According to a new study by Mighty Earth, America’s meat companies are largely responsible for environmental pollution from industrial meat and feed production.
One of the main companies that stood out in this study was Tyson Foods. Tyson Foods, which owns brands such as Jimmy Dean, Hillshire Farm, and Sara Lee, produces one out of every five pounds of meat produced in the United States.
According to the report:
Tyson is the only meat company with major processing facilities in each of the states listed by the USGS as contributing the highest levels of pollution to the Gulf;
Tyson and Smithfield have the heaviest concentration of meat facilities in those regions of the country with the highest levels of nitrate contamination;
Tyson’s top feed suppliers are behind the bulk of grassland prairie clearance, which dramatically magnifies the impacts of fertilizer pollution, with Cargill and ADM clearly dominating the market for corn and soy with their network of grain elevators and feed silos in all the states with the highest losses.
This level of pollution by Tyson and other companies using industrial agriculture practices is leading to “dead zones” in the United States. A dead zone is what happens when pollution changes the water in such a way that there is no longer enough oxygen for fish to survive.
Help us join to stand with Mighty Earth and tell Tyson Foods to lead the meat industry away from these harmful agricultural practices that are producing millions of metric tons of nitrogen pollution flowing into the environment every year. Tell Tyson to clean it up.
