In his article “Boss Hog: The Dark Side of America’s Top Pork Producer,” (Rolling Stone Magazine,

• They slaughter 32,000 hogs per day (2,000 hogs an hour) and employees get infections from handling the guts so much

Most people do not take a second thought about where their food came from. Whether it be chicken, steak, or pork, the meat was most likely raised in a Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO). Hundreds to thousands of animals in horrid conditions from birth to slaughter at these factory farms. While damaging animals, CAFOs also damage the environment and the effects of these farms are worsening, with more farms resorting to these methods. Popular brands using these methods include global producers like Smithfield Foods and Tyson Foods. The United States Department of Agriculture defines a CAFO as an Animal Feeding Operation that houses “...more than 1000 animal units...” (nrcs.usda.gov). These “units” are later defined as “...an animal

In chapter four, it is said that from colonial times to the 1950’s when it was overtaken by beef, pork was the major source of meat for Americans. Pioneers kept hogs as free-range animals that foraged for their food. Corn-fed pigs grew faster and bigger, so it was common practice to round up surplus hogs and corn-feed them in the weeks before they went to market (value is weight-based). In 1818, the first meatpacking plant in Cincinnati was opened and became the dominating entity in pork production until the civil war,

*sniff sniff* Eww, what is that smell? Yuck! I am sure you have heard of the Prestage Farms pork processing plant trying to come to Mason City. If not, it is a $240 million pork processing plant that would initially process up to 10,000 pigs a day and eventually employ as many as 2,000 workers. Wow! Sounds pretty great right? Well, let me tell you it is definitely not! This very situation is why people are debating on whether or not the plan should be built here. What do you think? Should the Prestage pork plant be built here or not? Some people argue that it will be bringing more jobs to Mason City, it will bring money to the schools, and it will be growing Mason city. However, these jobs will be horrible, the pollution will destroy our

"This is no fairy story and no joke; the meat will be shoveled into carts and the man who did the shoveling will not trouble to lift out a rat even when he saw one." (Sinclair “The Jungle”). When it comes to having safe and approved food, our esteemed nation does not have the greatest reputation. Ever since the use of slaughter houses and meat packing plants began, people have been getting severely ill and even dying

Food factories are very disgusting places because of the way they kill animals. People are unaware of the conditions that these animals live in before they are killed and shipped to stores and restaurants. Each year in the United States

The waste contains large amounts of nitrogen and phosphorous, the primary ingredients in fertilizer for plants. This causes the plants to grow faster, so when the waste gets into waterways it can cause algae blooms. The algae can block out the sunlight from other organisms in the water. Algae grows very quickly and dies very quickly. The decomposing algae uses the dissolved oxygen in the water which is essential to the lives of the organisms in the water. It causes a dead zone, an area where it is difficult for organisms to live there. The excessive nitrates in the waste can cause more than environmental problems, it can also be detrimental to our health. The nitrates can get into the groundwater and the surface water. Excessive nitrate exposer can cause blue baby syndrome, the disruption of the thyroid, and bladder cancer. Communities near the hog farms can also suffer from respiratory problems, anxiety, depression, and sleep disturbances. Humans can acquire more than 40 different types of diseases from the hog waste. Experts believe that the swine flu outbreak of 2009-2010 was caused by storing it in giant lagoons. Along with environmental and health issues, hog waste creates economic problems. Land value goes down in the communities near the farms due to the health risks and the foul smell. Property tax is based on land value, so when the land value is low, the local

By using the Confined/Concentrated Animal Feeding Systems or CAFOs, these companies have made it to the top of the meat industry. CAFOs systems are unethical and pose a huge risk to our environment and our own health. Although these animals are being raised to be consumed does not mean they should live in small pins with no exercise, stand in their own feces, and be pumped with growth hormones and antibiotics. CAFO systems also have a huge impact on our environment, the CAFO systems have a vast amount of waste produced on small amounts of farmlands that cannot decompose properly. Causing farmers to dispose of the waste in large lagoons and suffer from waste runoff. The large amount of waste being produced pollutes our water, soil, and air. Last but not least, our health is at risk. Communities surrounding these factory farms or lagoons suffer from illnesses caused by the air and the water they drink. These animals are constantly being pumped with growth hormones and antibiotics which is giving to them to keep them from getting sick from all the waste they continuously stand in. Once these animals are slaughtered, they are then packaged and sent across the country and end up in our homes. Meat that has been ill, dirty, and filled with unnatural chemicals in large quantities. We live in a world where knowledge is key, we live every day safer,

This case highlights the likelihood of friendly relations between industry and government. It was recorded that Ford Motor Company dumped paint waste from 1967-1971. I find it hard to believe that not a single government official considered looking into where all of the company’s waste was being disposed of within that four-year period. It also took the federal government until the 1980s to list this area of Ringwood, New Jersey as one of the most toxic superfund sites. While I do understand that historically the United States has had strong ties between industry and government I find it appalling that both federal and state governments failed to advocate for the Ramapoughs.

