Hog Environmental Loss

Our nation’s industrial farming has become more than just feeding people; it has become a way for the food industry to make more money as human population continues to grow. Jonathan Safran Foer in his book Eating Animals, illustrates the effects factory farming has had on animals meant for human consumption. Furthermore, Foer asks many questions to the reader on what will it take for us to change our ways before we say enough is enough. The questions individuals need to be asking themselves are: how do we deal with the problem of factory farming, and what can people do to help solve these issues? Eric Schlosser in Fast Food Nation, also illustrates the animal abuse that goes unseen within the food industry as well as Bernard Rollin and Robert Desch in their article “Farm Factories”, both demonstrate what is wrong today with factory farming. Foer gives such examples of employees who work in slaughterhouses giving accounts of what goes on in the kill floors, and stories of employees who have witnessed thousands and thousands of cows going through the slaughter process alive (Animals 231). Namit Arora in the article “On Eating Animals”, as well as Michael Pollan in his book The Omnivore’s Dilemma, both address some of the issues that animals face once they hit the kill floor. The food industry has transformed not only how people eat, but also the negative effects our climate endures as a result of factory farming as illustrated by Anna Lappe in “The Climate Crisis at the End

All across america, cows are confined to crowded, almost prison-like cells, with little to no regard to their health. They are forced to eat food that includes such ingredients like manure, cement, or even cow brains. This is one side of farming, but there is another. This farming has cows and other animals living how they would in nature, across rolling hills and bright green grasses. This is the essence of Local Sustainable farming. As defined in Michael Pollan’s award-winning commentary about the food we eat, The Omnivore’s Dilemma, the Local Sustainable Food Chain, one of four possible food chains, is characterized by not using pesticides, treating animals humanely, and sustainably creating healthier organic food. Out of Michael Pollan’s food chains, the Local Sustainable Food Chain is the best for America as it is much less harmful to the environment and lets animals live in their natural states.

Advocating for the reduction of the use of factory foods is a challenge and a challenge that needs to be conquered. We have a civic obligation to eat less factory foods due to not only the concern for the ethical treatment of animals but for the consumers and for the environment. The more people that show hesitation or doubt on this issue, the more passive they and their social circle become. Just because something has been on the supermarket shelf for a long period of time does not mean that it is good for the consumer in anyway. A poverty myth regarding sustainable farming is “advocate for small-scale farming, for climate-friendly, chemical-free production by independent farmers not beholden to corporate giants, is to condemn the world

The next time you go into the grocery store, head straight for the meat department. Take a step back and take a long look at all of the packaged meat. You think to yourself, it’s the same meat you see every time you shop. Now go pick up a package, what do you see? You see pictures of farmers, the picket fence, the farmhouse, and cows grazing on green grass. The meat industry has dropped a curtain between our food, and us. They don’t want us to know where our food is coming from, because if we did, we might not want to eat it anymore. I’m here to help bring to light the horrors of the meat and dairy industry, and why you should care about your food.

In the United States, most of the meat and dairy products consumers purchase at the grocery store come from facilities called factory farms. Factory farming is a fast and cheap method of mass producing meat, cheese, milk, eggs, and several other variations of animal products. Although cost effective, factory farming is criticized because of the subpar conditions the animals are subjected to, and the apparent environmental harm they inflict due to the immense amount of waste these factories produce. In an article titled “Using Emerging Pollution Tracking Methods to Address the Downstream Impacts of Factory Farm Animal Welfare Abuse”, the authors Tarah Heinzen and Abel Russ discuss the recurrent mistreatment of livestock on factory farms, the

Fast food restaurants rely heavily on factory farms which pose problems to the environment, animals, and ultimately, the consumers and people of the area. Due to the high demand for animal products, about 10 billion animals a year are subject to cruelty on these farms (“Pollution (Water, Air, Chemicals)”). Animals are crowded into cages and crates where they are to be slaughtered carelessly. They are filled with antibiotics and artificial growth hormones that not only hurt the animals but the environment and consumers who end up eating or drinking the products that are taken from the animals. On top of human consumption, 75% of the antibiotics aren’t even consumed by the animals and end up in their urine and manure (“Factory Farming and the Environment”). If the harmful manure wasn’t enough, factory farms produce about one million tons of manure a day (“Factory Farming and the Environment”). Farmers take this abundance of manure and spread what they can over land and dispose of the rest. The land can’t absorb all that it's given and this manure, along with the manure that was disposed of, can leak into water sources, thus polluting the water. When these toxic substances pollute water sources, it can enter major bodies of water and begin to kill aquatic life (Geer). The manure from the animals also emits harmful gases into the atmosphere which has led to air pollution

Close your eyes and step into the world of an individual. You are born into a world where nights and days are never constant (attention getter). You are fed three to five times a day, but no one is there to nurture you. Not even the numerous others crammed into your living space. You grow frantic, scared, and sickly. Now open your eyes, to reality. What I have just described is one of America’s worst ghettos. You know this individual who is trapped in this environment. He is your breakfast, lunch and dinner. It is the meat you eat . Today’s farms not only abuse their animals they also produce harmful diseases and environmental hazards that affect each and every one of us, regardless of whether you consume animal products or not. The U.S. government should ban factory farms and require the meat industry to raise animals in their natural environments (preview of points and statement of purpose).

