Factory Farming

Factory Farming
There are a lot of things the government doesn’t want us to know. One of those would be the truth about farming. When we think of farms, we usually think of large fields with cute animals running around. The farmers treat these animals like their own children and everything is all nice and happy. However, that image is far from the truth. Farms in today’s society are made up of large metal buildings that hold thousands of animals. These farms are more commonly known as Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) or factory farms. It is called a “factory” farm because the methods they use are comparable to that of a factory. The animals are just there to supply materials for the production of meat and dairy products. They are treated like objects instead of living creatures. The idea of factory farms began in the 1920s after the discovery of vitamins A and D. Those two vitamins allowed animals to grow at a fast rate without needing exercise or sunlight. That method produced a large amount of meat in a very short amount of time. However, that method is also highly flawed. Having thousands of animals crammed together in a small building can cause diseases because of the rise in bacteria in such an unsanitary environment. The bacteria contaminate the meat and when people eat contaminated meat, they are exposing themselves to serious health problems.
The CAFOs have proven to be very efficient in its production of meat and dairy products. The farms are able to produce a bountiful supply of food for an affordable price. Cheaper meat will attract more customers. More customers mean a higher profit and the farming companies are doing all they can to achieve that goal. After all, their goals are to satisfy the desires of their customers while making the most profit. To reach that goal, they have confined thousands of animals in the farms. The animals are injected with growth hormones to increase the size of their thighs and breasts, the areas consumers love. “The birds are bred to grow at an astonishing rate, reaching their market weight of 3 ½ pounds in seven weeks” (“Factoryfarmingfacts”). With that speed, factory farms can satisfy the need of all the consumers. It seems as though humans will never run out of food. The hormones have increased the growth rate and the amount of meat each chicken carries. To satisfy the people’s need for eggs, the layer chickens live in constant light. That sort of living condition increases the production of eggs. The same goes for pigs, dairy cows, and veal calves. The farmers do whatever it takes to obtain the most products in the least amount of time.
When a farming company adopts that mindset they are neglecting their moral values. They want to produce the most meat, eggs, and milk in the shortest amount of time using the cheapest methods. But those methods have proven to be cruel and inhumane. The animals rarely see daylight and they barely have any room to move around. The birds are kept in overcrowded metal cages. Their feet are deformed and their beaks are chopped off because living like that can cause a rise in aggression. The meat will be destroyed if the animals fight one another. The corporations are trying their hardest to ensure the production of the finest meat, even if the methods are unpleasant. It is the satisfaction of the consumers that matter. The animals are just there to provide what is needed. To make sure they produce the best products, the farms use chemicals and hormones. “Animals today raised on factory farms have had their genes manipulated and pumped full of antibiotics, hormones and other chemicals to encourage high productivity” (“Factoryfarmingfacts”). Although it enlarges the animals, that method causes the chickens’ bones to snap because they are too fragile to carry that amount of weight. The dairy cows are constantly injected with hormones to ensure the production of the most milk. They are also continuously impregnated. Besides the use of hormones and chemicals, these animals are kept in what is similar to a concentration camp. They are confined in unsanitary small spaces. The pigs are affectionate and intelligent creatures. Confinement to a dark and crowded room causes those pigs “to become crazy with boredom and develop vices like mouthing, and nervous ticks; others are driven to fighting and cannibalism because of their frustration” (“Factoryfarmingfacts”). The veal calves are kept in small crates to prevent muscle growth. Consumers love white tender veal meat and that is what they will get. They are fed cheap food that is unhealthy and even indigestible and once the animals are no longer able to provide what is needed, they are immediately slaughtered. Their confinement in unsanitary places has proven to be not only detrimental to their health but also to the health of the consumers.
Animals that are raised in CAFOs are often injected with antibiotics to prevent diseases. But meat tainted with antibiotics and other chemicals are considered contaminated meat. Eating contaminated meat can cause E. Coli and other related diseases. However, chemicals aren’t the only reason for infected meat. Living in a small, enclosed place with hundreds or thousands of animals is naturally unhealthy. Waste management is a big problem. A single dairy cow can produce over twenty tons of manure annually (Weeks) and if that number is multiplied by a thousand, the amount of manure produced is ridiculous. There are far too many animals in these factory farms. Large CAFOs usually manage their waste with a liquefied manure system. The animal’s manure is kept in a giant lagoon underneath or sometimes beside the compound. The farmers sometimes use the liquefied manure contained in the lagoons as fertilizer for nearby farms. However, managing that is difficult. The manure is usually washed away by a storm and it ends up contaminating nearby water systems with toxic chemicals. That puts everyone at risk. People who live near the farms sometimes experience a “blue-baby” syndrome in which the baby’s red blood cells lack oxygen. If people drink contaminated water they can end up with chronic diarrhea, stomach illnesses, severe ear infections and even E. Coli.
