Food Essay
.docx
School
Forest Hill Collegiate Institute**We aren't endorsed by this school
Course
ENG 3U
Subject
Biology
Date
Dec 20, 2024
Pages
5
Uploaded by CommodoreSheepMaster1126
David JingMr. LeeENG3U15 March 2024Misplaced Trust: The Food Industry and Factory FarmsIt is not a question that the human body needs food to survive, however, the trustworthiness of the mainstream food industry as the source of sustenance is increasingly questioned. In recent years, skepticism has risen out of the shady practices within the meat industry and it's factory farms. For years, people have been intentionally left in the dark about the happenings in this industry, the idea of a quaint family run farm where animals live happily isjust an illusion, the reality of mass farming reveals cold steel floors and the cries of thousands of animals. Nevertheless, consumers still purchase factory farmed meat without a second glance, indirectly funding cruelty against animals. Additionally, concerns arise regarding what exactly is going in the food consumed by masses, and if the food industry is telling people what they want to know. After careful examination, it becomes clear that the food industry can not be trusted because of the inhumane conditions they put animals and employees into, as well as the environmental side effects brought about by industrial farming. To begin, it is not unknown that animals are treated inhumanely inside of factory farms.Many animals are forced into small dirty pens, giving them limited motion and exposing them to their own waste matter, causing sickness and disease. Chickens, for example, are often subject tothe grim reality of battery cages, a type of cage where multiple animals are packed tightly together in spaces scarcely larger than a drawer, a cruel testament to their plight. The unclean conditions of the chickens environment exposes them to potentially fatal infections including Salmonella and E.coli. In an attempt to prevent these sicknesses, the food industry pumps their
livestock with antibiotics, three-quarters of the worlds antibiotics are used on farm animals, this practice however, is driving the emergence of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria, also known as superbugs. Superbugs are viruses, fungi, and parasites resistant to most common antibiotics. According to economist Jim O’Neill, 700,000 people die of superbugs each year (O'Neill #13). Apart from unhealthy living conditions and infection, many animals face physical abuse at factory farms. The process of debeaking, where female chickens have parts of their beaks cut off is a practice that causes chronic pain and leaves the chicken in a state of sensitivity when using their beaks for the rest of their lives. Debeaking is performed in order to prevent chickens from pecking and potentially cannibalizing each other, behaviours that stem from the overcrowded and stressful environment inside factory farms. The inhumanity on factory farms extends beyondanimals, workers too are often subject to mistreatment and exploitation. Many workers are taken advantage of and work in concerning environments where they can be exposed to harmful air pollutants such as ammonia which can lead to respiratory diseases. Workers may be subject to amputation. Tyson, the company that supplies many fast-food chains like McDonald’s reported that an average of one amputation a month occurs in their factories (Solis). The exploitation of immigrant workers, who often come from poor backgrounds and face language barriers, is also distressingly common. A 2009 National Agricultural Workers Survey detailed that 38% of workers in factory farms do not speak English (Patton). To build on that, workers of an immigrant background make up most of the deaths, a factory farm in Gainesville, Atlanta reported that 5 out of 6 workers who were killed in accidents were migrants. This compelling evidence as highlighted by the exploitation of workers and livestock shows that the food industrydoes not value human or animal life.
Another reason to distrust the food industry are the damages factory farming does to the environment. The sheer scale of animal agriculture, especially in factory farms, places immense pressure on natural resources. These farms require vast amounts of land, water, and food for livestock, leading to deforestation as forests are cleared to make way for agricultural land. Deforestation not only destroys vital ecosystems but also reduces biodiversity and disrupts local climates. The expansion of agricultural land for livestock farming also leads to habitat destruction and fragmentation, resulting in the loss of plant and animal species. From 1990 to 2020, 178 million hectares of forest was lost to agricultural expansion to house and feed livestock. Animal agriculture accounted for 63% of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon Rainforest between 2000 and 2013 (UN). Furthermore, livestock, particularly cattle, are major producers of methane, a potent greenhouse gas with 20 times more global warming potential than CO2. The high concentration of livestock in factory farms means that large quantities of methane are released into the atmosphere, contributing significantly to climate change, with factory farms accounting for 37% of global methane emissions (EPA). In addition to methane, factory farms also emit ammonia and other air pollutants including CO2, with 2.4 billion tons being released annually, which can contribute to smog formation and have negative effects on airquality. Moreover, the vast amounts of animal waste generated by factory farms often contaminates water sources, polluting rivers, lakes, and groundwater and harming aquatic ecosystems, putting public health at risk. Animal manure contains traces of salts and heavy metals that concentrates as it moves up the food chain, potentially ending back in humans. In summary, the environmental impacts of factory farming, including greenhouse gas emissions, water and air pollution, and deforestation, are profound and show the food industry’s negligence regarding global warming.
To conclude, after careful examination, it becomes undeniably clear that the food industryand it's factory farms cannot be trusted. The inhumane practices including cruel treatment of animals who are confined to small cages, live in their own waste, and injected with unnatural antibiotics, to the exploitation of migrant workers who work in dangerous positions without proper training or equipment and often face mutilation or even death, coupled with the environmental degradation caused by the release of methane, CO2, and other pollutants, underscores the food industry’s lack of responsibility and accountability for it’s actions and any consequences that may occur. This realization prompts a reassessment of consumer trust in the industry and highlights the imperative for greater transparency and accountability. In the end, thefood industry in it's current stage can not be trusted because of it's unethical and damaging actions.Works CitedO’Neill, Jim. “TACKLING DRUG-RESISTANT INFECTIONS GLOBALLY: FINAL REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS.” AMR Review, Review on Antimicrobial Resistance, 19 May 2016, amr-review.org/sites/default/files/160518_Final%20paper_with%20cover.pdf. Accessed 7 March 2024.Solis, Marie. “Tyson Factory Workers Average One Amputation a Month So You Can Have Your Chicken Nuggets.” Yahoo Finance, https://sg.finance.yahoo.com/news/tyson-factory-workers-average-one-230900185.html. Accessed 7 March 2024.
Patton, Lindsay. “The Human Victims of Factory Farming.” One Green Planet https://www.onegreenplanet.org/environment/the-human-victims-of-factory-farming/.“The State of the World's Forests: Forests, Biodiversity and People.” UN Environment Programme, 22 May 2020, https://www.unep.org/resources/state-worlds-forests-forests-biodiversity-and-people?_ga=2.160878463.314880010.1639474915-1201634809.1638010939. Accessed 7 March 2024.“Agriculture and Aquaculture: Food for Thought | US EPA.” Environmental Protection Agency, https://www.epa.gov/snep/agriculture-and-aquaculture-food-thought. Accessed 7March 2024.