By James Mayse and Lydia Carrico Messenger-Inquirer Chicken houses may generate jobs for communities with few economic opportunities, but the growth also brings with many social ills, says a University of Kansas professor of anthropology. Crime rates soar.
Populations explode, straining infrastructure and social services.
And the health of the residents who live by the chicken houses is compromised, said Dr. Donald Stull, chair of the department of anthropology. He spoke Thursday evening at Kentucky Wesleyan College on the consequences of confined animal feeding operations and the effects they have on communities. The event was sponsored by the Cumberland Chapter of the Sierra Club and Kentuckians for the Commonwealth. The poultry industry has its roots in Delaware when in 1923 a woman mistakenly received 500 chicks, instead of the 50 she ordered, and later sold them at a handsome profit, Stull said. By World War II, the United States was producing 90 million birds annually.