Resolution #2: Factory Farming
(Withdrawn)

Status

The proponent has withdrawn this resolution.

Resolved, That the 175th Convention of the Diocese of California, acknowledging that creation and all life within it are precious gifts from God, urges all churches in this diocese to educate their members on our responsibility to be faithful stewards of God’s creation, and educate members about the negative effects of factory farming, which causes the needless suffering of animals, exploitation and injury of workers, and destruction of the environment;

Resolved, That this Convention urges ordained and lay leaders in this diocese to advocate for legislation banning the cruel and unnecessary practice of factory farming, and engage with representatives at all levels of government to effect such legislation;

Resolved, That this Convention requests that the “Creation Care” section of the Diocese of California website provide links to resources that raise awareness of the harms caused by factory farming, and that the “Creation Care” section be featured prominently on the website homepage;

Resolved, That this Convention directs the Secretary of the Convention to send this resolution to all congressional and state-level representatives whose districts include any part of the Diocese of California; and

Resolved, That this Convention urges ordained and lay leaders in this diocese to engage the leaders of other faith communities in the Bay Area to advocate for an end to factory farming, so that we together might protect the earth, our fragile island home.

Explanation:

This resolution restates and emphasizes the Diocese of California’s and the Episcopal Church’s already firm and longstanding commitment to Creation Care. The Creation Care website of the Episcopal Church encourages members to practice “loving formation, liberating advocacy and life-giving conservation as individuals, congregations, ministries and dioceses”.

Factory farming, also known by euphemisms such as “intensive agriculture”, harms God’s beloved Creation in a number of ways. First, farming leads to unnecessary suffering for hundreds of millions of animals each year in the US alone. Animals such as pigs, cows, and chickens are kept in cages too small for them to move, let alone exercise. They are unable to go outside, raise their own offspring, interact with each other or get fresh air or water. They stand in their own waste their whole lives until they are killed. They suffer cuts, broken bones, and infected sores from their confinement, and the stress causes them to behave abnormally, including injuring themselves. Animals are often subject to physical abuse by farm workers, and animals considered “low-value” like male chicks or calves are killed by means of suffocation or grinding.

Secondly, factory farming is at the center of an oft-ignored worker’s rights catastrophe. Workers at factory farms (about 700,000 in the US alone) endure hazardous working conditions. Workers in these massive, closed factory farm environments are exposed to dangerous fumes from concentrated, untreated animal waste. Workers in this industry have some of the highest injury rates according to the Department of Labor. Common injuries include cuts, broken bones, and occupational injuries from repetitive movements, all of which can temporarily or even permanently disable workers. Workers also experience psychological stress from witnessing animal abuse. A study by UC Davis estimated that 77% of farm worker injuries go unreported due to management pressure in their precarious working environments. Nearly half of farm workers in the US are undocumented, making it all too easy for employers to abuse and exploit them by underpaying them, ignoring health and safety protections, and denying them access to worker’s compensation and other benefits. Advocating for these beleaguered workers is a fulfillment of our Baptismal Covenant to “seek and serve Christ in others”.

In addition, factory farming is an environmental disaster. Industrial animal feed used by factory farms causes animals to produce more methane than usual, which is a greenhouse gas 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide. Untreated animal waste from factory farms is pumped directly into surrounding fields and streams, killing aquatic life, increasing pollution, and rendering groundwater undrinkable in communities that depend on it. The large-scale and indiscriminate use of antibiotics in animal feed poses a public health risk to humans by dramatically accelerating antibiotic resistance in disease-causing pathogens. Globally, the industrial raising and slaughter of animals is the number one driver of deforestation, further weakening our ability to fight climate change and destroying the habitat of countless wild creatures and rare plants.

Banning factory farming will prevent a great deal of needless harm to animals, humans, and the environment. As a faith community, we are well-placed to use our moral leadership and our voices to defend all God’s creatures, great and small.

Submitted by:  Mr. Adam Dormus, Delegate, Good Shepherd, Berkeley.

Endorsed by: 
Rev. William Trego, Deacon, St. Clement’s, Berkeley;
Nancy Kerr, member, Good Shepherd, Berkeley;
Kyle Sessions, member, Good Shepherd, Berkeley;
Gordon Gilmore, member, Good Shepherd, Berkeley.

Supporting Documents:

1. Negative environmental effects of factory farming:
       https://www.aspca.org/protecting-farm-animals/factory-farming-environment
2. Health consequences of factory farming:
       https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7007140/
3. Worker impacts of factory farming:
        https://newrootsinstitute.org/articles/dangerous-conditions-factory-farms
4. Bureau of Labor Statistics information of factory farm workers:
        https://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2017/article/how-safe-are-the-workers-who-process-our-food.htm
        https://www.bls.gov/web/osh/table-1-industry-rates-national.htm  
5. The UC Davis Study on the underreporting of worker injuries:     
        https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24507952/