Helpful Resources for Information About Factory Farms

A variety of family farm, rural development and environmental organizations are working to stop or mitigate the impact of factory farms.  Below are links to websites with information on additional resources and assistance:

Residents of Johnson County, TN, have formed a grassroots organization to oppose the spread of factory farms in their county, which until recently was dotted with small family-run dairies. They are concerned about the impact of CAFOs on property values and the environment.

Credit: Dennis Shekina, Watauga Watershed Alliance

• A comprehensive study by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Pew Charitable Trustson the impacts of factory farms 
• A summary of the impacts of factory farms, including references to numerous academic studies, from the University of Iowa's Center for Agricultural Safety and Health
• Cesspools of Shame: How Factory Farm Lagoons and Sprayfields Threaten Environmental and Public Health, a report by the Natural Resources Defense Council
• Watch a documentary, take video tours, and send messages to your representatives at the Sierra Club's factory farm page 
• The Sustainable Table has a summary of issues relating to factory farms, including a comparison between factory farms and sustainable agriculture 
• The Grace Factory Farm Project contains information about the impacts of CAFOs and links to other helpful resources
• A Citizen's Guide to Confronting a Factory Farmfrom the Beyond Factory Farming Coalition
• Food and Water Watch's Factory Farm mapdepicts the distribution of CAFOs in the United States
• The National Trust's tip sheet Factory Farms and America's Rural Heritage provides information about how CAFOs are impacting our rural historic places
• Read case studies from Missouri and Idaho in Factory Farms: A Bad Choice for Rural America, from Forum Journal Winter 2009