“The more exposure people have to the realities of factory farming, the more we will see people rejecting it. It's already happening”(Jonathan Safran Foer). Factory farming has been going on since the 1900’s. Factory Farming is the production of livestock in large quantities for uses such as food supplies. Factory Farming is damaging to the animals, our bodies, and the environment. Life for animals in a factory farm is inhumane. Some of the equipment used on factory farms are “battery cages- they used to confine poultry that can be stacked in rows and columns. Most battery cages measure between forty-eight and sixty-eight square inches and are too small for birds to spread their wings”(Factory Farming: An Overview from Sally Driscoll and David …show more content…
This is in more than one way that they are harming they cause air pollution: “ the fossil fuels used in energy, transportation, and synthetic pesticides/fertilizers emits 90 million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere every year. On a lesser note, factory farming also releases harmful compounds like hydrogen sulfide and ammonia that can cause immediate negative health effects in humans”(5 Ways Factory Farming is Killing the Environment by Kate last name N/A). If the factory farming keeps going and keeps damaging our environment it could cause some really big issues because it will cause more depletion of the ozone layer. Another way that the factory farms are causing harm to our environment is by water pollution: “Industrial agriculture sucks up 70 percent of the world’s fresh water supplies. To follow up that staggering number, the EPA estimates that 75 percent of all water-quality problems in America’s rivers and streams. Water polluted with agricultural runoff can destroy whole ecosystems and be toxic, if not lethal to humans and animals alike”(5 Ways Factory Farming is Killing the Environment by Kate last name N/A). if factory farms keep running their businesses then they will soon lead to all of our water sources being polluted and destroyed leaving us with no fresh clean water. Factory farms are damaging our environment to a point where it will not be able to be
They feel regular industrial farms are the best to feed the U.S. because it provides a quicker route to growing food and has a larger amount of food production. Over the years industrial farms have got bigger and better over time causing small local farms to go bigger also. With industrial farms we are able to grow crops way more faster multiplying the amount of crop production in a year. In a recent article by Enotes titled “Benefits of Industrial Agriculture” it states, “A modern form of agriculture which involves the industrialized production of livestock such as poultry and cattle, fish and crops. ... Techniques include planting multiple crops per year, increasing the use of fertilizers, plant growth regulators, and pesticides.”
The fast food industry also hurts environments around farms in general. It has created an unsustainable cycle that farmers cannot escape. In order to feed themselves and their family, farmers play it safe and buy more fertilizer than needed. When the farmers do not use all of it, they must dispose of it, because that fertilizer will not be as effective next year, so they dump the fertilizer in the areas surrounding their farms. But what this causes is too much nitrogen in the environment because too much nitrogen can kill plants and throw the nitrogen cycle out of balance, in turn hurting the environment.
One of the major pollution problems that affect our drinking water include animal-feeding operations. Within the United States, “animals like cattle, chickens, lambs, are fattened up before slaughter in tens of thousands of pens” (72). As a result, manure builds up because the animals are kept in their pens for such long durations. Even though the manure is moved to other areas for storage or use, rain often causes it to seep into clean waterways and aquifers (72). Our water supply is compromised because “California Central Valley alome is home to 1.4 million cows.
I know a lot of people don 't know how to farm nor do they want to. But a lot of people forget on caring about where and how they got their produce as long as it is on the market for them to feed themselves or their families. What they don 't know is more and more these days the animals are living in horrible factories their whole lives. Which means they aren 't being treated wrong. They are neglected with the proper food and are being drugged with medications like steroids.
Animal waste runoffs or feedlots are farms that specialize in cattle or hogs. These animals are stayed in a very small area of land and they are raised on hormones and grains that make them big and fat for slaughter. Feedlots help provide a lot of protein in America but feedlots contain a lot of the animals poop and other bad substances that can pollute the air and the water with their runoff. Pros of having feedlots is that they produce meat that satisfies U.S. consumers, they’re efficient, and cheap. Cons of having feedlots is that manure contains nitrogen and phosphorus; if not managed properly, they can pollute the nearby lakes,streams,rivers, or oceans, and antibiotic use increases genetic resistance to bacteria in the human body.
