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Don’t Be Fooled. Science Is Always Politicized

This is an interesting perspective on science and politics.  There are lots of parallels between the misconceptions and debates around climate change and those around animal welfare – OFAC.

By Ronald L. Doering

In spite of the media treatment of them, there is nothing that is surprising about the now famous Climategate emails. Surprise could only come from a misunderstanding of the relationship between science, policy and politics. Of course the emails reveal that the climate scientists were affected by policy and political considerations. They had to be. Science, policy and politics are inextricably intertwined. What is surprising is how much our public discourse is still dominated by the quaint utopian view that science and policy can be strictly separated.


Posted by OFAC on January 22nd, 2010 :: Filed under Activism, Regulations, Research
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Why eating like a pig costs big

Steve Buist, Hamilton Spectator, 2008.05.30

It’s 7 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 21, and it’s one of the coldest mornings of the winter so far. The snow crunches under foot, there’s just a hint of grey light along the eastern horizon and an icy mist rises off the nearby Grand River.

Two gleaming silver tanker trucks from the Wallenstein feed company have already started emptying their loads into the metal silos at Curtiss Littlejohn’s pig farm in the hamlet of Glen Morris.


Posted by Admin on July 22nd, 2009 :: Filed under Canada, Family vs factory farming, Farm life, Innovation and technology, Pork
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The trouble with boars

Steve Buist, Hamilton Spectator, 2008.05.28

Six months, 250 pounds. That’s Piggy’s destiny in life.01 At first, he’ll double his weight in a few days, then it will double in a week, then every couple of weeks, then every month. It’s incredible, isn’t it, to think that a barnyard animal is capable of growing so large, so quickly.


Posted by Admin on July 22nd, 2009 :: Filed under Canada, Education and public awareness, Farm life, Pork
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Poultry production has lower carbon footprint than other livestock systems

Source: Farmers Weekly Interactive 22/11/2007

Poultry meat uses less global energy than other livestock systems and
intensive poultry uses less than free range and organic, according to new research.


Posted by Admin on July 21st, 2009 :: Filed under Education and public awareness, Family vs factory farming, Poultry, Research
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The Best Care for Pigs Should be Up to the Farmer

October 17, 2008, Letter to the Editor, New York Times

To the Editor:

“Standing, Stretching, Turning Around” (editorial, Oct. 9) does little
to advance the debate on farm animal housing. It accepts completely the hype concerning a California ballot initiative that among other things bans gestation stalls for pregnant sows.


Posted by Admin on July 21st, 2009 :: Filed under Housing, Letters to the Editor, Pork
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Every day counts for chicken farmers

By Owen Roberts, Guelph Mercury, June 02, 2008

When it comes to what’s called broiler chickens, the ones that are processed into food, every day counts. In just five-ish weeks, they hatch from eggs, grow and find their way to our dinner plates. That brief time period is fascinating from a nutrition perspective, because a bird must grow up incredibly fast and stay extremely healthy to be ready for marketing in about 32 days.


Posted by Admin on July 19th, 2009 :: Filed under Animal health, Education and public awareness, Family vs factory farming, Food safety, Poultry, Research
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Blood test may screen for mad cow disease

Source:
Thu Jan 29, 2009 8:36pm GMT
By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Researchers in Canada have developed a blood test that can diagnose fatal chronic wasting disease in elk, and believe it may provide a cheap way to screen cattle for mad cow disease.


Posted by Admin on June 10th, 2009 :: Filed under Animal health, Beef cattle, Canada, Innovation and technology
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