ANIMAL FACTORY The Looming Threat of Industrial Pig, Dairy, and Poultry Farms to Humans and the Environment

David Kirby exposes “confined animal feeding operations”—CAFOs—focusing on the neighbors of these mass producers. They tell of having the smell of fermenting livestock waste drift into their windows and ruin their lives. They describe watching the vast pools of feces and urine drain into waterways, polluting drinking water and the environment. Fish in nearby rivers and estuaries downstream become sickened by opportunistic bacteria, and antibiotic-resistant e. coli contaminate edible crops. William Hughes’s narration captures the growing anger of the corporate giants’ human victims by giving them personalities and voices. His subtle characterizations keep him in the background, while allowing the grim facts to instigate an appropriate outrage in listeners. Without being unpleasant, writer and narrator personify the formidable reality threatening us all. J.A.H. © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine [Published: JULY 2010]