Did you know that in factory farms, the majority of chickens, turkeys, and ducks have their beaks removed to prevent cannibalism? What about that egg-laying hens are sometimes starved up to 14 days, exposed to different light patterns, and not given water to shock their bodies into molting? Many people live their lives not knowing of the cruelties that occur in a factory farm. Last year I had an older friend that worked at a factory farm specifically for pigs. One day when I was visiting him, I asked how he liked his job that he had recently gotten hired on to.
In Blake Hurst’s “The Omnivore’s Delusion: Against the Agri-Intellectuals,” he opposes the accusations made by tofu-eating, recycled-toilet-paper-using, self-starving Michael Pollan and his followers. Throughout “The Omnivore’s Delusion…,” Hurst mentions how methods of farming have evolved to match demands of produce. The author states that “Only ‘Industrial farming’ can possibly meet the demands of an increasing population and increased demand for food as a result of growing incomes” (Hurst 4). This quote essentially means that “Industrial Farming” is the most efficient way to farm for today’s population level. A second point that is made by Hurst is that changes made by today’s farming are necessary.
Is the practice of traditional factory farming at the costs it entails to the environment and our only recourses really worth it? Is it even ethical for us humans to use up to 40% of the only energy there is in the world. If all our energy in the food we eat relates and flows back to the natural farm fields is it worth it to take the rich sun energy for ourselves and rob it from the land. Or is there a possibility for alternatives that benefit and balance all aspects of nutrition for all animals that live off energy. In the excerpt “The Oil we Eat” Richard Manning explains what is really at stake.
Although they agree on the negative impacts of industrial farming, they have different reasons for it. Holon farming, which Pollan discusses, creates a balance in the world, eliminating the need for any pesticides or chemicals. Holon farming is a lot of work and as Berry and Pollan both agreed upon; human beings are becoming lazier since there are effortless ways to complete the work. No one wants to work harder when they know they can do a task in a smoother way. Industrial farmers do not see the negative impacts of factory farming because all that seems to matter to them is the products manufactured.
Most humans do not think of the consequence that processed foods have on our bodies. The big name food producers have manipulated the youth by offering products that go along with their favorite television show. The farming aspect of food production is horrible. The animals are treated very poorly. The process of slaughter is unsafe and very unsanitary.
All of this pollution is making it hard to keep people safe considering the water is unsafe to drink or even swim in. Factories using the water do not know that the water is
Desertification, Deforestation, soil depletion, and water contamination are among some of the consequences of agriculture. An agricultural boom often means that an over farming and an overproduction stage occurs. This result can be worse than the pre-food famine, because now no food is being produced. Water contamination from pesticides and
Scully writes: “Conservatives are supposed to revere tradition. Factory farming has no traditions, no rules, no codes of honor, no little decencies to spare for a fellow creature. The whole thing is an abandonment of rural values and a betrayal of honorable animal husbandry—to say nothing of veterinary medicine, with its sworn oath to “protect animal health” and to “relieve animal suffering.” (Scully, 161) As stated in the previous paragraph factory farming has no rules and no regulations thus giving the people in charge of these farms to have free realm over whatever they want to do. They based the treatment of animals on the ability to make a profit.
Child cotton workers were exceedingly unhealthy /The state of the health of the cotton evidence factories for children is much worse than...in other employments. " In the document A :Dr.Ward source House of the Lords committee ,Dr.Ward said accidents were very often admitted to the rilmary through the children 's hands and arms getting caught in the machine. Children who labor in the mills are victims of frightful oppression and killing toll, they have often been crucially beaten by the spinners of the overlookers. This proves the unhealthy nature of the factory, since the children were getting their body parts caught in the machine and getting beaten,"turning crippled." "Last summer I visited three cotton factories with Dr.Clough of Preston and
Web. 16 Mar. 2017.) Factory Farms are awful for people and the animals because the animals suffer, they’re treated with antibiotics, and factory farming affects the environment. Animals suffer because of the living conditions they are in. The animal is treated with antibiotics, which is not good for them.