to blame everything on the little guys (here and in Asia, Africa, etc).

reply to post by soficrow

Apparently the Obama Adminiwtration has failed US. These pig farms are NOT licensed to produce flu bacteria and wouldn't this be a source of tax revenue that the IRS has missed?

reply to post by Hazmat77

...These pig farms are NOT licensed to produce flu bacteria and wouldn't this be a source of tax revenue that the IRS has missed?

'Flu is a virus, not a bacteria - hence the missed revenue. (Viral delivery in biotech is tax exempt.)