Animal Pollution

Factory farming describes how large modern farms produce food in large quantities for a small cost. Factory farms, however, pollute the air by releasing harmful gases. They practice deforestation to claim more farmland. Factory farms pollute our waters to keep costs low. Factory farming is harming the environment

Introduction (Attention Step): What do you think is the greatest cause of emission pollution? What do you believe is harming our planet? Well if you guessed that fossil fuel emissions are the biggest emission polluters, then you are completely wrong (attention getter). Animal Agriculture is actually the number one Greenhouse Gas emitter in the planet. Yes, cow farts are destroying the environment. It sounds crazy, but ever since the mid 60’s, agriculture associations have been spreading across the Americas and dominated the industry. The most destructive of all Ag corps are Livestock Corporation. These associations include IBP, Conagra, Perdue, Farmland National Beef, Cargill, etc … Animal Agriculture is effecting every single person in this room because we all breathe in the same air, drink the same water, and eat the same (credibility). The buildup of Animal Agriculture is a great destruction to our planet and our species because it is creating

The problems arising from factory farms are only getting bigger and more disastrous to the environment. These farms raise hundreds or thousands of animals in close confinement; otherwise know as concentrated animal feeding operations or CAFOs. “Large CAFOs are controlled under federal and state pollution regulations because they produce massive quantities of animal waste that can pose environmental and heath hazards if mishandled” (Weeks, 3). So why would farmers be farming this way it is so dangerous? The answer is simple; these farms can produce large quantities of food cheaply. If a farm can produce more hogs or calves, its profit is larger. In order for farmers to stay on their land, they are forced into poorly paid off-farm employment (Food). “Livestock farmers are told that they must adopt the new industrial technologies that make CAFO’s feasible, if they expect to have a future in farming” (Kallen, 64). The byproducts of such farms are producing harmful odors. The runoff from these farms “pollutes streams and groundwater with antibiotics, insecticides, pathogens and emits poisonous gases that are hazardous and create offensive odors” (Weeks, 2). The question now becomes, is factory farming the only way out? Is an industrial approach to agriculture needed to feed the poor and hungry of the world? The answer

The environment is being harmed by factory farming. Each year as food demand grows, industrialized farms keep producing staggering amounts of air, water and land pollution. Animals raised on factory farms generate more than 1 million tons of manure per day, in comparison that is about two-and-a-half times as heavy as The Empire State Building. Factory farms are a leading contributor to the emissions of greenhouse gasses and have been destroying the ozone layer for over the past sixty years. It is not fair to the earth that this is happening, we are stewards of this land and it is not fair to the future generations to add to the destruction of our home. It is important to show respect for what we have been given by our ancestors and to

Nowadays, the majority of our food (meat) comes from factory farms. Factory farming is an agricultural practice that mass-produces animals to meet the growing demand of meat consumption by humans. However, factory farming consists of bad practices, which contributes to serious problems to the environment, traditional farmers and also to the treatment

     It also needs to be pointed out that meat production industry is highly unfriendly to the environment. It has been proved that the results of this mindless actions are extremely harmful to the whole planet: trees are lost in creating farms for animal food, land is taken away from wildlife, additional erosion is caused, topsoil is lost, groundwater is wasted, and pesticide is excessively used. In fact, one chicken farm uses as much water as a little city. Few may know that this industry, compared to others, causes the biggest pollution at all.

Throughout history farming has been a way of life for almost all civilization. In today’s society the people of the United States have strongly leaned on factory farming. Industrial animal farming or "factory farming" is production or raising of animals based on the use of meat for human consumption, raised cheaply, raised efficiently, and producing other products that farms animals produce without focusing on living conditions of the animals. The lifestyle of a farmer is not like the rest. Some encourage factory farming because of the amount of meat, and other products that are produced, others however are discouraged by pollution rates in the areas surrounding the farms, such as any lakes, rivers, or streams, and also the continuous harm these animals encounter every single day. Because factory farms raise living creatures, precautions will be taken into consideration while raising animals.

The impacts of livestock on global climate change are important to the health of the ecosystem because it causes the average global temperature to increase. Livestock contributes to the majority of methane emitted into the atmosphere because of the feces it produces. The growing population increase is not helpful to this matter because as a result, a demand of food arises. This demand for food also includes the demand for livestock because it is appropriate for the human diet. “Meat production is to double from 229 million tonnes in [2000] to 465 million tonnes in 2050” (McMichael et al. 1259). The methane emission rate is bound to increase because it is “dependent upon the population size of the [livestock], their productivity, and [handling system]” (Jose et al. 3).

Drought, Deforestation, pollution of waterways and air pollution; All of these things are thought to be caused by human actions. In recent years, researchers have found that one action seems to be a heavy effector, Factory farms. Although factory farming may seem like the solution to feeding our ever-growing population, the negatives outweigh the positives. Factory farming is largely referred to as "Big Ag". Big Ag is the mass production of both animals and vegetables for human consumption. Raising as many animals as you can to make as much profit as you can, is not a new idea. In 1927, the first factory farm "appeared on the scene". This farm raised an overwhelming amount of chickens but still didn’t compare to the factory farms today. Today, factory farms do whatever it takes to make the most amount of money without thinking of the results.

