Course: WVA 101 Local Food and Cuisine

Reading

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Environmental Protection Agency and Pork Production

Pork production is an important component of American agriculture and an important part of the ‎American diet and way of life. Modern pork production is mostly done in enclosed buildings to protect animals from the weather, from predators and from the spread of diseases. While larger operations enabled farmers to significantly increase the efficiency of production using less labor, it resulted in environmental challenges with larger amounts of manure concentrated in a small area. This module will look at pork production as it has evolved over the past 300 years in the U.S., at the economic value of pork to the U.S. and American agriculture and at typical production and manure handling systems in use today.

Click here to access the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) website on pork production.

Read the following sections on the U.S. EPA website on pork production:

- Background of Pork Production in U.S.
- Products from Pork
- Pork Production Phases
- Production Systems
- Nutrition
- Common Manure Handling Systems
- Potential Environmental Impacts
- Study Questions
- Glossary