Food Inc. Documentary Report Fatter, Faster, Bigger and Cheaper Fatter, faster, bigger and cheaper seems to be the way the food industry operates in America today. The Food Inc. documentary shed a short light on how our food is processed and how our image of the “American farmer” is no more than a memory. The film really made you think about what we are feeding our families. Throughout this movie Kenner highlights on how are meat is processed, and let me just say I was disgusted. I am a hunter and I have never had a problem killing my animal and butchering it myself, but as I watched how cows were standing in their own fecal matter three to four feet deep I about vomited, I thought to myself ‘ why is this not considered animal cruelty?’

“Feral hogs are estimated to be 4-5 million in the nation and 1.5 million in Texas.” Douglas While many hunters and sportsman might like hogs as part of their land leases, and Animal advocate groups would say that feral hogs have the right to populate, breath, and live freely, but they do not take into account all the damage they cause. The United States has a large population of feral hogs, which if left unchecked will destroy natural habitats beyond repair, will cost ranchers money and livestock, and hurt the environment for other wildlife.

This book summarizes the excruciating environment factory farm animals live in, as well as the effects eating those animals, and fish, can have on the human body. Freedman and Barnouin point out the way in which factory farm animals are treated: “There are no vast meadows or lush, green pastures,” (44). Chickens and hens are laid on top of one another in wire cages too small for them to even spread their wings inside dark buildings. This “overcrowded, stressful environment” leads to the birds getting their beaks cut off with a hot knife, because if not, the birds will angrily peck at each other (45). Cattle, on the other hand, are kept in stalls that they cannot even lay comfortably or turn around in. They are also branded, creating third-degree burns, and castrated. Even further, their horns are ripped out. Pigs experience branding and castration, but instead of losing horns, they lose their ears, tails, and teeth. Both cattle and pigs live in their own urine, manure, and vomit. This is where the use of half the antibiotics made in the US each year come in. An overuse of antibiotics causes both the animals and the humans who consume those animals to become resistant to medications. Chemicals such as, benzene hexachloride, chlordane, heptachlor, etc., all found in meat, poultry, seafood, and dairy products, correlate with obesity, cancer, liver and kidney failure, reproductive and nervous system disorders, birth defects, and miscarriages. Furthermore, chicken and fish have both been connected to colon cancer. Then, the use of pesticides began, and eventually, “...bologna and other luncheon meats had 102 different industrial pollutants and pesticides, fast food hamburgers had 113 residues, and hot dogs had 123…In comparison, meat contains 14 times more pesticides than plant foods...” (47). The European Economic Community has rejected meat from the United States multiple times, because of the contamination processes and excessive growth hormones uses. Growth hormones are used to produce more meat, which in turn

These potential costs come in the form of environmental hazards and damages, such as contaminated water and air pollution (Walsh, 2013)2. EPA estimated in 2004 that 20% of man-made air pollutants from methane were a result from livestock, primarily cows (Air quality)3. Poor sanitation of animal waste has also been linked to food contamination and outbreaks of salmonella, E. coli and various other food-borne illnesses. In April 2009 through August 2010, a strain of Swine Flu, H1N1, was believed by scientists to have originated in industrialized farms overcrowded with pigs (Farm sanctuary, 2016)4. This pandemic was believed to have killed as many as 18,000 people according to the CDC. The overuse of antibiotics and growth hormones used to protect livestock from the rampant spread of disease, due to cramped quarters, and to help beef up production, are also beginning to show strong correlations to an increase in several cancers, antibiotic resistant “super bugs”, early onset of puberty in children, depression, brain damage, respiratory issues, birth defects, miscarriage and obesity (Other health risks of the meat industry)5. The costs to sanitize water and treat illness is tremendous and only

The emerging struggle against corporate swine production remains an understudied but necessary political narrative in U.S. politics. The fight against farm factories again has expanded throughout time

The city of Gilbane has actualized an arrangement where the sewage of the city is prepared and sold as compost to nearby ranchers, an item generally known as Gilbane Gold. The compost venture makes a sizable income for the city, who has additionally looked to make itself appealing to business through various assessment impetuses. In the relatively recent past, the city has put set up stringent regulations on the measure of overwhelming metals assembling plants placed in Gilbane release into the city's sewage. Z Corp, an organization in Gilbane, has been discharging a more elevated amount of substantial metals into the city's sewage than permitted. As another worker, ought to the specialist David Jackson enlighten the city regarding this? (http://www.onlineethics.org/Resources/Cases/22240.aspx)