North Carolina's Hog Farms

Did you know that Duplin county has 2,159,384 hogs and only 52,790 people (US Census, 2006 estimate)? This handy Factory Farm Map shows you how many factories and how many hogs are in each of North Carolina's counties. Among other things, hog farms contribute to antibiotic resistance in humans due to leakage from waste lagoons into groundwater. Hog farms are overwhelmingly concentrated in low-income and African American counties in North Carolina, making hog farming a clear environmental justice issue. For more on hog farming and its implications, check out this article in Rolling Stone, this PBS Video, and (last, but not least) some of the posts on my friend's blog, the Olive Ridley Crawl.