Farmers across the U.S. are ditching industrial livestock farms for more sustainable and healthier vegetable farms, per a report by the Guardian.
Thanks to Transformation, an organization dedicated to helping farmers leave poultry farming and begin vegetable farming, farmers now have the resources and knowledge to make the sustainable switch.
On top of providing farmers with technical support, Transformation also gives grants ranging between $10,000 and $20,000 to farmers transitioning away from poultry farming.
Transformation director Tyler Whitley told the Guardian that the biggest barrier farmers face is a knowledge gap.
"It's very different raising chickens versus raising fresh fruits and vegetables, very different working for Tyson versus having to find your own customers," Whitley said.
The idea of Transformation grew out of the animal rights advocacy group Mercy for Animals. Leah Garces, president of Mercy for Animals, teamed up with former poultry farmer Craig Watts to develop the project. After years of working for Perdue, Watts made headlines for revealing the horrible conditions the company's chickens lived in.
Together, the team at Transformation has made it possible for poultry farmers across the U.S. to start their own vegetable farms.
Tom Lim, a former poultry farmer, is one of the farmers who has made the switch with the help of Transformation. Lim and his wife, Sokchea, have started to turn their chicken barns into greenhouses with the goal of transforming their land into a viable vegetable farm.
"To make a living growing vegetables on my land is my dream," Lim told the Guardian. "This is the healthy way of making food. In the chicken house, you deal with ammonia, the smell, insects, all that. Versus the greenhouse, you go in there it just feels fresh and healthy."
Other poultry farmers like Lim are also leaving industrial poultry farms for more sustainable vegetable farms. Transformation is also helping Watts transition his own farm into a vegetable farm.
Massive industrial livestock farms pose a risk not only to the environment but also to the workers tending the site. Poultry farmers like Lim and Watts can get sick from breathing inside the chicken house all day due to the ammonia in chicken waste.
Making the switch from livestock farming to vegetable farming also helps reduce the amount of harmful pollutants entering the atmosphere. According to a report by the University of Georgia, the manure and waste from poultry farms releases planet-warming gases into the environment.
By transitioning away from industrial poultry farming and toward more sustainable vegetable farms, farmers across the U.S. can create a healthier environment for themselves and the planet.
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