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Impact of agriculture
Environmental problems of eating meat
Environmental problems of eating meat
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In the 21st century everything is about industrialization and getting everything modified. The food industry has become involved, and is trying to find a more productive and healthier way to produce foods. People argue on the fact if free range foods should be used; as well if it’s a healthier lifestyle for the citizens that are consuming it. Free range foods refer to animals that have the privilege to go in outdoor spaces, freely graze or forage for food. With these types of animals, it will be a more natural meat. The benefits of having free range chickens and cows they will have a well-rounded healthier diet, than those animals that are caged in pens. With the free range chickens eggs we get from the store they have more nutrients in them …show more content…
because all of the good nutrients that the natural chickens eat it will have more vitamins. The consumers should always go with free range foods because the animals are not injected with hormones, and steroids; this route is safer for the consumer in the long term. The hormones and steroids help the animals grow faster but this also affects humans. This ultimately affects us because in the article: Hormones in Food: Should You Worry? by it states “ The FDA's stamp of approval isn't likely to reassure those who worry that excess hormones in the food supply are contributing to cancer, early puberty in girls, and other health problems in humans.” (Storrs,2016, p.1) When people ate the animals that were held up in captivity and had no freedom the consumers had higher blood pressure.
Referring back to article: Hormones in Food: Should You Worry? It also states that “Higher blood levels of IGF have been associated with an increased risk of breast, prostate, and other cancers in humans.” (Storrs,2016, p.1) This wouldn’t happen if the consumers of cows and chickens would eat them while they are free range.
In the story “Eating Industrial Meat” by Michael Pollen; Pollen had a steer 534 that he examined as it grew up and got bigger. Pollen had stated that while his steer was in the pen it seemed “miserable, bored or indifferent, but I would not say he looked happy.” (Pollen,2002, p.256) Animals that are kept in pens are unsafe to eat because they do not get exercise and grow unhealthy meat. Pollen stated that “The unnaturally rich diet of corn that undermines a steer’s health fattens his flesh in a way that undermines the health of the humans who will eat it.” (Pollen,2002, p.257) That clearly shows that animals should be free range so that everybody animal and humans can be healthy. What the animals eat and contract for being in the pen and injected with hormones can be passed over to us as well. For example: the steers can carry “Escherichia coli 0157:H7”, this resides in the gut of the animal. Ingesting this will cause a fatal infection; and it produces a toxin that destroys human
kidneys. Overall, the animals that are not free ranged are more hazardous to our health and can affect us very badly. Free ranged food is healthier and will give us more vitamins; when consumers starting eating free ranged/ organic food we have less people get high blood pressure and less citizens getting infections and cancers from the bad meat that is sold to us from global companies.
Chicken is a major section of the economy of agriculture in United States. That is why the genetically modified chickens are consumed by millions of people including children. Chickens that are genetically modified are raised in filthy cages throughout their lives and pass through many mistreatments. Their main food consists of hormones, corn, and genetically modified organisms (Lundeen). All these foods are aimed at making them grow at a faster rate and increase their weight. The heavy weight makes them become crippled and even starts to suffer from a variety of diseases like ammonia, organ failures, getting a weak immune system, bronchitis, and re...
Factory farming began in the 1920s soon after the discovery of vitamins A and D. Shirley Leung said, when these vitamins are added to feed, animals no longer require exercise and sunlight for growth (B2). This allowed large numbers of animals to be raised indoors year-round. The greatest problem that was faced in raising these animals indoors was the spread of disease, which was fought against in the 1940s with the development of antibiotics. Farmers found they could increase productivity and reduce the operating costs by using machines and assembly-line techniques. Unfortunately, this trend of mass production has resulted in incredible pain and suffering for the animals. Animals today raised on factory farms have had their genes manipulated and pumped full of antibiotics, hormones, and other chemicals to encourage high productivity. In the fast food industry, animals are not considered animals at all; “they are food producing machines” (BBC). They are confined to small cages with metal bars, ammonia-filled air and artificial lighting or no lighting at all. They are subjected to horrible mutilations: beak searing, tail docking, ear cutting and castration. The worst thing is that ...
