Abstract
One of the alarming issues regarding public health and agriculture is the increasing trend for practicing factory farming. It is a strategy of food companies to increase their profit by reducing the costs of manufacturing animal products. Factory farming commonly involves unsanitary, inappropriate and unethical methods of raising farm animals. Large populations of farm animals are raised in a small confinement. The main problem associated to factory farming is the large risk of food contamination. The extreme use of growth hormones and antibiotics in factory farming could also increase the risk of developing antibiotic resistant bacteria which could endanger the health of farm animals as well as humans. Lastly, factory farming involves cruel methods for raising farm animals. In general, consumers should be aware of the origin of their food and help in stopping or reducing the practice of factory farming by food companies.
Despite numerous strategies and advocacies regarding the importance of eating healthy foods such as vegetables and fruits, average Americans consume large amounts of meat or animal products (“Exposing Abuse on the Factory Farm” np). Numerous studies have concluded that large amounts of meat products on daily diet could result to increased risk of heart disease and obesity. The negative effects of meat diet could also be intensified by the current process of animal farming (Anomaly 251). In the modern times, companies or business are involved in “factory farming” which is a type of animal raising technique in which the profit is increased through costs cutting. In this technique, large amounts of animals are raised in smaller confinements and numerous antibiotics and growth hormones are induced to increase production. Most of the animal products in supermarkets, grocery stores and fast food chains such as Burger King, McDonalds and KFC came from factory farming.
Numerous problems could arise from the practice of factory farming. It could result to health problems for the animals as well as for humans. Factory farming is practice by most of the food companies due to the high demand for animal products or meat. In addition, it is also a strategy for the companies to increase profit and avoid competitions (Anomaly 251). However, this practice could harm the animals and could endanger the health of large population of consumers. In this case, people should be aware of the origin of their food and they should be aware of the practice of factory farming in order for them to realize its potential harm to their health.
One of the main reasons why people need to be aware regarding the practice of factory farming is due to the potential risk of food contamination. Factory farming commonly involves unsanitary and inappropriate practices for raising farm animals. The animals are concentrated on a small confinement or area (“Exposing Abuse on the Factory Farm” np). For example, pigs are confined in small cages in which they could not turn around or move freely and cows are congested in barns instead of grassland. In this case, the large amounts of animal wastes are also contained in these small areas. Factory farming has higher risk of bacterial infection among animals due to the extremely small spaces. Bacteria and viruses could easily be transmitted to other farm animals. It could also be transmitted to consumers who eat the meat of the infected animal.
In order to reduce the risk of food contamination, food companies induce large amounts of antibiotics on animals. They induce these antibiotics through injection or most commonly through their food. In the article of Jonathan Anomaly (247), several issues regarding the use of antibiotics in factory farming is discussed. According to the author, large amounts of antibiotics induced in factory farming could increase the risk of developing antibiotic resistant bacteria. In addition, almost 70% of the antibiotics sold in the United States are used on animals in farm factories. Bacteria could develop resistance to these antibiotics as a result of evolution or natural selection. The development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria could endanger the health of animals as well as humans. The antibiotic-resistant bacteria could be transmitted to humans through ingestion of infected meat or through contamination of water from the large amounts of animal wastes in factory farming.
Another main reason why people need to be aware regarding the practice of factory farming is due to the unethical practices and animal cruelty. One of the main consequences of factory farming is the large amount of wastes produced. According to Stathopoulos (413), 2,500 cows could produce wastes which are equal to the wastes that could be produced by more than 400,000 humans. In most of the factory farms, the animal wastes are not treated appropriately. Some factory farms let the animals stand on their own wastes for many days until it is washed away. The animals could suffer from the smell and unsanitary conditions of the confinements due to the large amount of wastes (Stathopoulos 413). In some factory farms involving poultry products, the wastes are not removed until the animals are harvested. Many of the animals die due to the unsanitary conditions and health problems.
Lastly, factory farming also involved cruel practices which could make animals suffer from pain and discomfort. First, the animals are not treated properly or appropriately. Food companies let the animals induce substances that would make them eat large amounts of food until they grow in sizes (Anomaly 258). They also let the animals suffer from improper ventilation and unhealthy conditions in the confinements. Animal rights advocates also argue that factory farming practices should stop due to the unethical way of raising the farm animals.
Most food companies use the practice of factory farming in order to reduce the costs of manufacturing animal product and to eliminate potential competitors. However, factory farming poses numerous issues and problems due to the inappropriate and unethical methods of raising farm animals. Consumers should be aware of the origin of their food. They should also be aware of the potential harm which could be brought by the factory farming practice. They could help in reducing or mitigating the effects of factory farming by consuming local food products instead of animal products from factory farms. In this case, the demand for animal products from factory farms could be reduced.
Works Cited:
Anomaly, Jonathan. What’s Wrong With Factory Farming?. Public Health Ethics, 8.3 (2015): 246–254.
“Exposing Abuse on the Factory Farm”. The New York Times. 2015. Web. <https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/09/opinion/sunday/exposing-abuse-on-the-factory-farm.html >
Stathopoulos, Anastasia. You are what your food eats: how regulation of factory farm conditions could improve human health and animal welfare alike. Legislation and Public Policy, 13.1(2010): 407-444.
