With millions of species of fish in the sea, it’s odd that we only have certain types of seafood in the grocery store. One of the most popular, salmon, is a testament to that uniformity. But since salmon is so high in omega-3 fatty acids, it’s incredibly popular and very nutritious.
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At the end of June, with hundreds of his workers already infected with COVID-19 and several dead, Kenneth Sullivan, the CEO of Smithfield Foods, the world’s largest pork producer, sent a pointed letter to two U.S. senators who had launched an investigation into outbreaks in meatpacking plants and industry warnings of an impending food shortage.
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Salmon is often used as an example of a health-conscious food choice, but its health value depends greatly on its source. While wild salmon is nutritious, there are many problems with farm-raised salmon, which makes up the bulk of salmon sold in U.S. supermarkets and served in restaurants.
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The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic is surely the worst in recent memory, but prehistory is full of records of plagues and pandemics.
In more modern history, we’ve seen the Asian flu pandemic of 1957, the Hong Kong flu pandemic of 1968 and the AIDS pandemic of 1981.
Then, a decade ago, along came H1N1, a novel flu virus hosted by pigs. H1N1 was followed in 1997 by H5N1, a bird flu virus that first surfaced in Hong Kong.
What's different about these more recent pandemics?
They're directly linked to the “intensive confinement of animals” in factory farms, according to the Journal of Public Health Policy.
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Addressing what it calls the industrialization of the organic farming movement, OrganicEye announced the filing of a formal legal complaint against one of the country’s largest producers of certified organic milk, Natural Prairie. According to the organic industry watchdog, animal abuse and serious environmental degradation have been documented, demonstrating that Natural Prairie, with operations in Texas and a new facility under construction in Indiana, violated federal organic regulations.
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Acentury ago, Americans would not recognise our modern hunger for chicken. The year-long market for tender but relatively bland chicken meat is a newish phenomenon, and without it the idea of chicken cutlets, $5 rotisseries, or the McNugget would be a fantasy.
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Here's one unexpected consequence of the Defense Production Act: Your food is less safe. When President Trump invoked the act three months ago, as a means to bolster American food security, it marked the beginning of a campaign to deregulate the meat industry.
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In March of 2009, people in the rural Mexican village of La Gloria started coming down with a nasty respiratory infection. The town, located in the state of Veracruz, sat 5 miles from an industrial-scale hog farm. Within a few weeks, clusters of this rapidly progressing pneumonia arose among Mexico City residents.
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Beyond a dense strip of forest, off a narrow single-track road in north west Poland, is what looks to the casual observer to be a man-made fishing lake, or perhaps a small reservoir. But as you approach, an appalling stench and a giant factory-style building begin to suggest otherwise.
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The hogs screech as the barn fills with steam. Thousands jostle and shriek. It takes hours, but eventually they quiet and then collapse. By morning, their bodies cover the floor. Survivors snort and squeal weakly through the haze, until two workers, using captive-bolt guns, put them down. At the end, a John Deere track loader is brought in to scoop up carcasses and carry them off.
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