Agriculture has been a cornerstone of the U.S. economy and the family farmer a symbol of the country. Enter "agribusiness" and farm factories so large that management depends upon tons of petrochemicals in the form of fuel, pesticides, fertilizers and herbicides. Resultant animal production quotas require the use of hormones and antibiotics to support unnaturally high output. Low-cost feeding practices have vegetarian animals eating their own species, roadkill and euthanized pets. Eating off the bottom line may be spreading disease to humans. April 7, 1999.

Howard Lyman
He is a fourth-generation Montana farmer, rancher and feedlot operator who turned the family farm into a multi-million-dollar cattle business. He is a former lobbyist for the meat and dairy industries. He has done a complete about-face and now directs the Eating with Conscience Campaign of the Humane Society and is President of the International Vegetarian Union.