TY - JOUR AU - Ikerd, John PY - 2020/01/30 Y2 - 2024/03/28 TI - THE ECONOMIC PAMPHLETEER: A Right to Harm JF - Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development JA - J. Agric. Food Syst. Community Dev. VL - 9 IS - 2 SE - Column DO - 10.5304/jafscd.2020.092.017 UR - https://foodsystemsjournal.org/index.php/fsj/article/view/778 SP - 5-8 AB - <p><em>First paragraph:</em></p><p>A recent documentary film, <em>Right to Harm,</em> docu­ments the negative impacts large-scale con­centrated animal feeding operations, or CAFOs, are having on public health and the overall quality of life of people in rural communities (Wechsler &amp; Speicher, 2019). The film also reveals the frustra­tion of concerned citizens who have asked their governments to address these negative impacts. When they ask for regulations to mitigate environ­mental impacts, they get regulations that effectively grant CAFOs a legal “license to pollute” (Gustin, 2016). When counties enact public health ordi­nances to protect residents from the health risks posed by CAFOs, state governments take away the right of local control (Steever, 2019). When under­cover reporters reveal animal abuse in CAFOs, state governments pass “ag-gag laws” that make the covert investigation of animal abuse a crime (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals [ASPCA], n.d.). When neighbors who have been adversely affected win nuisance lawsuits against CAFO operators, governments pass ever-stronger “right to farm” laws (Fajen, 2019), essentially giving CAFO operators the “right to harm.” Thus the title of the film. . . .</p><p>See the <a title="press release archive " href="http://www.icontact-archive.com/archive?c=488966&amp;f=60033&amp;s=84565&amp;m=989559&amp;t=257c360ddc23fcec50d37942ed548ee4169a6c0d76d51e227fa886af9ecdf0c7" target="_blank" rel="noopener">press release</a> for this article.&nbsp;</p> ER -