Grace Potter

11/30/2016

Self directed

Factory Farming

Factory farms spend over 20 million dollars a year to run an industry that raises and

slaughters 50 billion animals annually. Large numbers of animals are placed in small

confinements that breed them to grow at an unnaturally fast rate, in some cases leading

to painful illnesses or deformities. Factory farming practices are harmful and inhumane

ways to grow food, while there are alternate solutions that would be just as successful.

Factory farming puts a hefty strain on the environment; including land, water, and

fossil fuels. Producing such large quantities of animals that need to grow at a fast rate

has its downfalls. This number of animals produces damaging amounts of waste and

greenhouse gases. They produce around 37- 40 percent methane emissions, which

compared to CO2 is 20 times worse for global warming. This amount of harmful material

puts a heavy toll on air and water, some scientist even think that it is affecting the

earths climate. Climate change is thought to be caused by copious amounts of CO2

and methane. On average, it has been determined a factory farm produces around 40

percent methane emissions, along with 41 tons of CO2 a year. The 41 tons comes from

burning fertilizers to grow the crop for animals.

Animal waste, or manure, is made and used each day in industrial farming

sometimes leading to icky problems. Approximately one million pounds of manure is

produced in a single day and in some cases this has lead to disaster. For example, In

2011, an Illinois hog farm spilled 200,000 gallons of manure into a creek, killing over
110,000 fish. Many farmers do not pay to have their waste removed by the USDA. If

land gets over used, famers pile up too much manure, the waste can release harmful

gases, and leak into water-leaving it polluted.

With the animals living in harsh conditions excessive amounts of antibiotics are used

to support their health, and in many cases, to make them grow faster. On many farms

animals are fed considerable amounts of antibiotics for nontherapeutic reasons; such as

to generate an increased rate of growth, for the prevention of the spread of disease, and

to boost the animals saturated fat content. The antibiotics are not only harmful to the

animals, but they are harmful to humans. According to FarmsSanctuary, Each year 76

million Americans become ill from foodborne illness...Antibiotic resistant infections kill

90,000 Americans every year. E. coli and salmonella are the result of bad sanitation

and waste cleanup practices on the factory farmers part.

A step that could reduce factory farming is to prevent them from importing their feed.

This would force these farmers to produce large amounts of their own crops which is

made into feed. Another approach would be to set rules and guidelines on the feed

procurement would encourage farmers to make more balanced food for the animals.

Factory farms could reuse their huge stores of manure to fertilize the crops.

Another step that could lead to the extermination of industrial farming is to prohibit the

use of antibiotics. Influencing farmers to treat their animals individually whenever they

become ill. Keeping this in mind farmers would have to care for each animal

individually. They would probably not be able to produce as many animals, reducing the

production of waste which has a streamline effect on other factors.

 The steps proposed do not solve the problem but they do greatly reduce the amount

of factory farming and its effects. Factory farming harms the environment and the

people living in it with its inhumane actions, taking baby steps factory farming could start

to become a rarity in American societies.

Sources:

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2014/08/factory-farming-cheap-meat-antibiotics-

livestock/

http://www.farmsanctuary.org/learn/factory-farming/factory-farming-and-human-health/

https://www.dosomething.org/facts/11-facts-about-factory-farms-and-environment

http://www.ciwf.org.uk/factory-farming/?gclid=CNDZsIn50dACFdcYgQodkCwPxA

https://80000hours.org/problem-quiz/?gclid=CPHPgNb30dACFRBEfgodNNsO3g

http://www.farmsanctuary.org/learn/factory-farming/

http://www.macmillandictionary.com/us/buzzword/entries/biomimicry.html

http://www.farmsanctuary.org/learn/factory-farming/factory-farming-and-the-

environment/