The Gaia Reports

By Theodora Filis In 2008, a food and safety scandal involving milk and infant formula, and other food materials and components adulterated with melamine, crippled China's dairy industry. An estimated 300,000 victims -- six infants dying from kidney stones and other kidney damage, and 860 babies hospitalized. The chemical appeared to have been added to milk to cause it to appear to have a higher protein content. In a separate incident four years before, watered-down milk had resulted in 13 infant deaths from malnutrition. This incident raised concerns over food safety, and political corruption in mainland China, damaging the reputation of China's food exports, with at least 11 countries stopping all imports of mainland Chinese dairy products. Today, China has allocated a trillion dollars to expand agricultural production, and aims to be 80% self sufficient in food and agriculture over the next decade. For this purpose, China is subsidizing modern US intensive facto...

By Theodora Filis Public health concerns beyond foodborne illness are created when overcrowded  animals  are  susceptible  to infection and disease. Industrial livestock facilities treat animals with low levels of antibiotics to prevent illness and promote weight gain. This creates a breeding ground for antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The sub-therapeutic dosages used on millions of factory-farmed livestock can reduce the effectiveness of antibiotics for human patients. The feed used for livestock can also introduce public health threats. Broiler chickens often receive arsenic-based feed additives to promote pinker flesh and faster growth, and beef cattle continue to be fed with animal byproducts, which increases the risk of mad cow disease. According to the FDA, approximately 80% of all antibiotics used in the United States are administered to farm animals for non-therapeutic purposes. The routine administration of antibiotics has a harmful e...