Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO’s), or factory farms, are responsible for 43 percent of egg production, 55 percent of pork production, and 72 percent of poultry production across the globe. This significant share of the meat market gives the few firms controlling these operations an overwhelming amount of power.
Unfortunately, in response to this power, these firms have resorted to horribly unethical practices in order to maximize profits. The practice of factory farming needs to be eliminated, worldwide for several reasons. The animals at these operations are treated carelessly and live tragic lives in overcrowded feedlots. Also, workers at CAFO’s experience high amounts of stress and abuse, leading to a great deal of physical and emotional suffering. Furthermore, the food produced by these farms is atrocious for human health and encourages the spread of diseases. Lastly, factory farms cause serious environmental damage that have negative impacts on surrounding wildlife and communities. Factory farms need to be eliminated globally and replaced by humane farming operations to ensure the health and well-being of people, animals, and the environment.
One major reason why CAFO’s should be eliminated is because they are extremely abusive to animals from the time they enter to the time they are brutally killed. To maximize the use of space, the animals are crammed into tiny areas. For example, Canada’s CAFO’s force anywhere from five to seven hens into 16” by 18” cages. Pigs spend their lives being impregnated over and over again and are commonly kept in tiny, two foot long gestation crates that are too confined for them to lie down. Moreover, cows are housed in crowded feedlots filled with feces, leading to a buildup of toxic chemicals such as ammonia and methane. As a result, many of the cattle develop respiratory problems. It is downright abusive to subject animals to these horrible living conditions, and organizations that treat their animals this way should be shut down immediately.
Furthermore, factory farms should be abolished because they kill their animals using brutal tactics. Matsuoka and Sorenson, the authors of "Humans Consequences of Animal Exploitation: Needs for Redefining Social Welfare," claim “Animals in the industrial food system endure miserable lives and gruesome deaths, with many regularly skinned or boiled alive.” In egg factories, male chicks are considered useless and are killed by gas, crushed, or thrown into garbage bins to suffocate or die of dehydration. These animals, who are killed for the benefit of humans, deserve to have better treatment in return for their sacrifice.
The issue of serious worker abuse further supports why factory farming practices should be eliminated from modern food production. Unfortunately, even though there are many labor laws in place with the goal of protecting these workers, these regulations are often unenforced. This is due to the fact that the majority of factory farm workers are undocumented immigrants who fear they will be deported if they file grievances about their working conditions. Because they are encouraged to work quickly and efficiently, many workers complain they are not allotted proper time to sharpen their blades. Working with these dull blades means that workers need to use more force in order to make proper cuts and therefore, put more strain on their muscles. Moreover, factory farm employees are often designated to perform one specific, repetitive task. This makes the workers more prone to stress injuries and chronic pain.
In addition to physical issues, many workers also experience mental and emotional strain from repeatedly killing and causing pain and suffering to animals. One line in a factory farm can kill as many as 300 cattle per hour. The mental strain of this repeated slaughtering can lead workers to feel anxiety, depression, or paranoia. Both the physical and mental burdens of factory farm employees clearly show that there is a problem with our current system of meat production. These employees would be much happier and healthier if they were able to use their skills to pursue a career producing meat using more humane methods.
Factory farming practices are not just detrimental to the animals and workers, they are also detrimental to the health of those who consume the meat. First, the overuse of antibiotics by these farms is leading to various health impacts on humans. Factory farms force livestock to live in filthy, overcrowded conditions that encourage the spread of diseases. To combat this, agribusinesses give the animals large quantities of antibiotics. The problem with using these antibiotics is that it spurs the development of resistant bacteria that can be spread from the animals to humans. This is especially significant because once these bacteria become fully resistant there will be no other way for them to effectively be treated. If factory farming practices including the overuse of antibiotics is not put to an end before full resistance is developed, previously curable diseases will become deadly.
Additionally, factory farms encourage the spread of diseases such as Escherichia coli and salmonella. Every year, there are 76 million cases of people in the United States falling ill due to food-borne illness, with 5,000 of them resulting in death.
According to Eric Schlosser, the author of "Fast Food Nation," the way the meat is raised, slaughtered, and processed in modern factory farming practices has caused an increased likelihood of diseases. He explains that in the slaughterhouses, cattle hides are removed by a machine. If the hide was not properly cleaned before the removal, dirt and fecal matter can fall from in into the meat.
Additionally, Schlosser claims that the hasty removal of the digestive system increases the likelihood of meat contamination. The digestive system is removed by hand by workers described by Schlosser as “gutters." Because workers are encouraged to work quickly, “gutting” up to sixty cattle per hour, there is much room for mistakes to be made.
In one interview between Schlosser and an Iowa Beef Processors slaughterhouse, a worker claimed that gut spillage occurred in around one of every five cow carcasses. This contaminated meat is not a problem if meat is cooked properly, as the bacterium is killed. However, according to Schlosser, in extreme cases, these toxins can enter the blood stream upon consumption and lead to organ failure and death. By stopping factory farming practices, many of these outbreaks can be prevented and many lives can be saved.
Furthermore, concentrated animal feeding operations have caused many serious environmental problems. One of these issues is water pollution. In the United States, factory farms compile about 788,000 tons of fecal matter each day and store it in piles and lagoons. This waste is contaminated with heavy metals, bacteria, pharmaceuticals, parasites, and viruses.
Studies such as that performed by Shannon Bartelt-Hunt and her colleagues from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln have proven that this fecal waste contaminates proximal surface water. Bartelt-Hunt’s study showed this by testing nearby surface water for 17 pharmaceutical and 13 steroid hormone contaminants and proved earthen-lined lagoons that hold manure waste leak into water resources. This contamination is a serious problem because it encourages the spread of toxic algae that destroys aquatic life. Also, if humans drink this polluted water, it can lead to serious health issues. Factory farms need to be shut down to prevent the destruction of water sources and the negative effects on humans and ecosystems.
Clearly, if factory farming practices are not abolished, there could be serious consequences to humankind, animals, and the environment. The way corporations have commoditized animals in recent years, sacrificing their values in pursuit of the almighty dollar, has contributed to the dehumanization of the food production industry. Factory farms have devalued the lives of animals, failing to recognize them as living, breathing creatures and caring only for their health and well-being when it impacts profits.
Factory farms have lost respect for their workers, taking advantage of fearful immigrants who are just seeking better lives. They have also contributed to the spread of serious diseases and jeopardized the effectiveness of modern medicine by overusing antibiotics and allowing bacteria to develop resistance.
Furthermore, factory farms have caused serious pollution to the surrounding ecosystems, leading to adverse effects on wildlife and people in nearby communities.
Factory farming practices need to be outlawed in order to prevent the destruction of animal and human well-being and the environment. There is no excuse for humans to allow firms to continue to commit these self-destructing monstrosities. Factory farms need to be eradicated now to ensure the prosperity of humans in harmony with animals and the environment.
