Were photos of Mexican swine CAFO sensationalistic?

May 4, 2009 Samuel Fromartz

Ethicurean posted the pictures of the factory swine farm near where the first case of flu was reported then thought better of it. The blog posted a lengthy comment by a Vermont pig farmer who said the pictures circulating in Mexico and Europe were much ado about nothing -- this from someone who doesn't love CAFOs. So were they sensationalistic? Check them out and you decide but I tend to side with the farmer on this one. Hat tip to Ethicurean on posting the point-counterpoint.

More on the pig front, this piece from Wired is worth reading about the relationship if not the direct causality between CAFOs and flu. The quote by this researcher caught my eye:

“We haven’t found evidence of infected pigs,” said Ian Lipkin, aColumbia University epidemiologist and member of the World Health Organization’s surveillance network. “But even if we never find that smoking pig, we can surmise that this is probably where it came from.”

My only problem with that quote is that I often think of smoking pig in a much different and tastier light.
- Samuel Fromartz