A Barn Called CAFO **Part Two**

So, what is a CAFO?

I’ll be honest, I can only answer that question as it pertains to swine CAFOs because that’s what we have and that’s what I know. Of course, many will brand me a hypocrite because I complain about biased information yet I am advocating the very business that feeds my family but I do have an outside view. You see, I wasn’t raised on a farm; I married into one. I didn’t know much of anything about the pigs until the farm expanded and my husband went to work with the rest of his family. I have the luxury of seeing this from both sides of the fence and I’ll admit, sometimes even I am conflicted.


The conflict doesn’t come from the CAFO as much as it does from the idea farming conjures. Farm life makes you think of red barns, wire fencing, green pastures, tractors, and an assortment of livestock but that was 40 years ago and this in now. Though, one aspect of farming has stayed the same but has been lost in translation--the business of farming. Farming is a way of life, farming gets into your blood, is passed from generation to generation but it is also a business and businesses need to make money. Businesses must also change with the times or face being put out to pasture. CAFOs are a marriage of farm values, business ethics, and modern technology.

So, how do CAFOs work? More importantly, why do we even have them?
 
Read more tomorrow...