Editor’s note: The problems with concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) are many and multifaceted, ranging from animal and worker welfare to antibiotic resistance and environmental damage. This is the first in a monthly series that will take a closer look at some of these specific issues, beginning with the impact CAFOs have on the people who live near them.

Dear Neighbors,

Happy spring! We hope you’re finding the time to step outside and relax in the flower-scented embrace of an April afternoon. And as we imagine each of us finding a spot in the sunshine to sit and read for a moment, we’d like to share a wish for this Earth Month.

It’s everywhere—in parks and playgrounds, in cereal and crackers, in 75 percent of rainwater samples taken from midwestern states.

Should the meat, milk, and eggs of the (near) future be created in a lab?

What do strokes, heart attacks, aneurysms, varicose veins, and erectile dysfunction have in common? They are all diseases of the vascular system, the vast network of veins, arteries, and capillaries that run through the body (it puts the vascular in cardiovascular).

“The only possible guarantee of the future is responsible behavior in the present.”
― Wendell Berry, The Unsettling of America: Culture & Agriculture

GMO. It's just three letters, but when used together, they make a loaded term.

Drop it into a conversation, and you're likely to spark a discussion defined by opposing viewpoints and conflicting information.

Hello, Fall!

Aren’t you a delicious sight! Your bright, crisp air; the way you paint the countryside in vivid color, making us want to ditch our responsibilities and go adventuring; the evening chill that has us dreaming of a crackling fire and a cup of tea… you make us feel so many things. We want to dust off a favorite book and crack it open the old-fashioned way.

“A greater danger to human health than regulators previously thought…”

The ecological impact of raising cattle—and by extension, of eating beef—has become a fraught topic. One frequent concern is that meat production uses a lot of water and creates water pollution. What often gets lost, however, is that the impact varies greatly depending on how cattle are reared.

"To make all of America's waters fishable and swimmable again … and to eliminate all pollution" was the stated goal of the Clean Water Act, passed by Congress in 1972.¹

It’s a small seal carrying a big promise: USDA Certified Organic. Most of us recognize it as a label that pledges better—for human health, animal welfare, and the planet. Yet, some will suggest that’s all it is… promises. So, is there proof? Yes.