Download Michael O`Neil Why Worry Sept 13, 2012 548 Words

Michael O’Neil
Why Worry
Sept 13, 2012
548 Words
In the past few decades, large industrial farms started up to meet the rising demand of
food from the increasing human population. To save space and maximize output and profits,
animals are kept in high packed facilities. Hundreds or thousands of animals may be held in the
same facility. Over half of the United States’ food supply comes from just 5% of the animal
production facilities (An HSUS Report: The Impact of Industrialized Animal Agriculture on the
Environment). The poor conditions and sustainability of factory problems can lead to several
health, waste, and environmental issues.
Animal waste is one of the major concerns of factory farms. On a sustainable farm,
manure can be used as a tool to fertilize the land; however, factory farms produce more manure
than what the land can absorb due to high animal population density (Factory Farming).
Disposing the waste is expensive, which causes approximately 90% of the manure to remain on
the land where it was produced. Manure that is not used to fertilize the land is held is mixed
with water and held in lagoons. These have the potential to leak and contaminated local water
supplies. Water can also be polluted if the land is oversaturated with nutrients from the manure.
Excess nitrogen and phosphorus nutrients have been known to threaten aquatic life (An HSUS
Report: The Impact of Industrialized Animal Agriculture on the Environment). In one incident
in New York, a dairy farm spilled several million gallons of manure from a lagoon into the Black
River, killing 350,000 fish (Anniversary of Dairy Farm Spill Marks Advancements in CAFOs,
2007). Lagoons also have the potential to leech into ground water or release toxic hydrogen
sulfide and ammonia into the air (Factory Farming). Factory farms cannot sustain the amount of
waste they produce and pose large threats to the environment.
Another concern with factory farms is the use of antibiotics. The livestock are at high
risk of infection due to the confinement of the facility, as well as the overall poor living
conditions causing stress on the animals and weakened immune systems. Antibiotics are added
to their feed to reduce the risk of infection (Antibiotics). Antibiotics have also been shown to
increase the growth rate animals by 4-8% (Butaye, Devriese, & Haesebrouck, 2003). Overuse of
antibiotics allows for bacteria to evolve into a new strand which is resistant to that particular
antibiotic. These new antibiotic resistant bacteria can be transferred to humans through multiple
pathways. People can be infected through improper food preparation, but also contamination of
other food products from the meat. Farmers can also be contaminated through direct contact
with the animals, and manure can also contaminate water supplies through lagoon leakage or
crop spraying. Antibiotic resistant bacteria can be deadly as treatment options are limited. Tens
of thousands of deaths occur in the United States from antibiotic resistant bacteria (European
Union Bans Antibiotics for Growth Promotion, 2006). An alternative solution must be found to
prevent the overuse of antibiotics.
There has been little effort to solve the sustainability problem of factory farms in the
United States. Since 2006, the use of antibiotics for growth promotion has been banned in
Europe, but no such regulating has been implemented in the United States. There have been
some companies such as Tyson Foods or Perdue Farms which have stopped using antibiotics in
their chicken for growth promotion (European Union Bans Antibiotics for Growth Promotion,
2006). Consumers can help with the issue by trying to buy food from local farm, but this is not
always a viable option for people. More regulations need to be implemented to help with the
sustainability regarding factory farms.
Works Cited
European Union Bans Antibiotics for Growth Promotion. (2006, Februrary 6). Retrieved
September 13, 2012, from Union of Concerned Scientists:
http://www.ucsusa.org/food_and_agriculture/solutions/wise_antibiotics/european-unionbans.html
Anniversary of Dairy Farm Spill Marks Advancements in CAFOs. (2007, September). Retrieved
September 13, 2012, from Department of Environmental Conservation:
http://www.dec.ny.gov/environmentdec/36936.html
An HSUS Report: The Impact of Industrialized Animal Agriculture on the Environment. (n.d.).
Retrieved September 13, 2012, from Humane Society:
http://www.humanesociety.org/assets/pdfs/farm/hsus-the-impact-of-industrializedanimal-agriculture-on-the-environment.pdf
Antibiotics. (n.d.). Retrieved September 13, 2012, from Sustainability Table:
http://www.sustainabletable.org/issues/antibiotics/
Butaye, P., Devriese, L. A., & Haesebrouck, F. (2003, April). Antimicrobial Growth Promoters
Used in Animal Feed: Effects of Less Well Known Antibiotics on Gram-Positive Bacteria.
Retrieved September 13, 2013, from National Center for Biotechnology Information:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC153145/
Factory Farming. (n.d.). Retrieved September 13, 2012, from Sustainable Table:
http://www.sustainabletable.org/issues/factoryfarming/