You’ve seen disturbing images and videos of factory farm animals being forced to live in the absolute worst of conditions, but a new overhead video captured by a spy drone reveals a whole new sector of disturbing factory farm activity.
Caught on tape and unveiled in the video and images below, drone operator Mark Devries says that the apparent ‘lake’ residing on the factory farm compound is in fact a large holding body of feces, urine, and who knows what else. Check out some of these photos captured from the drone:
Once again, these are not images of water, but instead large ‘lakes’ of feces and other animal waste. According to Devries, these massive dumps are filled by ‘sewage systems’ that drain the animal waste into the area. And this is just one part of this factory farm system by Murphy-Brown, a subdivision of Smithfield Farms — the largest pork producer in the United States.
Thousands of similar factory farms exist in just North Carolina alone, giving you an idea of how prevalent these corporate farms have become. And the ‘feces lake’ is really just the beginning.
As the drone video’s extended YouTube premiere explains, there are serious health consequences for those nearby (not to mention those eating factory farm livestock that are injected with antibiotics and growth hormones).
But perhaps the most disturbing twist to the river of feces and waste is the method of disposal. Farm workers do not ‘drain’ the lake, or transport the waste to another region where it can be properly disposed of. Instead, the feces lake is literally ‘sprayed’ around the entire farmland — and reportedly into the lawns of nearby neighbors.
According to the drone operator and experts interviewed regarding the factory farm’s practices, lower income households around the mega farm are forced to be drenched in pig waste in what has been dubbed ‘environmental injustice.’
Steve Wing, Ph.D., associate professor of epidemiology at the University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health, went on record in describing the farm’s disposal of the ‘feces lake':
“It can, I think very correctly, be called ‘environmental racism’ or ‘environmental injustice’ that low-income people, people of color, bear the brunt of these practices.”
Sadly, we have seen numerous reports and studies revealing the extent by which factory farms are in fact threatening our health and the planet at large. It may come as no surprise to know that factory farming produces a whopping 100 times more waste than the United States population at large.
As whistleblowers and concerned farmers begin to speak out and expose the true nature of the factory farming complex, real change will be forced to occur. When the general public sees how their food supply is truly being raised (and how the US government is fully subsidizing it), corporations will be forced to adopt new practices.
But in order to generate concern among the public, it’s essential that they first become aware of these issues. Spread the word by sharing this disturbing article via social media and initiate the change.