Nigh gone are the days when food was grown in the backyard and you had to kill, or purchase at a local market, the meat for that night’s supper. In our current country there are about 250 million hens who that lay 95% of the eggs. Each year, 6 billion chickens are produced by the broiler chicken industry for slaughter. Only about 60 companies have created an oligopoly around this industry. The birds are selectively bred and genetically altered so that they produce have bigger breasts and thighs. Almost 50% of all antibiotics in this country are given to farm animals.
A factory farm is a very large industrial operation that is focused on housing thousands of animals like chickens, turkeys, cows and pigs, and treating them with antibiotics and hormones to prevent diseases and boost growth. If humans consume too many of these animals that were treated with antibiotics their body can build up immunities to certain bacteria. Factory farms are almost always overcrowded and zero cleanliness. The animals stand around in their own fecal matter all day, every day, until the day they die. If the animals are too weak to walk to their own doom (the slaughter room) they are often forcibly moved using bulldozers.
"In Virginia, state guidelines indicate that a safe level of fecal coliform bacteria is 200 colonies per 100 milliliters of water. In 1997, some streams had levels as high as 424,000 per 100 milliliters", "Pfiesteria, a microscopic organism that feeds off the phosphorus and nitrogen found in manure, is a lethal toxin harmful to both humans and fish. In 1991 alone, 1,000,000,000 (one billion) fish were killed by pfiesteria in the Neuse River in North Carolina" (organicconsumers.org). Factory farms are detrimental to the environment as well as to our bodies. The animals in factory farms produce more fecal matter than normal when they are pumped full of hormones and the earth cannot properly decay the feces quick enough to handle that much. The waste then seeps into the ground contaminating soil and water alike. The meat industry alone produces roughly 61 million tons of waste each year. That is 5 tons for every person in this country.
Not only are factory farms harming our environment and bodies, they are also terrible on the animals themselves. Cows only produce milk for around 10 months once they give birth. Due to this, factory farms will impregnate cows to keep the milk flowing. Cows are often crowded into dusty manure laden pens called feedlots. This is where they will spend the last few months of their lives. In order to harvest the animal, it needs to be rendered unconscious. The stunning is usually done mechanically but can be very inaccurate. This can lead to the need for manual stunning by a worker. If the animal is still conscious they may just cut their throats to kill them. Veal cows are kept in small wooden crates and chained up to induce muscle retardation. This ensures that the meat is soft and tender. The veal are often fed a iron deficient diet as well to ensure that the meat is lighter and more appealing to us, the consumers. The beaks of birds like chickens, turkeys and ducks, are often removed to prevent the pecking between themselves and occasionally cannibalism, which has been observed in birds in overcrowded stressful factory farms.
Factory farms may efficiently sustain our overpopulated nation, but they are extremely unethical for all the aforementioned reasons and more. I think it is important that our citizens are educated and made aware of this treachery. People should be more concerned about what is going on every single day across America. The food we eat almost, if not, everyday is extremely unhealthy, yet we eat this when there are other options. We need to explore our options as a people.
A factory farm is a very large industrial operation that is focused on housing thousands of animals like chickens, turkeys, cows and pigs, and treating them with antibiotics and hormones to prevent diseases and boost growth. If humans consume too many of these animals that were treated with antibiotics their body can build up immunities to certain bacteria. Factory farms are almost always overcrowded and zero cleanliness. The animals stand around in their own fecal matter all day, every day, until the day they die. If the animals are too weak to walk to their own doom (the slaughter room) they are often forcibly moved using bulldozers.
"In Virginia, state guidelines indicate that a safe level of fecal coliform bacteria is 200 colonies per 100 milliliters of water. In 1997, some streams had levels as high as 424,000 per 100 milliliters", "Pfiesteria, a microscopic organism that feeds off the phosphorus and nitrogen found in manure, is a lethal toxin harmful to both humans and fish. In 1991 alone, 1,000,000,000 (one billion) fish were killed by pfiesteria in the Neuse River in North Carolina" (organicconsumers.org). Factory farms are detrimental to the environment as well as to our bodies. The animals in factory farms produce more fecal matter than normal when they are pumped full of hormones and the earth cannot properly decay the feces quick enough to handle that much. The waste then seeps into the ground contaminating soil and water alike. The meat industry alone produces roughly 61 million tons of waste each year. That is 5 tons for every person in this country.
Not only are factory farms harming our environment and bodies, they are also terrible on the animals themselves. Cows only produce milk for around 10 months once they give birth. Due to this, factory farms will impregnate cows to keep the milk flowing. Cows are often crowded into dusty manure laden pens called feedlots. This is where they will spend the last few months of their lives. In order to harvest the animal, it needs to be rendered unconscious. The stunning is usually done mechanically but can be very inaccurate. This can lead to the need for manual stunning by a worker. If the animal is still conscious they may just cut their throats to kill them. Veal cows are kept in small wooden crates and chained up to induce muscle retardation. This ensures that the meat is soft and tender. The veal are often fed a iron deficient diet as well to ensure that the meat is lighter and more appealing to us, the consumers. The beaks of birds like chickens, turkeys and ducks, are often removed to prevent the pecking between themselves and occasionally cannibalism, which has been observed in birds in overcrowded stressful factory farms.
Factory farms may efficiently sustain our overpopulated nation, but they are extremely unethical for all the aforementioned reasons and more. I think it is important that our citizens are educated and made aware of this treachery. People should be more concerned about what is going on every single day across America. The food we eat almost, if not, everyday is extremely unhealthy, yet we eat this when there are other options. We need to explore our options as a people.