The transformation of the planet by human activity has led scientists to the declaration of a new geological era – the Anthropocene, marked by the presence of chicken bones: a sign of the current impact of factory farming on ecological networks everywhere. Globally only 4% of mammals survive in the wild, while over 60% of them live and die on the production line. In the Global North, almost all are raised on factory farms.
Factory farming has implications for the climate crisis, biodiversity loss, social and health emergencies globally, but not only. Noise, smell, air toxicity, chronic disease, water pollution: long shadows projected by factory farms hit neighbouring communities and workers first.
Long Shadow is a photojournalistic project that aims to expose the complex effects of factory farming, with a focus on the under-documented impacts on the lives of local communities living nearby the farms or working inside of them in Europe.
In a time characterized by increasingly frequent epidemics and pandemics, many scientists claim that factory farms have become dangerous pathogenic breeding grounds. Unique conditions such as density of livestock, and production outcomes such as gas emissions, pollution of air, water and soil, create considerable risks for human health on a wide scale, and especially for those living in immediate surroundings.
Emerging research suggests that living near a factory farm decreases basic life quality while posing a higher risk for chronic diseases, like respiratory problems. In Europe several million people are potentially exposed to drinking water with nitrate concentrations above recommended levels; ammonia emissions cause dangerous forms of air pollution in many rural areas. Factory farms often contaminate the air with hydrogen sulphide, a gas that can cause flu-like symptoms and that has been recently linked to brain damage.
Strong odours force residents to keep their windows closed and stay indoors, depriving them of fresh air. They suffer health impacts from hydrogen sulphide, ammonia and other pollutants produced by decomposing manure, while being exposed to constant smells, air pollutants, and noises coming from the farms. Workers within factory farms suffer similar impacts.
Through the experience of marginalized communities, Long Shadow highlights the ways in which factory farming, one of the most pressing ecologically relevant issues of our time, locally reshapes everyday life.
Long Shadow is currently in the making.