After filing a lawsuit last year aimed at forcing action over excessive antibiotic use in livestock production, the NRDC (National Resources Defense Council) has called the agency's recommendations an "ineffective response" for dealing with the alarming rise in antibiotic resistance, according to a statement released by the non-profit organization.

With more than 80 percent of the nation's antibiotic supply now going into feed for animals raised as food, antibiotic-resistant bacteria are rapidly threatening human health, and it's an issue that can no longer be ignored by the FDA, ruled a federal court judge earlier today.

Feeling the pressure of the growing number of small-scale farms and activists concerned with food safety and the effects Big-Ag farming has on the environment, some of the largest U.S. farming groups have joined forces in the formation of new organization called the U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance.

In just 50 years, the chicken industry has transformed itself in fantastic fashion: Skyrocketing 1,400 percent from 580 million birds to the nearly nine billion today, while the number of independent farmers has been virtually wiped out—the more than 1.6 million in the 1950s have been replaced by fewer than 30,000 farms today, most of which are large concentrated factory farms, according to a new report by the Pew Environmental Group titled Big Chicken: Pollution and Industrial Poultry Production in America.”

A Florida bill passed late last month making any photos obtained from illegal entry to a factory farm a misdemeanor crime. The proposed felony targeted trespassers, typically animal rights advocates capturing abusive and neglectful conditions, but the Florida Senate Committee downgraded the violation.