New Organization Seeks to Eradicate Factory Farms

by Alison Rogers, Mother Earth News

Look out filthy, disease-ridden factory farms: There’s a new kid in town. An organization has surfaced to restore law and order, Wyatt Earp/Dodge City-style.

The Center to Expose and Close Animal Factories (CECAF) was launched April 30, with the objective to “achieve safe, sensible, and sustainable farming and ranching in America through policy development, public education, corporate pressure, community forums and advocacy partnerships.” The launch of this group couldn’t be more appropriate, considering that a Smithfield Foods swine operation is rumored to be ground zero in the recent H1N1 swine flu outbreak.

Attorneys and co-founders Charlie Speer and Richard Middleton plan to use the experience they gained from the more than 300 lawsuits they helped bring against industrial agriculture giants to mobilize communities in opposition of factory farms, which it says endangers the health of both humans and the environment. With an armory of regulatory, legal and legislative tools, CECAF is on a mission to end the inhumane and dangerous practices of confined animal feeding operations, or CAFOs.

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