Food is vital for every human being. It provides us with the essential amount of energy and nutrients to continue a healthy living lifestyle. Aside from health and nutrition, it is something that we can all enjoy, but we hardly ever wonder where all this food is coming from. Realistically, does anyone sit down and think about where the meat in their hamburger comes from or the lettuce in their salad? Agriculture is such an important aspect of life but is just vaguely understood.
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| Sustainable Farm |
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| Industrial Farm |
There are two main types of agriculture, industrial agriculture which is today’s dominant form of agriculture that relies on machinery, hormones and antibiotics, synthetic fertilizers, chemical pesticides, large amounts of water, major-transportation systems and factory-style practices for livestock and crops. Or the alternative which is sustainable agriculture that involves food production methods that are healthy, do not harm the environment, respect workers, are humane to animals, provide fair wages to farmers, and support farming communities. All in all, both unparallel one another in methods of producing agriculture.
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Factory farms allow no space for normal animal behaviour. |
Today, our world population is estimated to be 6.9 billion, and is expected to grow to 9.1 billion by 2050. The concern is that with such rapid growth of global human population, how could enough food be produced to feed everyone living on earth? Will the agricultural industry be able to keep up? In order to keep up with population and economic growth, food production should increase by 70% and meat production by over 200 million metric tons to reach 470 million metric tons by 2050 (The Millennium Project). Now that’s a lot of food production! This would be nearly impossible to accomplish with sustainable agriculture, which is why industrial agriculture has captivated our world today.
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A practice of animal mutation known as “debeaking” that takesplace in factory farms. |
Industrial agriculture is not the right choice but is almost appearing to be the only choice. It is not only cheaper but it produces food much quicker in lesser time. “Factory farm” is the ideal name for farms today. Farms today, are actually large industrial facilities, not the green pastures and red barns that most of us imagine. In these farms there actually isn’t any grass or vegetation in the confinement area during the normal growing season. The proper name given to these facilities (farms) is Concentrated (or Confined) Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs). A large CAFO includes 1000 cattle, 2500 hogs over 55 pounds, or 125 000 chickens (Factory Farming). Now that is a lot of animals in one farm, one can only imagine how these animals are being taken care of. Animals are confined closely together in an indoor environment having minimal space to move, they are mutated to adapt to factory farm conditions, and are given low doses of antibiotics and hormones to ward off diseases and promote faster growth.
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No frills advertises lower food prices. I wonder where they get their food from. |
Industrial farming is evidently harmful not only to the animals but to our own health and the environment. There are many concerns regarding this style of agriculture and there need to be a change. Yes, the human population is increasing immensely, but it doesn’t mean life expectancy rates need to decrease either. Ultimately all these hormones and antibiotics and style of farming are harming us, the consumers. We are unnoticeably eating these foods that can eventually harm us. It is wrong and degrading to realize what our world has come to. Food should be a necessity not a virulent disease that we must try and avoid.
REFERENCES
"Animals Used for Food | PETA.org." People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA): The Animal Rights Organization | PETA.org. Web. 08 Feb. 2011. <http://www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-food/default.aspx>.
"Factory Farming, What Is Factory Farm? - The Issues - Sustainable Table." Sustainabletable. Web. 08 Feb. 2011. <http://www.sustainabletable.org/issues/factoryfarming/>.
"The Millennium Project." Global Futures Studies & Research by the MILLENNIUM PROJECT. Web. 08 Feb. 2011. <http://www.millennium-project.org/millennium/Global_Challenges/chall-03.html>.
"Sustainable Agriculture -- National Geographic." Environment Facts, Environment Science, Global Warming, Natural Disasters, Ecosystems, Green Living - National Geographic. Web. 08 Feb. 2011. http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/habitats/sustainable-agriculture/
I COMMENTED ON
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http://angelasbioblog.blogspot.com/2011/01/healthy-happy-world-vs-manure-in-your.html?showComment=1297223964909#c4531037657000221649
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I COMMENTED ON
http://taylorbioblog.blogspot.com/2011/01/au-natural-vs-unnatural-which-is-better.html?showComment=1297225614544#c8924886442839928239
http://angelasbioblog.blogspot.com/2011/01/healthy-happy-world-vs-manure-in-your.html?showComment=1297223964909#c4531037657000221649
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