The Effects Of Factory Farming On The Health Of The Environment, Animals, And People

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

Factory Farming is an increasing industry in the United States. These large farms, which evidently appear to be more like slaughterhouses than the typical farms a person can imagine are located throughout the United States. These factory farms contain animals ranging from chickens, sheep, goats, cows, turkeys, and pigs, they also contain dairy products. The conditions for the animals and the employees of these factory farms are inhumane and vile. Life behind the walls of the factory farm is both unsanitary for the animals and the employees. Employees are forced to endure long hours and poor treatment. Animals in these conditions withstand living in cages and are forced to live in uninhabitable ways.

Factory farmed animals are not only poor, but also low quality. Since the animals, pigs for example, are in contact with each other so close, they are sprayed with antibiotics to keep germs from spreading. Those antibiotics are used many, many times, resulting in very low quality meat and are harmful to our human body.

Even though higher yields are met for demand and human consumption, factory farming is cruel to animals due to the fact animals are often subject to harsh living conditions, more susceptible to diseases and injuries and are treated inhumanely during the slaughtering process. Unfortunately, with an increase in human population worldwide, the strain on farmers to meet the demand increases as well. This in turn causes more animals to be subject to this cruelty.

Not only is factory farming damaging human health but also the animals health. Chickens that lay eggs get their beaks cut off without anesthesia and stuffed into cages so small they can't flap their wings. Meat chickens are given antibiotics to grow quickly. Pregnant pigs and veal calves are kept in crates. We can prevent animals from getting abused by not eating meat or any factory farm products at every meal. Instead choose a healthier choice and eat vegetarian meals.

Food manufacturers in America claim that Factory Farming is a much cheaper way of processing meat and other food items where they are able to increase their margins as well as provide the consumers with cheaper food. However, current research on the effects of factory farming suggests that the method is one of the best examples of animal cruelty (Park). “The conditions that the animals


   The factory farming industry strives to maximize output while minimizing cost, always at the animals’ expense. The big corporations that run most factory farms have found that they can

There is a reason people take their children to pick apples, but do not take them to the slaughterhouse. At factory farms, animals are seen as a product that is mass produced for profit, and not as beings with needs and emotions (“Factory”1). Animals on factory farms live in small soiled enclosures and have no social interaction, all of these factors lead to immense stress and unnatural aggression (“Factory”1). The goal of those who run factory farms is always more profit and more product. In order to create more product the needs of the animals are put aside.

“The factory farm has succeeded by divorcing people from their food, eliminating farmers, and ruling agriculture by corporate fiat” (Johnathan Safran Foer). Factory farmers are becoming more distant from their relationship with their livestock. As the years have gone by, factory farmers are looking forward to making more money. Factory Farming is unethical and inhumane. Some farmers hide the truth from what they’re actually doing by mistreating their animals, overuse antibiotics on their animals, and using growth hormones to speed along the process to slaughter their animals.

Factory farming has negative effects on animals because of the poor conditions that they are raised in. In these industrial operations animals are not given proper care or allowed to have basic fundamental social interactions. Animals are kept in crowded cages for a large portion of their life and females are either pregnant, giving birth, or being killed. In one Sow Farm in Winnipeg, undercover reporters filmed a documentary about the lives of the animals on the farm. One worker said “ “The conditions are horrible,” he told W5 in an interview.

Throughout history, new farming methods have popped up to keep up with the food demands of the growing United States population. Such farming methods strived to make food production cheaper and more efficient. Hence, the birth of the modern factory farm. Now, nearly two thirds of U.S. agricultural output is from three percent of its farms (“Factory”). Though factory farms have been very good for the efficiency of food-production, animals in the farms are often victims of mistreatment. By examining these different theories, one can form an educated stance on the economic side of factory farms.

Farmers are no longer in charge of the animals and the power now lies in the hands of the major corporations. Starting in 1985, many farms were shut down and overly concentrated animal feeding operations (COAFD), or factory farms, took over. This gave the major corporations leverage to take control over the meat packing industry by buying out the factory farms. The Factory Farm’s goals are to produce as much as they can, as fast as they can, with as little space as possible. For example, Factory Farmed meat chickens are stuffed by the thousands into small, dark, dirty sheds where there is no daylight or fresh air.

Factory Farming industries aim to maximize the output of goods while minimizing costs which is always at the animals expense. Industries have found they can make more money by squeezing as many animals as possible into tiny spaces, even if that means the animals die from infection or disease.

“Recognize meat for what it really is: the antibiotic- and pesticide- laden corpse of a tortured animal.” says Ingrid Newkirk, co-founder of (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) PETA and animal activist. Factory farming should be banned or demolished thoroughly due to more harm than good that is being presented worldwide. Animal brutality, which can be found constantly and excessively throughout factory farms, is a deleterious act involving the animals and a diabolic act regarding human morals. The antic actions that proceed have an effect on both humans and the environment, as well as the unethical, inhumane treatment and the atrocious sufferings of animals. Besides factory farms offering a copious amount of cheaper food, factory farming is a detrimental agricultural practice to both humans and the environment. The way we receive our food is inhumane and unhealthy to humans and the environment, thus factory farms should be banned.

Sage research provided me with a number of link to books and articles revolving around the impacts economically, socially and environmentally. The effect of mass food production cover a number of ethical dilemmas such as worker safety and compensation, animal cruelty, waste production, crop subsidies by corporate enterprises, greenhouse emissions, etc. it is a rather large subject to tackle. One subject in particular that I didn’t expect to be so prominent in my research was antibiotic resistance and the impacts of industrial animal farming has had on creation antibiotic resistant bacteria otherwise known as “Superbugs”. The widespread use of antibiotics in the rearing of food animals not only as a treatment to infection but also as a preventative measure. While the use of antibiotics in industrial farmed animals is considered necessary due to the close quarters the animals are raised in increasing risk of infection and allowing for rapid spread of infection; the subsequent side effects of antibiotic use in increased animal growth has led to a vast overuse in food animal production.