Factory farming, also known as industrial farming, is the large scale rearing of animals using intensive methods under controlled conditions. Often it involves rearing of pigs, cows and chicken in an enclosed place, in large numbers to produce poultry, dairy products and meat for human consumption (Block, 2009). Started in the early decades of the 20th Century, the practice was meant to ensure proper animal feeding at a relatively low cost while increasing the output. According to Lymbery & Oakshott, (2015) industrial farming has increased food security and the use of technology in farming, storage and shipment of the products and by-products.
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Business ethics are the moral values and principles that guide the way in which commercial activities are conducted in an industry. They are meant to protect the stakeholders involved, while doing what is right. Business ethics in industrial farming are considered to be highly violated. The animals involved are confined to conditions that are only beneficial to the farmer, while the animal suffers. Once their use has been expunged they are slaughtered and their off springs placed under the same conditions (Block, 2009). To the consumer of the products, their health is adversely affected; overproduction of meat leads to its overconsumption and obesity becomes real.
Industrial farming was as a product of technological advancement; accordingly it minimizes costs of production, increases revenue and raises the profit margins. It has adversely affected small family farm businesses. In the 1930s, most of the leading economies were highly depending on importation of food from other countries. In 1940, small family farming accounted for 54% of the entire food consumed globally while the rest was catered for by cash crop farming (Block, 2009). By 2002, small family farming accounted for 1.5% of the food in the market while industrial farming took the lion’s share. Currently, small family farming is almost negligible: the same case applies to small packaging and transportation firm that have been put out of business by industrial farming.
According to a FAO report in 2013, factory farming is founded on complete neglect of animals’ other needs except for food and at times reproduction. It’s based on immoral business ethics and cruelty to animals. Industrial farming has one only and ultimate goal; optimization of output and cost effectiveness. Most for the animals in the industry are sentinent creatures that feel pain, neglect as well as love. To a great extent they are denied proper interaction with each other and they are tormented emotionally. This is especially after birth; the young ones are not allowed to interact freely with their mothers.
In order to fully capture the level of animal cruelty, let’s examine the rearing of the two most common animals in industrial farming; pigs and chicken. In poultry farming, it’s either for egg production or meat. In egg production, once the eggs have hatched the male chicks are quickly put to death as they are not viable for the course; this is also the case for any downed female chicks. The female chicks are debeaked, their nails are clipped and housed to maturity (Lymbery & Oakshott, 2015). During this time they are highly vaccinated and feed primarily of GMOs and. Upon maturity, they are moved to an egg laying area, where every chicken is confined to a 2 feet square bird cage where they cannot easily move (Lymbery & Oakshott, 2015). Here, there are hundreds of egg laying birds stacked in layers. It increases their chances of spreading infection to each other and there is no movement. The chicken ages quickly due to the unfriendly conditions and is destroyed shortly after.
Pigs are restrained to a small pen that does not allow for any movement. While still piglets, their tailed are amputated, males are castrated, ears notched and teeth clipped. All these are painful procedures done without anesthesia. Upon maturity, the males are slaughtered and sold for meat while the females are inseminated. They are moved to gestational crates for months until they give birth to the young ones. These crates do not allow for any movements deemed unnecessary (Lymbery & Oakshott, 2015). They are then moved to farrowing crates, which are designed to discourage any movement, allow for eating and drinking for the adult pig and breast feeding for the piglets. Once the piglets have breastfed for roughly two months, they start the above process, while the mother is inseminated again (Lymbery & Oakshott, 2015). Once the pig can no longer reproduce or becomes downed, it is destroyed.
Presently, nearly 65 billion cows, chickens and pigs are locked up under factory farming practices (FAO Report, 2013). In an effort to ensure that the time taken by the animal to mature is reduced to become as short as possible; they are fed GMO corn instead of grass and other fodder crops. In an attempt to reduce illness, which is a result of poor living conditions, and provide vitamin D for the animals, which they would acquire by basking in the sun; they are constantly given antibiotics. These antibiotics degrade the environment when they drain into lakes, rivers or the sewerage system. The factories have also played a role in global warming by emitting greenhouse gases. According to a FAO report in 2013, industrial farming accounts for 18% of all greenhouse gases emitted globally. These gases include methane and nitrous oxide gas that are 80 times more harmful to the ozone layer as compared to carbon-monoxide. The industry contributes 37% of the total methane gas emitted globally.
