Wednesday was a difficult day for The American Independent News Network, which is the larger entity that operates The Iowa Independent. Our chief executive and founder announced two of our sister sites would close and their content would be moved to The American Independent.
A recently introduced bill could have far-reaching impact on the U.S. sugar industry, including American Crystal Sugar, a farmer-owned cooperative that locked out 1,300 Midwest workers on Aug. 1.
The chairman for Herman Cain’s Iowa effort says the campaign “relied more on the word of farmers than Washington regulators” in deciding to run an ad containing claims the Environmental Protection Agency says are false.
The Iowa Senate will remain under the control of a slim 26-25 Democratic majority when it reconvenes in January 2012.
Though much remains unknown about the spread of ‘Swine Flu,’ a potentially deadly strain of influenza that appears to have migrated from pigs to humans in Mexico and, now, the United States, a growing chorus of critics of industrial agriculture is asking whether confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs) are to blame.
As the Huffington Post’s David Kirby wrote as news of the outbreak first broke:
For years, leading scientists around the world have worried that large-scale, indoor swine “factories” would become breeding grounds for new pathogens that could more easily infect humans and then spread out rapidly in the general population – threatening to become a global pandemic.
We know that hog workers in Europe and North America are far more likely than others to be infected with potentially lethal pathogens such as MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus), drug-resistant E. coli and Salmonella, and of course, swine influenza. Many scientists also believe that people who work inside CAFOs are more at risk of contracting and spreading these and other “zoonotic” diseases than those working in smaller-scale operations, with outdoor pens or pasture and far lower animal density.
But until now, hog workers with swine flu have rarely gone on to infect other people, save for close family members. And that is why this new strain of swine influenza virus is so vexing – and alarming. It seems to spread quite easily through casual human contact.
It bears repeating that the jury is still out on the source of the swine flu outbreak, and Mexico’s hog industry denies responsibility. It does appear, at this point, that the virus migrated from a pig to a human, but we do not yet know where or precisely how. Still, Kirby follows up with some additional reporting that seems to suggest that CAFOs had something to do with it.
Depending on how the public health investigation being undertaken by U.S. and Mexican officials turns out, it could have a significant impact on how we regulate agriculture in Iowa.
Do you know where to vote on Election Day? Do you know what to bring with you? Get comprehensive voter information for your state here.
Sign up for our email newsletter