by: Gowri Sunil
Local Editor

Stretching back to the 1970s, the American meat industry has employed mass production tactics, known as factory farming, to amplify their profits while keeping cultivation costs low. The farmers primarily use cows, chickens, and pigs that are selectively bred and experience immense physical pain through the process. Although these practices raise ethical concerns, long-running debates like animal testing cruelty have proven the concerns over animal treatment barely lead to actionable change. However, over time, factory farming also harms humans and the environment. Policymakers must implement stricter rules for factory farms since they lead to antibiotic-resistant bacteria, pollute communal water sources, and increase greenhouse gas emissions. 

Factory farms frequently give animals antibiotics in order to prevent the quick spread of diseases in their heavily crowded areas. By overusing antibiotics, bacteria become resistant to this medication; this resistant bacteria grows and directly spreads to humans since they eat the meat. Resistant bacteria is extremely dangerous since it makes common infections more difficult to treat in addition to potentially leading to the outbreak of deadly pandemics. Furthermore, according to the World Health Organization, the antibiotic resistant bacteria “makes other medical procedures and treatments – such as surgery, caesarean sections and cancer chemotherapy – much riskier.”

Besides the disease concerns, factory farms also greatly contaminate water sources due to toxic runoff caused by huge quantities of manure and chemicals like nitrogen and phosphorus. The animal excrement transports harmful organisms like Escherichia coli (E. coli) and salmonella, leaving nearby communities to use these polluted water sources.

Additionally, factory farms contribute to global warming. According to the World Animal Protection, factory farms produce 11% of the total carbon emissions in the world. While all cows release methane, the large number of livestock amplifies its effects in addition to the large amount of nitrous oxide from enormous piles of manure. Moreover, factory farms heighten deforestation since the farms need to create land for feed crops like soy. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals noted that “nearly 50% of corn and 70% of soy grown in the U.S. is produced to feed animals raised in [Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations]. Those crops consume vast quantities of water and require enormous amounts of fossil fuels and pesticides, all of which adds to the environmental footprint of the final product.”

Factory farms are meant to feed humans, but instead they deliver dangerous diseases and harm the earth, making strict guidelines from policymakers a necessity.

(Sources: ASPCA, Human League, WHO, World Animal Protection)