Contaminated drinking water is not the only way to contract E. Coli. Not all of the manure can be washed away and put into lagoons. Most of the time, the cows stand knee deep in their own manure. They are cleaned when they are taken to the slaughterhouse but sometimes not thoroughly. Ground beef isn’t always taken from one cow. Sometimes it is taken from several different slaughterhouses. The meat from a clean cow might mix with the meat from a contaminated cow. Some of the meat prepared came from the part of a cow that was more likely to be contaminated with feces. People get sick when that happens. For example, Stephanie Smith, a children’s dance instructor contracted E. Coli from eating a hamburger. Her case was one of the more severe ones. After experiencing the usual symptoms, her body crashed and she was left in a coma for nine weeks. When she woke up, she was paralyzed from the waist down. All of that happened from eating food. Even though there are outbreaks of E. Coli, there are no federal requirements for factories to check their meat for pathogens. Every law that the factories follow are county or state-wide. Life as a worker is very fast paced. “Every five seconds or so, half of a carcass moves into the meat-cutting side of the slaughterhouse” (Moss). It is impossible to spot everything that goes past their eyes but when things are missed, it puts everyone at risk.
Although the factory farms are cruel to the animals, the life of a farm worker isn’t much better. These workers are underpaid and overworked. They have to manage thousands of animals and work in unsanitary environments. Most of them become ill because they are breathing in dust and the toxic fumes from the manure all day. “Since the 1970s, at least 24 people in the Midwest have died from inhaling toxic fumes from animal excrement” (GoVeg.com). Most of the workers constantly throw up or have diarrhea because the smell is unbearable. The animal excrements fill the compound with “hydrogen sulfide, a poisonous gas that cause death” (GoVeg.com) and they have to work in that environment for about 10 to 12 hours per day. It is also unsafe. The workers are often kicked by the animals or injured by the machines. Although the working conditions are brutal, they cannot complain about it because most of them are illegal immigrants. They face deportation if the government ever found out about their jobs. The workers are also carriers of diseases. Most diseases come from animals. For example, influenza came from ducks and leprosy originated from water buffalos (Sayre). The animals get sick and they pass it on the workers and the workers pass it on to their friends and families, thus infecting the community.
We might think the nicely packaged meat we buy from grocery stores are safe to eat, but there is still a chance that they care coated with E. Coli and other contaminants. Animals injected with antibiotics or growth hormones leave a layer of toxic materials on their meat. The animals are also contained in a dark and unsanitary place where they eat, live, and sleep in their own manure. The meat is cleaned with ammonia to get rid of potential contaminants but might not always be thorough. It is not worth it to risk one’s health by eating contaminated food. What we should do is inspect where we get our food from. We can prevent diseases by purchasing meat produced by local farmers and products labeled as “raised without antibiotics”. The FAO, Food and Agriculture Organization have tried to restrict the use of antibiotics in agriculture (Sayre) and people are trying to create more organic farms. Unfortunately, not enough action is being done. Most people aren’t even aware of this situation. They’re not aware of the real truth behind farms and exactly how the meat they eat is produced. Cooking meat always helps but it does not fully prevent the risk of a disease. We need to spread awareness of this situation by informing others about the origins of their food. Starting with classmates is a good place. Creating a website or a blog is also a good way to bring about awareness. It is easy to spread the word on a website and the more people that know about this, the likelier the chance of a national change. We need to work toward the diminution of the usage of chemicals in farms and the fair treatment of the farm animals and the workers. Doing so can save the lives of many people.














Works Cited
“Down on the Factory Farms.” GoVeg.Com. Web. 05 April 2010.
Duhigg, Charles. “Health Ills Abound as Farm Runoff Fouls Wells.” The New York Times. 2009. 05 April
2010.
“Factory Farming Facts.” Idusa.org. Web. 29 Mar. 2010.
Moss, Michael. “E. Coli Path Shows Flaws in Beef Inspection.” The New York Times. 2009. Web. 05 April
2010.
Sayre, Laura. “The Hidden Link Between Factory Farms and Human Illness.”The Mother Earth News.
2009. Web. 05 April 2010.
Weeks, Jennifer. “Factory Farms: Are they the best to feed the nation?” CQ Researcher. 2007. Web. 04
April 2010.