http://www.stopsmithfieldfoods.com Facts about industrilized factory farms and the world's largest pork producer Thu, 28 May 2009 13:58:46 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en This is the second part of a two part series on food labeling. Part I is here. All Natural The "All Natural" label means the product contains no artificial ingredients and is minimally processed (a process which does not fundamentally alter the raw product).  For example, animal products raised with the ... http://www.stopsmithfieldfoods.com/know-your-food-labels-part-ii/ Debeaking is the partial removal of a bird's beak.  This procedure is commonplace in factory farms to prevent cannibalism and feather picking. Debeaking is usually accomplished by slicing off part of the beak with a hot blade, shortly after the chicks have hatched.  It is a painful and sometimes fatal ... http://www.stopsmithfieldfoods.com/debeaking/ Have you ever see an "All Natural", "Organic" or "Cage Free" label on a food product such as chicken breast or eggs? These labels are popping up everywhere in response to a new awareness of what we put in our bodies and how our farmed animals are raised. While there ... http://www.stopsmithfieldfoods.com/know-your-labels/ A gestation crate is a 7 ft by 2 ft metal enclosure used in intensive pig farming, in which a female breeding pig is confined during pregnancy, and in effect for most of her adult life. As the sows grow larger, they no longer fit in the crates, and must sleep ... http://www.stopsmithfieldfoods.com/gestation-crates/ Today there are over 1 billion overweight people in the world by World Health Organization estimates. Ironically, there are an estimated 850 million more who are starving. Everyone in the industrialized world has more access to farmed animal products than ever before in history. The animals ... http://www.stopsmithfieldfoods.com/antibiotics-in-factory-farms/ Factory farming is a dirty business. The life forms that evolved on this planet and were eventually domesticated by humans were never meant to be packed shoulder to shoulder in cramped, artificially lit structures. It's easy to dismiss their suffering, to ease the mind by saying "Well, they ... http://www.stopsmithfieldfoods.com/factory-farms-wholesale-abuse/ La Gloria, home of the first victim of swine flu, lies close to a collection of Smithfield’s farms. Residents in the area have long complained about an unnatural smell around the farms, and swarms of flies in the area. The type of fly found near these farms is ... http://www.stopsmithfieldfoods.com/center-of-swine-flu-outbreak-found/ Somewhere east of the North Carolina town of Tar Heel lay rows upon rows of hog farms, as far as the eye can see.  Each hog house, as long as a football field, holds up to 10,000 hogs and backs onto a single large lagoon.  The lagoons are a sickly ... http://www.stopsmithfieldfoods.com/backyard-swine-flu-lagoons/ Overcrowding and overuse of vaccines could be the reason for the mutation of a powerful new super flu and Smithfield’s super efficient factory farms could be the breeding ground.  This isn’t the first time swine flu has broken out at a Smithfield’s farm.  As recently as 2007, an outbreak at ... http://www.stopsmithfieldfoods.com/factory-farms-perfect-incubator-for-new-strain-of-flu/