Animal Abuse In The Meat Industry

Animal Abuse in the Meat Industry

Hamburgers are one of the most American foods that people are eager to stuff their face with. They are sold anywhere from diners to fast food restaurants with varying quality and price. What is it that makes hamburgers so loved? Americans love their fresh, juicy beef patties, but what aren’t mentioned are the controversial methods of production for that meat. The harsh reality is that conventional farming methods for producing meat are gruesome and macabre; the animals are packed into high density farms where they are constantly being pressured into confined spaces, which are grossly unsanitary, until they are finally “ripe” enough to slaughter. For this reason, organic farming has become popular with their

When viewing the problem of animal abuse in the meat industry through the economic lens, conventional farming methods are more economically feasible than organic farming methods. Therefore, the abuse of animals in the meat industry is indeed worth the final product. Conventional meat is produced efficiently, costs less for the farmer and corporation to produce, and supports Earth’s growing population.

Despite the treatment of farm animals, conventional farming of meat has a higher efficiency than organic farming and exceeds demands, thus allowing low-income homes to afford meat. The film, Food Inc., from Director Robert Kenner revealed that conventional farming is heartbreaking because of the farm animals’ living conditions; however, it also mentions how efficient the farms were when it came to producing more food in a smaller area. As shown in the film, chickens are raised in half the time and are twice as big as they were 50 years ago. Farmers produce more meat for less which leads to consumers paying a lower

One such advocate is Ali Partovi. Partovi addresses in his video, “Why is organic food so *#@! expensive??” on TEDx that the methods of conventional farming use up and don’t renew topsoil; therefore, destroying current cropland and turning it into a desert. He argues that rotating animals and crops and using humane and sustainable permaculture will save our food industry and end animal abuse. Albeit true, permaculture and organic farms require much more land to meet the standards of conventional farming; it is simply not realistic. Another advocate, Nimtshreng Lepcha, for organic farming admits this in the article, "COW URINE KILLS FARM PESTS IN INDIA'S FIRST FULLY ORGANIC STATE INDIA HAS 650,000 ORGANIC FARMERS--MORE THAN ANY OTHER NATION," written by Bibhudatta Pradhan. “. . . organic production is impractical on a mass scale because of inadequate supplies of organic fertilizer and the lower crop yields resulting from organic farming” (Pradhan). Although organic farming is more sustainable and eco-friendly, it currently cannot support a mass population because it is less efficient and has more costs to produce the product. The abuse of animals is not ideal, but it is necessary. Too many resources must be put into organic farming to make it as efficient as conventional farming. On the other hand,