Causecast

by KAREN MURPHY, Contributing Writer

Factory farming is a practice that was developed as the agricultural industry industrialized, to meet the growing demands of the population’s insatiable desire for meat. This type of farming remains one of humanity’s most shameful practices, with its abuse and exploitation of animals. Here’s what you need to know about it:

1. What is it? Factory farming is the practice of raising farm animals in high-density confinement in order to produce the maximum possible meat, eggs and milk at the lowest possible cost. This industrial approach to farming resembles factory production and seems to regard animals and the natural world as commodities to be exploited for profit.

2. The dangers of factory farming include institutionalized animal cruelty, environmental destruction, natural resources depletion, and increased animal and human health risks. Because of high population density within farms, the widespread use of antibiotics and pesticides to mitigate the spread of disease and pestilence exacerbated by these crowded living conditions has become common. Intense concentrations of animals are particularly susceptible to virulent
diseases like avian flu, swine fever, hoof and mouth disease, and mad cow disease.

3. In the U.S., only four companies produce most of the nation’s animal products, including 81 percent of cows, 73 percent of sheep, 57 percent of pigs and 50 percent of chickens.

4. 74 percent of the world’s poultry, 43 percent of beef, and 68 percent of eggs are produced via factory farming.

5. The worst abusers are the chicken, egg, turkey and pork industries. These animals are subjected to horrible mutilations: beak searing, tail docking, ear cutting and castration.

6. Every hour in the United States, one million animals are killed for human consumption. If each one of us cuts back on our animal consumption by only 10%, approximately one billion animals would be spared a lifetime of suffering every year.

7. The environmental impact of factory farming is enormous. It depletes natural resources. Most of the grain harvested in the U.S. goes to feed animals used for food, forcing agribusiness to decimate wetlands, forests, and other wildlife habitats to turn them into crop lands. Factory farming is creates pollution because the amount of waste produced by farm animals in the U.S. is more than 130 times greater than that produced by humans. Where does this pollution go? It ends up in our water supply (that we drink), and our soil (where we grow food). Pollution also affects our air: the “manure mist” that permeates the homes and skin of thousands of people who live near factory farms contains dangerous levels of such noxious gases such as hydrogen sulfide, ammonia and methane. Factory farming negatively affects worldwide biodiversity. Species around the world are dying from soil acidification, pesticides and herbicides. Similarly, livestock diversity is also decreased because factory farms breed zillions of a single species for efficiency. Because of this, traditional breeds are being lost.

8. Factory farming is using up our water. A pound of meat requires 100 times more water to produce than a pound of wheat. And about 70% of the water used in the 11 western U.S. states is dedicated to the raising of animals for food.

9. The intensive farming of animals for meat is contributing to global warming. Current production levels of meat contribute between 14 and 22 percent of the 36 billion tons of greenhouse gases the world produces every year. The making of that cheeseburger you had for lunch releases as much greenhouse gas into the atmosphere as driving a 3,000-pound car nearly 10 miles.

10. Eating a vegetarian diet helps prevent animal abuse. Many of us eat meat out of habit, but joining a Community Supported Agriculture farm (CSA) or a vegetable co-op are great ways to get your veggies fresh and local. No meat is entirely cruelty-free, but some choices are much better than others. Eating meats raised locally on a small farm where animals are treated with kindness and compassion (“grass-fed” and “cage-free” are often indicators of humane treatment) is often your best bet. EatWild.com is a great resource to find farmers who raise their livestock on pasture from birth to market and who actively promote the welfare of their animals and the health of the land.

For more info on factory farming and other issues of food production, check out Participant Media’s new film Food, Inc premiering Friday in LA.