269092 What about human health? Evidence, causes and implications of overlooking public health effects of CAFOs in policy debate to restore the Chesapeake Bay

Wednesday, October 31, 2012 : 10:30 AM - 10:45 AM

Jillian Fry, PhD MPH , Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future and Environmental Health Sciences Department, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD
The largest source of pollution in the Chesapeake Bay is agriculture, and a major component is manure. In areas where there is too much manure due to clustering of concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), it is applied to cropland in larger quantities than is appropriate, leading to polluted runoff. In addition to causing significant ecological harm, this affects public health directly through recreational contact and degradation of drinking water. Importantly, CAFOs also cause air pollution and contribute to antibiotic resistance. A renewed effort by the EPA and states in the watershed to clean up the bay presents an opportunity to educate the public about the health impacts of CAFOs and to advocate for policies that favor other types of agriculture. This study combines a media analysis and stakeholder interview data to investigate media coverage of public health issues associated with CAFOs and stakeholder groups' approaches to the policy debate around controlling agriculture pollution. Results show that agriculture as a pollution source and the resulting ecological harm are widely covered, but the public health effects of CAFOs are not commonly discussed in media coverage. This lack of coverage includes health effects tied directly to water quality. Interview data shows environmental groups recognize that they do not stress health effects in advocacy efforts and industry groups either deny the public health effects or are not aware of them. Reasons for the lack of focus on health effects include a narrow focus of relevant federal laws and agencies, and the political power of agriculture industries. Including the public health effects of CAFOs and agricultural runoff in the policy debate on how to restore the Chesapeake Bay Watershed could lead to a more informed public, broader policy approaches, and a food production system with fewer deleterious public health effects.

Learning Areas:
Advocacy for health and health education
Environmental health sciences
Public health or related public policy

Learning Objectives:
1. Describe the inclusion of public health impacts of CAFOs in media coverage and environmental groups’ approach to the policy debate regarding agriculture pollution control. 2. Identify the reasons why environmental groups working to restore the Chesapeake Bay do not emphasize public health impacts of CAFOs in media advocacy work. 3. Explain the public health implications of not including the health impacts of CAFOs in media coverage and advocacy work of the Chesapeake Bay cleanup effort.

Keywords: Environmental Health, Advocacy

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am a fifth year doctoral student who has focused my dissertation work on the health effects of industrial food animal production, public health advocacy, and environmental regulations.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.