At the Expense of the Environment

Abstract

North Carolina is the second largest pork producer in the United States where 10 million hogs are raised annually resulting in 10 billion gallons of waste. Environmental risks, including the contamination of ground and surface water contamination, exist when the amount of nutrients in animal waste exceeds the assimilative capacity of available farmlands. This case study introduces students to the environmental impact of hog production associated with concentrated animal feeding operations and the externalized costs of industrial farms on freshwater and coastal ecosystems. A particular focus is on factors related to the location, governance, and monitoring of these industrial farms. The case engages with the long-standing challenge of how to better align economic development with environmental protection. The case allows students to explore the competing motivations of a diverse group of stakeholders and appreciate the challenges faced when private economic decisions made by business entities move into the public realm due to threats to the health and safety of the public and environment. Students should gain insight into the economic and regulatory factors that contributed to the proliferation of large, industrialized hog farms in North Carolina and how these same factors impact the development and implementation of solutions to mitigate environmental risk.