67-68). Concerned farmers argue that the major slaughterhouses, producers, and packers are tied into the USDA politically. The USDA regulations don’t serve the public or the small farms; however hold the hands of the capitalists (Farmageddon). These Corporations claim their mission and commitments are sustainable by using catching slogans such as “Good food. Responsibly!”(Smithfield). Unfortunately, the Wal-Mart of the meat industry, Smithfield, contradicts their mission statement by saying, "To be a trusted, respected and ethical food industry leader that excels at bringing delicious and nutritious meat and specialty food products to millions every day while setting industry standards for corporate social responsibility (Smithfield)”. Smithfield has been involved in scandalous animal abuse cases and are major contributors to unhealthy environmental conditions (Peta). Capitalism is a major hurdle to overcome in factory farming but with speaking out and educating our public solutions can be made

Wild Boars are being a huge problem in the state of Texas. They are causing lots of damage in crop fields, forcing farmers to spend thousands of dollars on to repair the damage. Feral hogs cause approximately $1.5 billion in damage to U.S. land and crops each year (boarbuster.com). Hunters and lots of famers are now tracking and killing lots of the hogs so they can no longer damage their land to crop in. This is a major problem that needs a solution because the wild hogs are now spreading out of the state of Texas and are reproducing at a high speed that is hard to control.

Recently, consumers have begun doubting if animals such as swine are being treated humanely when farmers confine them indoors rather than outside. In some cases, companies and individuals try to “present an outdoor system in a positive light by showing green pastures, sunshine and spacious fields” (McGlone 405). When in reality, the unforeseen and extreme weather conditions like cold, snow, rain, mud, and heat can negatively affect animals. Animal species kept in outside confinement are also exposed to poisonous plants or sharp objects that the swine or other animal could consume or injure itself with. Keeping animals outside may seem like the perfect way to raise them; however these conditions could hurt the swine (405). Not only have studies proven outside confinement with exposure to harsh weather conditions are unhealthy for swine, but potentially to humans as well. Studies have also shown that “indoor pigs were not shedding Salmonella” and that the swine herd in the outdoor confinement “had Salmonella in the wallow water, feed and in the sows” This research allowed scientist to learn “that wild birds continually inoculated the outdoor environment with Salmonella” and “also have a risk of carrying strains of Influenza that may infect pigs and people” (McGlone 407). Agriculture literacy is needed to help improve the relationships between producers and consumers by sharing information and debunking current misconceptions that the media and other organizations

Even after listening to the facts about animal agriculture it is difficult for me to imagine that factory farming represents 99% of the animal products Americans consume especially after growing up in eastern Iowa and western Illinois. Consuming animals is a difficult topic because, Americans and I would rather discuss how we can change industry, politics, and our energy dependence rather than a personal issue such as the food we consume to protect the environment. Livestock farming is regrettably affecting the environment and the planet through methane produced, waste contamination, land utilization, and human health. Americans have ideals for farming from the American cowboy to the family farms, who continue to raise animals, might have a difficult time accepting the negative outcomes of raising

Protein that we find in the meat that we consume is an essential part of our everyday diets, but when people think about how we get our meat, farming is the first to come to mind. Most people associate farming with an image of animals outside on a farm living a happy life. People assume that the animals are properly raised and killed in a peaceful manner, but this is not the case. In today’s farming, factory farms play a major role in producing the meat that we buy from our local grocery stores. The system that factory farms use to produce our meat is corrupt. They abuse their animals, diseases are frequently spread, and the environment is being damaged. Factory farms should modify the way that they operate to end abuse of the animals, stop the spread of disease, and inhibit the damage to our environment.

Chances are, you’ve consumed meat, dairy, or eggs at some point in you life, but have you ever stopped to think about the effects the animal agriculture industry has on our planet? The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has gathered that from a local to global scale, the livestock sector emerges every year as one of the top 2-3 most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems. From air, to climate change, to land & soil, to biodiversity, the animal agriculture industry has an impact on virtually all aspects of the environment. Evidence has shown that the production of livestock releases substances that contribute to climate change and air pollution at nearly every step of the process. When compared

The theory of factory farms in terms of raising, handling, and slaughtering of animals, the legal issues, the effects on health, and the impacts of factory farms on the environment is a veil of secrecy of factory farms. The rise of factory farms is no accident. It is the result of public policy created to benefit corporations and food processors that dominate the path between producers and consumers. Some of the steps to creating such a unique and intricate business was the creation of farm bills that lowered the cost of corn and soy that is fed to the animals, the Department of Justice allowing the meatpackers to turn into a virtual monopoly, and that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ignores the pollution caused by the factories.

The average American eats over 200 pounds of meat each year (Food, Inc. 2008). Meat consumption has not always been so excessive; however, this recently high demand has resulted in food companies scaling up and vastly transforming their methods of production for the sake of yielding the largest amount of meat at the lowest expense. In fact, as of now over 99% of farm animals in the U.S. are raised in factory farms, which are controlled by only a select few companies (Food, Inc. 2008).With this relatively new monopoly of intensive farming have come adverse side effects, which are outlaid on all U.S. communities as a whole. In order to cease this wayward progression in its tracks, we must advocate as a country for farming to reform in favor of its most logical, humane, and healthy standards. Pasture-raised farming should become the standard in American meat production because pasture-raised farming is in more ethical than the current industrial practices.