In the book Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer, the author talks about, not only vegetarianism, but reveals to us what actually occurs in the factory farming system. The issue circulating in this book is whether to eat meat or not to eat meat. Foer, however, never tries to convert his reader to become vegetarians but rather to inform them with information so they can respond with better judgment. Eating meat has been a thing that majority of us engage in without question. Which is why among other reasons Foer feels compelled to share his findings about where our meat come from. Throughout the book, he gives vivid accounts of the dreadful conditions factory farmed animals endure on a daily basis. For this reason Foer urges us to take a stand against factory farming, and if we must eat meat then we must adapt humane agricultural methods for meat production.
Imagine sinking your teeth into a t-bone steak that has come from a steer that was treated with hormones, or enjoying a glass of rBGH treated milk. The steak and milk may not taste any different from the same untreated products, but the hormones they contain could both, directly and indirectly, have an impact on your health. The hormones that farmers in the U.S. administer to the cattle are dangerous and have negative effects on the people and the environment. Although America admits hormone use in cattle, the fact that Europe has banned hormone use raises many questions about the possible health risks these hormones may have on consumers.
Hormone steroids used in food can have many effects on the people who eat them. Steroids in animals make the meat taste better and become lean. Even though the steroids they put in animals are edible, it does not mean they do not have an effect on those who partake of the food. The steroids in animals have a large amount of sex hormones. These steroids sometimes can contribute to cancer. They also may make girls develop early and cause them to hit puberty faster. It has been found that girls who eat foods with steroids have a higher chance of having breast cancer. People who eat dairy products that have steroids in them are increasing the risk of breast cancer. Those who eat meat products may have effects on children w...
...eats contact. Finally, families who eat spinal or nervous tissue of cows can greatly reduce their risks of developing mad cow disease by not purchasing such items. The beef industry is willingly under surveillance, making all attempts to produce safe and healthy products. American residents should be assured that all necessary precautions have been taken to keep Mad Cow Disease out of the United States and consumer-friendly beef on market shelves. An excerpt from the FDA Consumer Magazine leaves the nation with this very “important message from both the Harvard and GAO studies. . . We must continue to work hard to make a good system even better. The FDA and the states will continue their aggressive inspection program and will continue to work closely with all components of the cattle and feed communities to help make a, thankfully, low public risk even lower.”
... eggs in the United States. As evidence indicates, the greatest impact of Proposition Two will be felt by the California egg industry6. Proposition Two is also risk to the safety of farm animal, the products they produce, and decreases sanitation practices in comparison to modern housing. Under the conditions of Proposition Two, livestock would be at a higher risk of contracting communicable diseases in comparison to the disease/infection risks posed by current caging methods. Proposition Voting no on Proposition Two will keep the animal agriculture business and its animals safe and healthy while keeping the California egg industry secure. Proposition Two appears to be a measure with great potential for both the animal welfare and animal agriculture, but in reality, studies and research have concluded that Proposition Two is a detriment to both animals and humans.
Over the past few decades, small and medium sized farms have been taken over by large-scale factory farms. These farms house billions of animals used for consumption each year. The conditions on factory farms are filthy, overcrowded and disease ridden. Animals forced to live out their lives on these farms are subject to extremely harsh conditions, such as mutilation, confinement and living spaces piled high with feces. Not only do conditions on factory farms make life for livestock absolutely miserable, but factory farms are also negatively impacting human health and the environment. The production and sale of meat has become a billion-dollar industry based upon the bloodshed of other sentient beings. With this being the case, at the very least, factory farms need to be properly regulated and companies involved need to be held accountable for their abuse.
...nts that are harmful are released. The factory farms have not only been seen to affect humans, but the animals also. The food given to these animals are supposed to make them grow faster, but it is also causing serious digestive problems for the animals. According to the Sustainable Table, “recent studies have shown that chemical additives in feed may accumulate in animal tissues, potentially exposing consumers to unwanted chemicals such as veterinary drug residues and heavy metals.” This is not fair for the animals and humans to have to suffer through something like this just so unhealthy food can be produced.
