The theatrical release of Food, Inc. has certainly got a lot of people talking. It is in this line of thinking that Cinema Libre Studios has released their own eye-opening documentary about the environmental hazards of our modern meat and poultry production farms. The film, entitled A River of Waste: The Hazardous Truth about Factory Farms, delves deeply into the subject of CAFOs (Confined Animal Feeding Operations) in its examination of our food system. These factory farms are at the center of the maelstrom, getting much of the attention for many legislative campaigns fighting against practices like animal cruelty, environmental violations and the depletion of natural resources.
The film features a myriad of expert interviews; including Paul Shapiro, Sr. Director of the Humane Society’s Factory Farming Campaign, Drew Edmondson, Oklahoma’s Attorney General, Dr. Michael Greger of the Humane Society, and Dr. Robert Lawrence of the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future just to name a few. Amazingly, River of Waste was directed by a former Oklahoma Congressman, Don McCorkell. The film has already been selected to numerous festivals across the country and received the Silver Award at the Houston International Film Festival as well as taking Best Documentary honors at the Eugene International Film Festival.
River exposes the huge health and environmental scandal that is our modern industrial system of meat and poultry production. The picture the film paints is one of an industry dominated by dangerous uses of arsenic, antibiotics and growth hormones while also dumping massive amounts of sewage into fragile community waterways. This film truly documents the vast catastrophic impact on the environment and public health that is caused by our world’s massive consumption of cheap meat. I wouldn’t go out for hamburgers afterwards.
For more information please visit: www.ariverofwaste.com
-bryan
About Cinema Libre Studio:
Cinema Libre Studio is a haven for independent filmmakers with one-stop shopping for production and distribution. The company has been a leader in distributing social issue films. For more information, please visit www.cinemalibrestudio.com.
I grew up, live, and now operate a 5th generation, 6000 acre row crop farm, 20,000 head SWINE operation, and a 650,000 head POULTRY operation. Therefore, it is safe to say I have vast knowledge and first-hand experience and insight on the “CAFO” industry. With that being said much of the information being presented in this documentary is completely one sided and very much skewed to make certain situations appear worst than what they are. Documentaries like this turn a snowball into a avalanche with their misrepresentation and explanations of information, statistics, and so called experts. Without these large scale farms America could very well be in the same crisis as areas such as Africa and other poverty stricken nations. In the 1960’s one US farmer was able to feed just 26.8 individuals, however thanks to new technologies, GMO seeds, more efficient techniques, and… oh yeah the introduction of CAFO’s this number has increased by almost 600% to 155 individuals. How many of you lawyers, bankers, plumbers, carpenters, salesman, managers, CPAs, etc. could even feed the 50 year old statistic of 26.8 individuals? American farmers and farming in general have and always will be a vital staple in the US success and longevity of this nation. How many of you can do and provide for this nation and the world on such a large scale like farmers do?
Regarding Blake Smith’s comments! yes you can feed more Americans, but at what cost to their health? It is not just the environment, there is the health issues such as obesity, diabetes, inflammation, etc. Perhaps without the farm factories, we would all have had to grow our own food and keep a few chickens etc in our own back yard and community gardens and be a whole lot healthier because of it!