Tyson Food's expansion in west Tennessee is pitting longtime farmers against one of the nation's

Tyson Food’s expansion in west Tennessee is pitting longtime farmers against one of the nation’s biggest protein suppliers


BEECH BLUFF, TN — Larry Blankenship and his wife, Monica, lived in a trailer on his father’s farm for more than 30 years while saving for a home of their own.

They finally did in 2019, moving into a pretty one-story ranch built where their trailer used to be.

But their joy was short-lived; the weekend they moved in, a line of backhoes and construction equipment rumbled past their driveway to the property next door, breaking ground on what will soon become a massive chicken farming operation.

Three enormous chicken houses—metal-roofed barns about as long as the Washington Monument is tall—are now under construction a stones’ throw away from their back porch. Each will house a steady cycle of at least 25,000 birds at a time—an equivalent to the urine and feces produced by 16,000 humans in each barn, according to estimates by the Sierra Club.

Read more: https://tennesseelookout.com/2021/05/03/tyson-foods-expansion-in-west-tennessee-is-pitting-longtime-farmers-against-one-of-the-nations-biggest-protein-suppliers/