One of the most abused animals on these farms are pigs; Pollan reveals that, “Farmers ‘dock,’ or snip off, the tails at birth, a practice that makes a certain twisted sense if you follow the logic of industrial farming efficiency on a hog farm… A normal pig would fight off his molester, but a demoralized pig has stopped caring.” (Pollan, 350). It may seem smart for industrial farms to be able to dominate their pigs without them fighting back but there is another way. Polyface farms are animal friendly, therefore, care about the happiness of their livestock. “Pig happiness is simply the by-product of treating pigs as pigs rather than as ‘protein machine with flaws’-flaws such as pigs tails and a tendency, when emiserated, to get stressed.” (Pollan, 351). Even the larger animals Manning informs us that, “The cattle spend their adult life packed shoulder to shoulder in a space not much bigger than their bodies, up to their knees in shit, being stuffed with grain and a constant stream of antibiotics to prevent the disease this sort of confinement invariably engenders.” (Manning, 272). These farmers have only one clear goal, to produce as much food as they can in the smallest amount of time. They do not care what must occur to achieve this such as cow cruelty or any other animal mistreatment since they are only seen as unfinished products. However, at Polyface Farms,
By being raised in free-range environments, animals have the opportunity to roam freely. According to animal advocates, confinement is typically seen as inhumane, while free-range is seen a much more ethical way of raising animals. The animals themselves are allowed more fresh air and exercise rather than being inside cages for the entirety of their lives. Health risks, such as the spread of E. Coli and other diseases, are widely prevented by using the free-range farming method rather than confined farming. There have been incidents of runoffs infecting streams and spreading E. Coli from the manure of animals. By using free-range farming, there is not as high of a risk for diseases spreading because the animals are not as highly concentrated in one area as with the factory-farmed animals. In free-range farming, there is not as much runoff in one area and the conditions do not get to be as bad as they are with confined
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.
The issue of meat consumption has been a controversial topic on whether to allow the practice or discontinue it, non-meat eaters argue it’s unethical because it is abusive to animals. On the other hand, meat consumers argue that eating meat is ethical as long as meat eaters are conscious of how their meat is collected and the treatment of livestock is fair. The consumption of meat is an act that an individual decides whether to partake in or not. Therefore, the option of eating meat should not be completely taken away, but it should be limited. Eating meat ties in with vegetarian and vegan diets, in the sense that both have to follow guidelines to create an ethical approach to eating any grown foods. The consumption of food is ethical when
The animals that are raised in factory farms, and the farms are ran just like any other business. According to the article Factory Framing, Misery of Animals, the factory farming industry strives to maximize output while minimizing cost, always at the animal’s expense. “The giant corporations that run most factory farms have found that they can make more money by squeezing as many animals as possible into tiny spaces, even though many of the animals die from disease or infection” (Factory Farming). This is actually quit disgusting that we eat food that walks around in each other’s feces and can attract disease. These animals live a life of abuse, but we sit back and say it’s okay because we will eventually eat them. “Antibiotics are used to make animals grow faster and to keep them alive in the unsanitary conditions. Research shows that factory farms widespread use of antibiotics can lead to antibiotic-resistant bacteria that threatens human health” (Factory Farming). These animals aren’t treated with proper care and we act as if they are machines. Chickens for example, become so big and distorted that their legs can longer support them. Eventually they die because they can longer walk to get food or water. According to Factory Farming, most of these animals have been genetically manipulated to grow larger and to produce more eggs and milk than they naturally
Factory farms have portrayed cruelty to animals in a way that is horrific; unfortunately the public often does not see what really goes on inside these “farms.” In order to understand the conditions present in these factory farms, it must first be examined what the animals in these factory farms are eating. Some of the ingredients commonly used in feeding the animals inside factory farms include the following: animal byproducts, plastic, drugs and chemicals, excessive grains, and meat from members of the same species. (Adams, 2007) These animals are tortured and used for purely slaughter in order to be fed on. Typically large numbers of animals are kept in closed and tight confinements, having only little room to move around, if even that. These confinements can lead to suffocation and death and is not rare. Evidence fr...