Jan 14Kenny TorrellaBig Oil and Big Ag are teaming up to turn cow poop into energy and profits. The math doesnt add up.The hundreds of billions of pounds of waste produced by Americas dairy cows every year has long been a headache for farmers. Manure is expensive to manage and, to state the obvious, it smells terrible, which can lead to complaints, protests, and lawsuits from neighbors even the occasional fine or misdemeanor charge. And when dairies store their manure in giant open-air lagoons, the most common and cheapest method, it becomes a climate problem: As the manure decomposes, it produces methane, a climate super pollutant that accelerates climate change at a much faster rate than carbon dioxide. Read Article >Jul 11, 2024Grace van DeelenHow public universities hooked America onmeatAmericans are eating more meat than ever, but livestock giants still see plenty of room to grow. As pressure mounts for meat producers to improve their treatment of animals and environmental footprints, theyre turning to a tried-and-true strategy used in the past by the tobacco and oil industries to expand their markets and shore up the publics trust in their products: funding favorable research from university scientists.Last year, the National Pork Board, a pork marketing group sponsored by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), funded a nearly $8.5 million program in partnership with researchers from Iowa State University, the University of Georgia, the University of Minnesota, North Carolina State University, and North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University to research popular perceptions of the pork industry and improve its reputation, according to federal records obtained by Crystal Heath, a veterinarian and founder of animal advocacy nonprofit Our Honor.Read Article >May 31, 2024Kenny TorrellaBig Milk has taken over American schoolsThis is the first in a series of stories on how factory farming shapes America. You can visit Voxs Future Perfect section for future installments and more coverage of Big Ag. This series is supported by Animal Charity Evaluators, which received a grant from Builders Initiative.In early 2023, Marielle Williamson emailed her Los Angeles high school principal requesting permission to protest milk. Read Article >