North Carolina is home to around 9 million pigs. Many of those pigs live in big factory farms, and all of those pigs produce a lot of waste. On these factory farms, that waste is collected in big outdoor lagoons, and then sprayed out across fields as fertilizer. People living in communities nearby complain their daily lives are disrupted by the stench, and they fear that it’s affecting their health.

On this episode, three North Carolinians team up with a lawyer to try and fight back against these lagoon and sprayfield systems.

Further listening and reading:

ProPublica’s Talia Buford has done in-depth reporting on the problems of overflowing pig waste lagoons in North Carolina, and you can see images of the aftermath of lagoon flooding from Hurricane Florence collected here.

Pig waste from factory farms is not just a problem in North Carolina. You can read about issues in Iowa, Minnesota, and Ohio.

A profile of the late epidemiologist Steve Wing, whose research into hog waste deeply informs this episode

The Natural Resources Defense Council’s 2019 report on CAFOs

Marianne Engelman Lado directs the Environmental Justice Clinic at Vermont Law School, which digs into a wide range of similar environmental justice issues

We always want to hear from you! Please send comments and questions to [email protected].

Subscribe to Future Perfect on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app to automatically get new episodes of the latest season each week. This podcast is made possible thanks to support from Animal Charity Evaluators. They research and promote the most effective ways to help animals.

Featuring: Marianne Engleman Lado, Environmental Justice Clinic, Vermont Law School

Hosts: Dylan Matthews (@dylanmatt), senior correspondent, Vox

More to explore:

Follow all of Future Perfect’s reporting on the Future of Meat.

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