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Effect of global warming on animal production
An essay on the effect of climate change on animal production
The drawback of factory farming
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To continue living on the planet climate change must be addressed. Animal agriculture is the primary cause of climate change, due to its mass-producing factories, growing excrement, and overruling corporations. Industrial agriculture has managed to release massive amounts of toxins into the water systems, food, and environment. All of this contamination is taking a big toll on the planet. Continuing to live in this matter will only devastate the planet and its citizens’ health further. For a wholesome life, the citizens must press leaders to end factory farming. The main reason to end factory farming is simply that of manure. Animal manure is one of the most damaging contributors to climate change. The nation is facing this dilemma due to the poor management of its livestock. Factory farmers are unreasonably mass producing goods which make it hard for the ecosystem to keep up. Industrial farming also holds numerous animals in one place, creating large amounts of waste, making it impossible to manage. “Every minute seven million pounds of excrement is produced by animals raised for food in the U.S. This does not include the animals raised outside of USDA jurisdiction, backyards or in the billions of fish raised in aquaculture settings in the …show more content…
“As soil fertility declines due to repeated tillage and other industrial practices, farmers began using more synthetic nitrogen. Synthetic nitrogen is leaching into and affecting groundwater. A 2015 study from environmental science and technology letters, linked nitrate from fertilizers to uranium contamination of drinking water from to major US aquifers." (Poncavage, Joanna) Consuming this uranium-contaminated drinking water gives risk for kidney damage and cancer. Not only water, but food gets directly affected due to the number of fertilizers used on subsiding crops with synthetic nitrogen. All determining that our foods are considered
Every year worldwide, over seventy billion animals are killed for food in factories without the inclusion aquatic animals (“Factory Farms Overview¨). The animal rights movement began in Europe during the nineteenth century to protect horses, dogs and cats (Recarte 1). However, now modern animal rights groups have switched their focus to factory farms, test animals and the removal of ag-gag laws. The fight to create less painful and stressful environments in factories and the altogether removal of animal testing and ag-gag laws has been taken on by animal rights groups like ASPCA (“Factory Farms”). The biggest issue currently facing animals is factory farming.
On the topic of environmental impacts due to “industrial farming”, Bill McKibben and Blake Hurst share completely different perspectives. McKibben believes that industrial farming has simply left an unexcusable bad impact on the environment, saying that it is unethical and that the meat we eat is potentially killing our environment and us as well. McKibben states that “we should simply stop eating factory-farmed meat, and the effects on climate change would be one of the many benefits.” (page 201). McKibben addresses that the techno fixes brought in industrial farming are simply not enough to help our environment.
When it comes to the pros and cons of factory farming, according to a non-profit organization called Farm Sanctuary, the cons definitely outweigh the pros. Food production in the United States today is dominated by factory farms, and their treatment of animals has been downright abusive. The usual farm consists of small, hugely overpopulated living spaces for the animals, and they are considered commodities to get more money rather than a living animal. Almost all of the animals undergo extreme amounts of mutilation at the hands of the farm workers and they usually cause chronic and/or extreme amounts of pain to the animals because they are usually done without any form of pain relief for the animals. All of this abuse towards the animals is all so the farmers can maximize the output of the products they get from the animals, and the animals’ bodies cannot support the overgrowth and they usually form painful, debilitating deformities from it. The areas in and around these large farms are generally extremely polluted from the extreme
What if you were born to die and live a miserable, torturous life in between? This is everyday life for animals on factory farms. Factory Farming is a system of rearing livestock using intensive methods, by which poultry, pigs or cattle are confined indoors under strictly controlled conditions. [add in citation for definition] Factory farming isn’t only inhumane, but it’s also hurting our health, and we don’t even have the slightest clue. With our culture today, we believe whatever the media tells us; we trust them. Each and every year, the meat industries put mounds of money into advertising, brainwashing us and telling us what food we should eat. They run their advertisements on the television, radio, and Internet ads, and have even partnered with schools in exchange for free educational resources. We like to imagine that the meat we are eating was once free, happy, and had a fast death. But that is a lie. If we don’t do anything, who will? Did you know that more than 19 million animals are killed every hour? That means 19,011 animals are killed per minute (2013d). Animals in factory farms are born, raised, and slaughtered in confined buildings. They are never allowed out to run, to enjoy life. They are born to be killed and tortured in-between. This isn’t just about one farm animal, but a variety of them. +++ Last sentence is unnecessary, include in other sentences to tie in what different animals AND how it’s effecting humans. ++THESIS STATEMENT. ☺
The issue with factory farming is always going to remain exactly that, an issue, but there is a large misconception there, too. People may be willing to partake in Meatless Monday, but what they do not realize is that the population is going to reach around 9 billion by 2050 and animal agriculture is very much needed. Josh Balk, a member of the Humane Society of the United States, states “the current levels of meat consumption in the U.S. support inhumane practices in industrial factory farms, and push small family farmers out of business. Eating less meat is better for animals, creates less waste and pollution, and places more value on humane and sustainable agriculture (2014).” This is a hoax as the level of production will not decrease just as the slaughter rates will remain the same. Even though they are saying Meatless Monday is a global movement, not every person is going to swear off meat for a
There are multiple ways to help reduce the polluting effects of factory farming. People can make a difference by simply avoiding factory farmed products, reducing their animal product intake, or by going either pescetarian, vegetarian, or vegan. Those concerned with the polluting effects of factory farming can also make a difference by encouraging others to eat less animal products, raising awareness towards animal and worker conditions in factory farms, supporting farm animal sanctuaries, and signing petitions to end factory farming. It is important for people to become involved in reducing the amount of pollution caused by factory farming.