Consumption of the products from factory farming is harmful to human health. Due to the increase use of antibiotics and growth hormones during incubation and rearing of the animals, the products contain the residues (Casuto, 2007). The effects are consequently passed on to human beings, explaining the exceedingly high rate at which teenagers are maturing and increased in obesity. Consumption of the products also leads to drug resistance in both the animals and human beings, consequently increasing the population ailing from lifestyle diseases.
Animal activists and welfarists have come up to defend animals against cruelty in industrial farming. Animal welfarists advocate for liable consumption of animals to satisfy human needs as companions, food, clothes and research specimens. The animals should not be put to unnecessary anguish. Activists on the other hand advocate for treating animals as equals to human beings (Lymbery & Oakshott, 2015). They should not be slaughtered for human consumption nor should their products be consumed by humans.
Vegetarians avoid eating meat and meat products but consume animal products like dairy products and eggs, on the other hand vegans do not eat meat and any animal products (Block, 2009). Both groups heavily rely on plants for their bodily vitamins and nutrients. It is however not a diet that can be sustained globally given that currently the world has only 10% of its land viable for plant farming, and less of it being utilized for the same.
CAFOs is a term used to describe confined animal feeding operations, are used in industrial farming. Free range is rearing animals in a large farm, where they eat grass and other natural plants and busk in the sun for vitamin D (Casuto, 2007). Even though the output in industrial farming is high, the cost of maintenance is also high compared to free range animal rearing. Free range has minimal effects on the climate and global warming in comparison to its counterpart.
Founded in 1986, farm sanctuary is a movement that fights for animal protection in industrial farming (Kirby, 2010). Its primary mission is to combat animal cruelty and fight for the right to have animals treated compassionately and promote a vegan diet. The sanctuary achieves this mission by educating the public on animal rights and creating awareness on the benefits of a vegan diet. It engages in animal rescue and proper care of the rescued animals. In an ideal situation, there would be no need to have such an organization, taking such drastic measures to protect animals (Kirby, 2010). Conversely, due to the increase in industrial farming and animal cruelty the sanctuary plays a significant role in the society.
Industrial farming harms human beings, the environment and the animals, but with all these effects it’s flourishing. The major way to reduce its effect is to reduce its output. Reduction in output can only be done by reducing demand for meat. In 2011, United States alone slaughtered 110.9million hogs, 34.1million cattle, 853000 calves and 2.2million sheep for consumption (Lymbery & Oakshott, 2015). There is need to educate the public on the effects of consumption of excess meat than the body requires for proper functioning. The other way to make factory farming sustainable is by installation of bio-filters to reduce the amount of methane gas produced. The biofilters should be made from biodegradable components like wood that over time degrade without harming the environment.
The spaces and confining cages used should be big enough to allow the animals to make movements and have a level of freedom. The animal diet should also be changed by decreasing the use of antibiotics and growth hormones (Kirby, 2010). The government should also offer subsidies that will attract the population back to free range farming, which has fewer effects on the environment and the population.
Processed meat includes sausages, bacon, ham, beef jerky, canned meat and corned meat. It is usually smoked, canned, salted or dried (Lymbery & Oakshott, 2015), done to improve shelf life. Processed meat has sodium nitrite, which is used as a preservative. Nitrites are associated with cancer. Consumption of red meat together with alcohol leads to liver cirrhosis, hypertension by contacting the veins and gout. Consumption of processed white meat usually has remnants of preservatives which activates production of fat (Lymbery & Oakshott, 2015). The result is fat accumulation in the body, obesity follows suit and weight related ailments follow suit. These ailments include heart diseases, varicose veins and increased blood clots.
Salted meat once consumed, increases the level of salt in the body (Kirby, 2010). Excessive salts increases chances of developing stomach ulcers, which if not properly treated can lead to stomach cancer. Excessive salt from salted meat is not easily digested and ends up on the inner linings of veins, leading to vein hardening (Kirby, 2010). Vein flexibility is reduced and blood is not properly pumped back to the heart. Some of the symptoms are shortness of breath and chest pains.
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Meat and animal product form a significant part of human nutrition. Globally, adopting a vegan diet would not be sustainable as there is not enough plant farming viable land to feed the entire population. Conversely, animal farming should be done responsibly, without causing harm to the animals and not harming the environment. The products from this farming should also not be harmful to human health. If the aforementioned strategies re implemented, the negative effects of industrial farming will be adversely reduced.
