Concentrated animal feeding operations, also known as CAFO’s, are large industrialized agricultural operations that confine thousands of animals in an enclosed location for feeding, breeding and production farming purposes. These operations are taking over smaller, family run farms that are raising animals ethically and environmentally friendly. CAFO’s are raising beef cattle, dairy cattle, poultry, fish and other animals for mass production to feed the ever growing demand for meat and poultry consumption. These large-scale operations are cutting out the small farms that cannot compete in the food production industry.
This inhumane way of raising animals is upsetting many environmentalists who see this type of farming as animal cruelty,
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This mass production creates a scale of economy that allows the finished product to be available to consumers at a lower cost. CAFO’s are an economic necessity that allows enough meat, poultry, fish and other animal products to be produced to feed humans globally. While some small farms may not be able to compete, there is a trickle-down effect that helps boost the regional and national economies. CAFO’s create local jobs in rural areas, increase tax dollars and also support other economic development.
CAFO’s are a direct response to globalization, as well as to increasing demand as the population continues to grow. People want to buy a food product that is of the same quality, a standardized product, every time. With the help of technological advancement, humans can harness the tools they have available to produce enough food, therefore, more farms should switch to the best methods available. Environmentalists who oppose CAFO’s are fundamental Luddites and will only obstruct human
even as nicely controlled, placed, and monitored, CAFOs can offer a low-fee supply of meat, milk, and eggs, because of inexperienced feeding and housing of animals, extended facility duration, and animal specialization (Molden, D. et al., 2007). while CAFOs are proposed in a neighborhood region, it's also argued that they may beautify the nearby financial machine and growth employment (Garnett, T., 2008). The results of the usage of nearby substances, feed, and cattle are argued to ripple throughout the monetary gadget, and extended tax charges will result in multiplied finances for colleges and infrastructure (Carrie,
“This is horrible! I can’t even watch this!” Those were my immediate thoughts the first time my eyes were opened to the inhumane animal cruelty on factory farms. Factory farming enables mass production to supply the demands of today’s society but also enables the cruel treatment of animals. We need to end the cruelty and abuse that these animals have to endure at the factory farms because it causes loss to the business, reduces the quality of the product produced, and endangers the health of those who buy the product. We can promote humane treatment of factory farm animals by prevention through education, by enforcing humane laws by being an example of humane animal treatment, and by donating and/or
Author, Michael Pollan believes the industrial food chain is hurting the environment, livestock and the consumers. First of all, he states, “The flood of extra nitrogen causes a wild growth of algae, and the algae take up all the oxygen in the water, smothering the fish.”(34) The extra water from the concentrated animal feeding organization may seem harmless but is actually very harmful to the other animals not in the CAFOs. Pollan also points out,”They’re made to eat forage,”...,”...and we’re making them eating grain...”(58). The cows are being fed something they weren't designed to eat and therefore getting sick. In addition to that, “Some of this bacteria are finding their way into our food...”(49). The bacteria bred by the CAFOs doesn't
A poll conducted by the ASPCA revealed that 94% of Americans believe that production animals, specifically those raised for food, deserve to live a comfortable life free of cruelty and neglect. Despite this belief, many factory farm animals are abused and neglected in such ways that, if witnessed by consumers, would not be accepted. Over 99% of the United State’s farm animals live on factory farms that use them for means of profit, many of them violating the Animal Welfare Act and other laws put in place to protect the humane treatment of animals (ASPCA). This abuse is not limited to any specific type of farm animal. Although different animals are used for different purposes, they all share a common suffering and a need for humane care.
Most people do not take a second thought about where their food came from. Whether it be chicken, steak, or pork, the meat was most likely raised in a Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO). Hundreds to thousands of animals in horrid conditions from birth to slaughter at these factory farms. While damaging animals, CAFOs also damage the environment and the effects of these farms are worsening, with more farms resorting to these methods. Popular brands using these methods include global producers like Smithfield Foods and Tyson Foods. The United States Department of Agriculture defines a CAFO as an Animal Feeding Operation that houses “...more than 1000 animal units...” (nrcs.usda.gov). These “units” are later defined as “...an animal
In the novel, The War of the Worlds, H.G. Wells repeatedly uses Gothic horror elements that have the potential to provoke strong emotional responses in his readers and possibly an intellectual response as well. It can be maintained that most works of Science Fiction have integrated the use of the Gothic fiction genre and that Science Fiction is born from this particular genre (Roberts, 2006). This can be recognized through The War of the Worlds, where in which Wells uses a combination of Science Fiction and Gothic genre in order to provoke his readers to intellectual conclusions by first drawing their attention through shock and horror. The Gothic genre is known to favour emotional responses over intellectual ones and shock over cognition
Even though higher yields are met for demand and human consumption, factory farming is cruel to animals due to the fact animals are often subject to harsh living conditions, more susceptible to diseases and injuries and are treated inhumanely during the slaughtering process. Unfortunately, with an increase in human population worldwide, the strain on farmers to meet the demand increases as well. This in turn causes more animals to be subject to this cruelty.
