Before farms, the human race was made up of hunters and gatherers. Farms are what allowed humans to finally settle down. At first the farming was done by a family for themselves. But, as time went on and the population grew, a new type of farm had to rise to meet the needs of a larger population. These large scale farms came to be known as extractive or “mega” farms. Some people do still keep smaller farms for themselves, these are called family or marginal farms. But which one is better? As it is with all things, it is very important to have a moderate amount of information on both sides before being able to make an argument for either side.
First off, family/marginal farms. These farms are how farming started out and how many people argue that it is supposed to be. Family farms are family owned farms that are used to raise livestock and crops as the family sees fit. Depending on the size of the farms, they could be
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providing food for their family, community, or to the government. Usually the larger farms produce government selected crops like corn or soybeans. The smallest farms will produce food for their own family. Somewhere in the middle are farms that produce food for a small community and sell it at or to local markets. Of course it is not uncommon for larger farms to sell their crops to the government and their community. When compared to large corporation owned mega-farms, family farms have a slew of advantages. One very large one is how differently the animals are treated. In a family farm livestock are given the space they need to grow and mature naturally, unlike their mega-farm counterparts. Other benefits, according to USDA journalist James MacDonald (2014), are that family farmers have a better understanding of the land itself. They also have much more experience with farm work than the people running factory farms. Family farmers are also much more flexible than factory farmers allowing them to be more cost effective and innovative. But, family farms do have one major downside compared to factory farms. This downfall is the amount of goods produced and the price of the goods produced. These are of course necessary trades in order to make up for the difference in quality though. Now, onto factory farms.
These farms originated due to the demand of meats not being able to keep up with the huge population. Though the way they farm may not be the most humane, they do produce a very large amount of goods at a very low price. According to Robert Farrell and Stacey Palm factory farms have three major benefits. These benefits are, as stated before, cheap food production, efficiency, and employment. These benefits are pretty self-explanatory; they also pale in comparison to the downside of factory farms. The conditions on factory farms are very, very poor. Animals are usually stuffed side by side in ware houses or barns with very little moving room. This tight containment very easily leads to the spread of disease through the livestock as well. Factory farms also produce a very large amount of hard to dispose waste according to Robert Farrell and Stacey Palm. Factory farms also produce food that is much lower quality than anything that would come off of a smaller family farm. These things lead to many people disliking factory
farms. In light of these facts we can now see how family and factory farms compare to each other. It’s pretty obvious when looking at the pure numbers of pros and cons that family farms are the better option. But, when looking at an overall impact on the agriculture industry, factory farms are much further ahead. Factory farms have allowed for many people who otherwise wouldn’t be able to get enough food receive the food that they need. It may not be the healthiest food out there but it is better than starving. This is of course talking on a completely logical ground. Morally though, family farms are the best option. Farming will always be a major factor in human society. The way the farming is done may change, but the farms necessity will never diminish. Each current type of farm has its own set of advantages and disadvantages. In the end it’s really just a question on how society as a whole thinks farming should be.
The idea of the family farm has been destroyed by large food corporations. As discussed in class, industrial farming typically leads to the mass produ...
Farmers were once known for being able to do everything themselves. They grew their own food and sewed their own clothes. People often yearn for the old days and complain about so many people living in cities. Many farmers had to give up their farms and move to the cities, because of something that happened in the late nineteenth century.
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 1920’s were the singularly most influential years of farming in our country. The loss of farms following the war, and new agricultural practices resulted in the dawn of modern agriculture in our country. The shift from small family to big corporation during this time is now the basis for how our society deals with food today. Traditional farming in the 1920’s underwent a series of massive transitions following WWI as the number of farms decreased and the size of farms increased.
Factory farming is where animals are packed as closely together as attainable, most never see or feel the sunlight, able to get fresh air or even able to turn around. These terrible conditions have serious effects on the animals physically and mentally. Illness spreads and fights break out between animals. This worldwide epidemic known as factory farming began when greedy people began to modify farms to maximise profit for themselves, but because of this, it not only has a terrible impact on animals but
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.
Farmers are essentially the back-bone of the entire food system. Large-scale family farms account for 10% of all farms, but 75% of overall food production, (CSS statistics). Without farmers, there would be no food for us to consume. Big business picked up on this right away and began to control the farmers profits and products. When farmers buy their land, they take out a loan in order to pay for their land and farm house and for the livestock, crops, and machinery that are involved in the farming process. Today, the loans are paid off through contracts with big business corporations. Since big business has such a hold over the farmers, they take advantage of this and capitalize on their crops, commodities, and profits. Farmers are life-long slaves to these b...
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.
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.
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.
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 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
Family farming has been around ever since there has been farming in the United States. There are two types of farms: family farms and factory farms. Family farms are usually passed down through the family and there used to be many thousands of these farms across the country. These farms do not have to be owned be just a single family either. Sometimes, the farm is just owned by a small group of community members. Yet, still the concept remains the same. Lately, however, they have been replaced with larger, more industrialized farms. These farms, also known as factory farming and collective farming, are actually owned by large corporations and are used for purely economic reasons. The corporations don’t care about the quality of the crop or who gets it. They just want to make the most money possible. Family farms on the other hand actually help out a wide variety of people. Not only do the family farms help grow food for the family in charge, but they also grow food for the local markets allowing them to get healthy...
Farming has been an occupation since 8,500 B.C. On that year in the Fertile Crescent farming first began when people grew plants instead of picking them in the wild. Then nearly 5,000 years later oxen, horses, pigs, and dogs were domesticated. During the middle ages, the nobles divide their land into three fields. The reasoning for this was to plant two and leave one to recover. This was the start of crop rotation which is a big part of farming today. Burning down forest and then moving to another area is a farming technique used by the Mayans called Slash and burn. Mayan farmers also were able to drain swampy areas to farm them buy building canals. In 1701 Jethro Tull invented the seed drill and a horse drawn how that tilled the land. In Denmark they would plant turnips in the previously unplanted field. The turnips help restore the nutrients in the ground thus crop rotation is born. In England people began moving there fields closer to each other for a more efficient way of planting. Later in the 18th century selective breeding was introduce which made bigger, stronger, and more milk producing livestock. In the mid 1800’s a steam plough was invented. By the 1950 tractors, milking machines, and combines were used by almost farmers. The latest f...