The Pros And Cons Of Industrial Factory Farming

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Introduction
Industrial factory farming is the process of raising animals in confined spaces for food production (ASPCA, n.d.a). In America, the EPA regulates these facilities which are referred to as CAFOs (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations). Though these facilities are monitored, not all aspects of production are considered wrong. Companies focus more on efficiency which leads to higher profits. This is the main goal of industrial factory farms, fulfilling the constant demand of the people, while maintaining a profit for shareholders. This comes at the expense of the environment, animal welfare, and consumer health.

Issues/Problems
There are several issues when dealing with industrial factory farming. These issues are environmental, health, and animal welfare. Each issue has benefits and issues related to them.

Environmental
The environmental issues related to industrial factory farming are waste production and air pollution. The issues with waste are the volume and storage of the waste. Manure is produced by the animals. This manure is shared with neighboring farms and used to fertilize land. But the amount of manure produced is such a large volume, farms are forced to store it in lagoons. These lagoons can over flow and leak into streams and well water. The issues with air pollution deal with …show more content…

Because of this, they strive for efficiency. This efficiency comes at the cost of the animals, consumer health, and the environment, as mentioned previously. Employees value job security and anonymity. Because most employees are migrant workers, they do not wish to raise alarm to their status. This causes them to not speak out when injustices are taking place. Special interest groups value their own ideals. These social problems would not be known if not for the work of interests groups. End consumers value large volume at cheap prices. Many end consumers use the “not in my backyard” mentality to justify their meat