Most of the animals under this condition will develop illnesses, abnormalities, go insane, or die before they make it to the slaughterhouse (Alfie, 2010). In the U.S., over 10 billion animals are raised and killed each year for food about 9 billion chickens, 250 million turkeys, 100 million pigs, 35 million cows. The vast majority of these are not raised on small family farms but, rather, in the major agricultural facilities called?factory farms, also known as Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs). The idea of factory farming originated in the 1920s with the discovery of vitamins A and D. When mixed with feed; farm animals were capable of growing without sunlight or exercise, which enabled them to be raised more efficiently in barns throughout the year (Fieser, 2015). Factory farming is a form of capitalism. Capitalism is an economic system that is privately controlled by owners for profit and self-interest (Fieser, 2015). Many philosophers have proposed the principle of equal consideration of interests, in some form or other, as a primary moral value; but, we shall see in more element shortly, not many of them have documented that this principle applies to members of other species as well as to our own. (Singer, 1989). In today society the consumer is much more interested in knowing how the chickens are raised, what they?ve been eating
Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) are an animal factory farm with an enormous number of animals that are contained in a confined area. These CAFOs feed their livestock corn, solely because it is cheap and makes them fat quickly. The high corn diet fed to cows result in more harmful E. Coli that are acid-resistant. Also, cows stand ankle deep in manure all day long with minimal room for movement. This increases the risk of contaminated products during the process of slaughtering and packing the meat. With the lessening of inspections from the FDA from 50,000 in 1972 to 9,164 in 2006 this puts society at a greater risk of consuming contaminated food. In the case of a recall, an immense number of products have to be brought back due to the mass production and the proximity of the animals in which the product was made. As the film illustrates, once this happens it is already too late for some. Children and elderly are put at an increased risk of death from illnesses due to E. Coli
A concentrated animal feeding operation, also known as CAFOs, is an animal feeding operation (CAFO) where animals are held in horrid conditions to be brutally slaughtered after over 45 days of torture. According to cafo.org, an informational website on everything there is to know about CAFOs, animals held in CAFOs are not able to breathe fresh air, are crammed together with hundreds of other animals, and don’t live the life they should. Animal welfare should be of the utmost importance, since eventually people will be buying pounds of them in supermarkets. Though they are slaughtered eventually, these food animals are put through such bad conditions that they have to be pumped and filled with antibiotics and hormones to keep them going and make them bigger for when they’re slaughtered. All those antibiotics could be extremely dangerous to the public health when it comes to consuming the product. Not only that, CAFOs are harmful to the environment as well. These animals are affected by these horrible conditions and in the long run, the environment and humans are too. Recently, there has been some major changes in the animal food policies throughout the states that have
Because COPD affects gas exchange and the oxygenation of all tissues, please describe potential complications of COPD.
“Recognize meat for what it really is: the antibiotic- and pesticide- laden corpse of a tortured animal.” says Ingrid Newkirk, co-founder of (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) PETA and animal activist. Factory farming should be banned or demolished thoroughly due to more harm than good that is being presented worldwide. Animal brutality, which can be found constantly and excessively throughout factory farms, is a deleterious act involving the animals and a diabolic act regarding human morals. The antic actions that proceed have an effect on both humans and the environment, as well as the unethical, inhumane treatment and the atrocious sufferings of animals. Besides factory farms offering a copious amount of cheaper food, factory farming is a detrimental agricultural practice to both humans and the environment. The way we receive our food is inhumane and unhealthy to humans and the environment, thus factory farms should be banned.
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For example, trends in per capita production of beef and pork in the U.S. has remained basically flat during the transition from family farms to CAFOs. Poultry production has increased for other reasons, and has continued to increase long after the industry was taken over by CAFOs. In fact red meat consumption has actually declined in recent years. Retail prices have also remained basically constant, after considering inflation. Any reduction in farm level costs of production have been offset by wider profit margins for food processors and retailers. Consumers have not benefitted economically from CAFOs.”(Missouri). Regardless, CAFOs have been successfully promoted as an economic development strategy for depressed rural communities. However, the promised employment turns out to be low-paying jobs, without benefits, that go primarily to people who move into CAFO communities. Few local people are willing to work under the dangerous and degrading conditions that exist in CAFOs. Most of the profits from factory farms go to outside corporate investors, not to local farmers or rural residents. Any local tax benefits are more than offset by higher costs to repair roads and bridges damaged by the large trucks that service CAFOs and by increased costs of education, health care, and law enforcement made necessary people by who move into communities to work in the CAFOs. Perhaps most important, the controversy that
You shouldn’t have to be an animal lover to get upset over the treatment of these animals. 99% of animals raised in farms are raised in factory farms, and of those, 97% are tortured. On top of that, most of the animals do not receive antibiotics for the abuse they go through.