When you break it down its easy to see how much of an impact the meat and dairy industry has on the planet. Animal agriculture contributes between 18 and 51% of total greenhouse gas emissions. Another impact the meat and dairy industry has is consuming 60 and 70% of grain crops grown and agriculture is responsible for 93% of water depletion worldwide. The meat and dairy industry is also responsible for a lot of soil destruction on our planet, this takes a long time to repair and if we don’t give it time to repair we won’t be able to grow food and other plants won’t be able to thrive. These are concerning numbers and the meat and dairy industry is predicted to double or triple by 2050. The year 2050 is important because the UN has reported that we need to keep the temperature from rising 2° by that year. Unfortunately, we’ve already gone up 0.8° and at the rate were going it is expected that it raises another 1.5°. Tt.is could mean terrible things for our planet and for us. We have made great moves with

The impact that meat productions have on the environment varies due to the variety of agricultural practices, unsustainable and sustainable, employed around the world (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United States, 1995). All practices of agriculture have a variety of effects on the environment. Some effects have been found to have an assortment that have been affiliated with the meat production are: air pollution, land consumption: deforestation and over-grazing, pollution through fossil fuel usage: transport and processing, and water pollution: runoff containing manure (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United States, 1995). “Livestock production contributes 40 percent of global agricultural gross domestic product, provides income for more than 1.3 billion people and uses on-third of the world’s fresh water.” (Walsh, 2013). In North America a cow consumes about 165.4 pounds to 661.4 pounds of dry grass or grain to only produce 2.2 pounds of protein (Walsh, 2013). The cows that emit carbon output in the forms of methane gas from their manure, reducing carbon absorption in the soil results when forested area are converted into pasture – major soil erosion (Walsh, 2013). Over grazing or “ranch induced deforestation” by the cows can cause soil degradation and destroy and kill plant life, making it difficult to use (Walsh, 2013). Unless well

Industrial farms also provoke many environmental issues. The practices of Industrial Agriculture are harmful when it comes to waste management. Since they have such a large amount of animals in one area is un-natural, the waste becomes uncontrollable. For instance, a swine produces about 17.5 pounds of waste each day (Loehr 26). “Put 1,000 hogs together, and that’s six million pounds of waste each year. On a factory farm containing 35,000 hogs, over four million pounds of waste are produced each week and over 200 million pounds each year. Whereas on a sustainable farm animal waste can be a tool, in factory-farm amounts it becomes a major pollutant (Sustainable Versus Industrial).” All the waste that is produced has an enormous impact on the environment. The air, water, and soil are affected in the area around the factory farms. The manure can be beneficial in some cases, but not

For centuries, farms were family-owned and tended to be smaller in size and profits were made from selling their crops and meat at local markets. Today, most farms are large industries where they use mass production methods to feed billions of people for a low price. To accomplish this, these corporations use thousands of acres, large machinery, pesticides, and fertilizers to maximize their profits (Gale). Consumer may be grateful for the cheap prices, but these industries cause the environment to become unmaintainable because the concentrated area damages the bionetwork. Preservationists, health advocates, and animal rights activists aim to take down these huge establishments by restoring local farms. The main reason these animal agriculture businesses are targeted is because they uneconomically use natural resources, contribute to deforestation, and the considerable amounts of animal waste threaten air and water quality. Animal agriculture is proficient in damaging the environment and atmosphere by accumulating surplus amounts of animal waste and chemicals in a concentrated area.

From the moment of its existence, human beings have found various ways to sustain their life. In primitive times, people became hunters, and these hunters hunted animals and fed their flesh. More recently, people have started migrating to areas where water is located. People have begun to cultivate in water-borne areas. Agriculture has no risk and is more efficient than hunting. In the following years, people developed in agriculture with the development of technology and the globalization of trade. As of the 19th century, machine power has come to the forefront. Machine power has begun to be used in agriculture. After the 20th century, animal farms started to be established. These farms are factories and have many machines in place so that animals can produce more efficiently. It is aimed to accelerate animal production on these farms. For example, chickens give eggs faster or cows give more milk. People called these formations factory farms. When the 21st century comes, factory farming has overcome natural livestock. Most animal products that people consume are produced in factory farms. Factory farming is considered to have been created for the benefit of people. But factory farming has had great damage to the environment. There are a lot of disadvanteges of factory farming to environment. One of the most important disadvantages of

Global warming has been on the rise due to meat consumption and the poor execution of meat management throughout the years In essay number 5 i will be agreeing with Foer’s argument about animal agriculture being the number one contributor of global warming and how can we take action to cease the livestock industry from being often neglected as a main factor in our ecosystem’s destruction. My essay will undertake the methods used by factory farms and the dangerous disadvantages they have on the environment. I will add important factors like greenhouse gases, air and water pollution, ocean dead zone, and health risks to make a compelling argument.