Finally, Some Truth Comes Out about the Chesapeake Bay

It’s no secret that the Chesapeake Bay is in serious trouble. One might say the bay is dying, and certainly parts of it are actually dead. Yet past efforts to “clean up the bay” have been hampered by the refusal of activist groups to place the blame where it belongs; namely, in large part in the hands of the factory farms that pollute the land near the bay (so that said pollution can run off right into the waters of the bay).

It is true that development of the upper parts of Maryland and Virginia is having a horrible impact upon the bay — no doubt about it — but animal “farming” is the primary culprit. Most of this “farming” is of chickens and pigs, and the amount of nitrogen and ammonia resulting from these operations is staggering (not to mention all the other toxins, like arsenic, that pollute the lands and waters of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed).

Yet organizations supposedly trying to help save the bay (notably the Chesapeake Bay Foundation) have been extremely timid in calling out these animal “farmers.” In fact, the CBF engages in activities such as pig roasts in an effort to raise money for their (pretty well stocked) coffers.

They are changing their tune somewhat, but still they are too cowardly (and perhaps too greedy) to tell it like it is, and name the primary killers of the bay by their real names: Perdue Chicken, Smithfield Foods, and others.

One step in the right direction is seen in this article:

http://www.care2.com/causes/the-chesapeakes-poop-problem.html

To be sure, the article does a terrible job of coming up with solutions for this problem, calling as it does for the regulation of factory farming as opposed to its elimination. The tiny little window of brightness, though, is that apparently some people are no longer afraid of such giants as Perdue and Smithfield and are willing to make it clear that these are some of the folks directly responsible for killing the bay.

Environmentalists who eat meat, please pay attention: your predilection for flesh runs counter to everything you purport to believe. Do some research and you will see just how your appetite for animal flesh is killing the lands and waters all around you. The future of the Chesapeake Bay may count on it.