How would you feel being raised for slaughter? Not being able to move because of a large crowd in such a confined space? How would you feel being encircled by disease, illness and constant abuse? To animals, this is known as a factory farm.
618.3 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent are produced each year in the United States alone for agriculture (EPA). Agriculture is one source of greenhouse gasses we can’t eliminate, but we could as a species decide to eat greener. Cows are a massive producer of methane, but very few people are willing to give up or downsize their stake intake. With so much greenhouse gas produced the problem is compiled when the amount of clean water used is taken into context. “Globally we use 70% of our water sources for agriculture and irrigation, and only 10% on domestic uses.” On the same note of water conservation 783 million people don’t have access to clean water. The issue as addressed isn’t agriculture, but where we invest most of our resources in production (The Water Project). McDonalds would not have been happy if he mentioned this, but a Big Mac produces 6.8 lbs. in greenhouse gas emissions (Ganeshan,
Factory farms; a place where meat is produced for human consumption, this definition only describes how the industry started. In most factory farms, government regulation is lacking. This is to the disadvantage of billions of animals affected by the dirty business. When piglets are born they are divided into breeding sows, and others solely for their meat. Thousands of sows spend their lives in crammed cages, undergo numerous forced impregnations, and become sick because of their cages are overflowing with feces. However this is only the beginning of the story. These same animals are fed food littered with growth hormones, glass, syringes, and are forced to cannibalistic ways being fed their young’s testicles. Animals in the farming industry face innumerous atrocities including pain filled slaughter, forced growth rates, and overcrowding for the sake of taste, however each of these problems must be solved by enforcing the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act, and by switching to sustainable and/or organic farming methods.
There is much to be said about how exactly meat is being produced. In the present day, there are hardly any farms out there that still practice the traditional and environmental - friendly way. Animal agriculture is widely used all over the world and greatly contributes to climate change. Meat production leads to global warming because of the combination of carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. The process of raising animal is the major source to these harmful gases. It is vital to save the world from the worst impacts of climate change by reducing meat consumption. However stopping this meat eating system is extremely difficult, given that we had been consuming meat ever since our ancestors domesticated animals for that purpose. Over the decade Animal agriculture has been getting worse and worse. In 1973 when the Secretary of Agriculture Earl Butz announced ‘’ what we want out of agriculture is plenty of food’’, overproduction was encouraged and lowering the price of meat was carried out; this originally started when there was a massive increase in corn (Wolfson). In order to keep up this mass production of meat, multiple pounds of grains are fed to livestock. Livestock industries depended on corn and soy based food and used over half of the artificial fertilizer used in the United States (McWilliams).
Poultry is by far the number one meat consumed in America; it is versatile, relatively inexpensive compared to other meats, and most importantly it can be found in every grocery store through out the United States. All of those factors are made possible because of factory farming. Factory farming is the reason why consumers are able to purchase low-priced poultry in their local supermarket and also the reason why chickens and other animals are being seen as profit rather than living, breathing beings. So what is exactly is factory farming? According to Ben Macintyre, a writer and columnist of The Times, a British newspaper and a former chicken farm worker, he summed up the goal of any factory farm “... to produce the maximum quantity of edible meat, as fast and as cheaply as possible, regardless of quality, cruelty or hygiene” ( Macintyre, 2009). Factory farmers do not care about the safety of the consumers nor the safety of the chicken, all the industrial farmers have in mind are how fast they can turn a baby chick into a slaughter size chicken and how to make their chicken big and plumped. Factory farming is not only a health hazard to the well-being of the animals, but the environment, and human beings ;thus free range and sustainable farming need to be put into practice.
Cruelty toward animals, huge economic problems, and major health concerns are just three reasons why factory farming should be banned worldwide. Many people argue that factory farming is the only way to meet growing demands for food in the world today. However, factory farming is just not necessary, especially when it comes down to killing innocent animals in order to feed people. A way to put an end to the factory farming system is by buying our food from smaller, sustainable farms. These businesses still aim to profit from their labor, but that’s not their only objective. (The Issues: Factory Farming, n.d.) They simply will not sacrifice the health of the land or the quality of food simply to make a few extra dollars.
Many consumers and farmers have discovered that living in an industrialized culture where the focus has become faster, bigger, and cheaper is not the best way to produce our food. Obsessed with productivity, the agriculture industry is reaping the negative consequences of creating an unsustainable environment for food production. Time and time again, the media captures stories regarding deadly bacterial contamination and dangerous pesticide contamination causing illness and death in our communities. The environment is also damaged and contaminated. This devastating trend, due to irresponsible farming practices as a result of the industrialization of the food industry, has become all too common. Returning to organic farming, which our grandparents referred to as farming, and reclaiming our food is not only our choice, it is our right.
The first reason why factory farming should be banned is that it can cause health issues for people who eat them. According to Gale (2013), “[a]ntibiotics have been used by industrial animal producers for many years [] to prevent animals housed … from getting sick and to help them grow more quickly.” The owner of these companies want to decrease loss by giving animals antibiotics to prevent them from dying. These animals can harm the health of the human eating them. “People can become infected with antibiotic bacteria from a variety of resources… [such as] meat or other foods … if not properly cooked [and] workers who have contact with animals at factory farms…” (Gale, 2013). The fact that there are chances for people to get sick from their most desired foods shows how bad these factory farming can be. Health will be a great issue if people do not take action soon. Not only will factory farming harm human health, but it will also harm the environment.
Phasing out animal agriculture and replacing it with stronger, safer plant cultivation would greatly reduce pollution released into the environment as animal waste, burning fossil fuels, and contaminated water runoff. The animal waste produced in factory farms is dumped into immense open-air lago...