Video Reports of CAFO's

Much of what is being said about the CAFO's is over my head. I am not trained in that area. However I can understand a one on one conversation of a persons experience with a CAFO. Doing some research of the mega dairies I found these video reports on you tube. I have left on the related links so that if anyone is interested in viewing more of the reports they can do so. They say that one picture is worth a thousand words. Wonder how much a video is worth.

Report: Thief River Falls Dairy Dozen - Part 1





Report: Thief River Falls Dairy Dozen - Part 2
July - 2008 "Health Risks...Promises Made & Broken"

Please take note at the short comment made by this man.
When he is speaking about the workers he said they are "Treated like slaves."



Report: Thief River Falls Dairy Dozen - Part 6
Destroying the Enjoyment of Your Homes


If you click on the related links you can see more. Or click on the link here to go to JustZFacts Channel
That link will take you to a video of Ellen Sherman, a senior citizen who feels she is being harassed by Foster County Commissioner Jim Carr, who has a financial interest in the Van Bedaf Mega-dairy, and she has the phone messages to prove it.

In the video report #2 above Jeff Brouse makes a comment that the workers are treated like slaves. Since he brought it up perhaps this should be taken seriously This is an issue that has not been brought out to the for front before and maybe it is time to address it. I wish to first state that I do not believe all dairies are the same. I do not believe all people behave badly. But there are some people who have no boundaries and it would be wrong not to face the truth.

In a previous post made some time ago it was mentioned that women who work in the dairies have been mistreated. I do not know the particulars of that issue but if that is the case then it also needs to be addressed.

I had occasion, many years ago to talk to a man who worked at one of the large dairies. He was sincere and spoke to me about the things he had seen and experienced. I do not recall everything he told me but I do remember being shocked and ashamed that a person or even a group of people could be so mistreated in our own community and told him that Americans don't treat people like that.

He told me that there was a man who worked in the dairy who had a bad eye. It was stuck in place and looked weird. The man who ran the dairy was constantly ridiculing him, mocking him, harassing him and even hit him. The man who was speaking told me that he worked from 4 am in the morning till 6pm or 8pm or 10 pm or even midnight. Whenever the boss wanted him, depending on what the need was. One time when he had gone to work at 4 in the morning and it was 6 pm in the evening his wife was concerned about him and so she made him a supper and took it to him. The boss chased her off the property and wouldn't let her give him the food. The boss was continually telling the workers that his dairy was the best there was and other workers at the other dairies had it "REAL BAD" and if they tried to go to any other dairy and work he would tell the other diary owners what a bad worker they were and the other dairies would not hire them. He would black list them. These men felt trapped.

If these workers are legal then many of them may be uneducated and not aware of any rights they may have. They may be cowed into submission and abused. Should the public stand by and do nothing?

If these workers are illegals then that makes the picture more difficult. They are skirting the law and will not report abuses. The people hiring them will know that and behave badly knowing that the worker will say nothing. Should the public stand still for that?

Not all dairies are the same. Not all dairies behave this way to their employees. But if there is a dairy that has issues with treating their employees like slaves we as a community should decide if we will allow it to continue or see to it that it stops. Will the real Christians please stand up? Everytime I look at the milk section of any grocery store I think of that man and wonder about the people who worked to produce that milk.