Civil Eats

The possible, the probable, and even the unlikely links between the recent H1N1 “swine flu” outbreak and modern pork production have received unprecedented attention in the past weeks.

I have personally written three pieces on the flu (here, here, and here).  My newspaper article in particular received a tsunami of feedback.  While I might normally receive a handful or two of emails after each of my EcoChef columns, in this case I received nearly four times that amount.  What was particularly interesting about the feedback was that is was so clearly bifurcated:  praising me for exploring these issues and asking for more clarification or lambasting me for my ignorance and stupidity for writing such nonsense.

In my defense, I want to clearly point out that I have never claimed there was a direct link between the H1N1 and CAFOs, from the Mexican Smithfield plant or any other. Read More

Last Friday, an op-ed hit the pages of the New York Times written by James McWilliams (“Free Range Trichinosis”) purporting that free-range pork was more likely to be contaminated with the deadly parasite trichonosis than its industrially sardined and antibiotic-overdosed cousin. The writer chose to take this information from a single study funded by the National Pork Board, a lobbying group for industrial pork operations, and neglected to mention that the the two free-range pigs (out of 600) had tested positive for antibodies of trichinosis, not specifically the disease itself. Read More

It is necessary to question our movement. Without a cold, hard look at the snags in implementing a sustainable food system, someone ill-informed will crawl out of the woodwork clinging to their credentials and poke holes in our arguments, whether with valid points or not, possibly shilling for Big Ag or just looking to market themselves as a contrarian.

Today, a free-range dissenter ended up in the op-ed pages of the New York Times, seemingly to defend factory farmed pork. Read More