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Bryan Flores
Professor batter
ENGL 113B
February 24, 2016
Factory Farming Great for Society although it must be renovated
What is farming? When people think about farms or farming, usually they tend to picture
a huge landscape that has a barn in the middle, a couple dozen cattle walking freely in a few
acres of rangeland, pigs fenced in pins and acres of different varieties of crops. A farm is a
wonderful place in the eyes of people, but what usually comes to mind when they hear the words
factory farm? A factory farm, also called CAFOS (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations), is
a whole different story. Factory farming is where mass production of slaughtering animals such
as pigs, chickens and cattle take place. These animals are not free to walk around in open spaces;
instead they are crammed into small spaces to eat, poop, and be restricted freedom. Factory
farming has both pros and cons.
Factory farming isnt as terrible as it sounds. In fact, factory farming has quite a few
benefits. Factory farming keeps meats in the market very affordable for society. Without factory
farming, meat would be noticeably more expensive. CAFOs are also really good at meeting the
demand of meat that our society asks for. Although there are pros to factory farming, the cons
outweigh the pros. In factory farming, the animal conditions in these facilities are very
inhumane. Animals are raised poorly and at extreme rates with antibiotics which lead to poor
nutrition. Factory farming can be beneficial towards society; however, it should be renovated so
that it can be better for both humans and the animals.

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Factory farming is very beneficial for economic reasons pertaining to society because it
allows meat to become outstandingly affordable. It becomes very affordable to society because
animals are being raised in mass numbers and also slaughtered at the same time with little money
invested. For instance, in an article I called Factory Farms are They Good For Consumers
Farrell explains how Due to technology and economies of scale, factory farms can produce food
at less cost than smaller farms, which enables customers to save money on food
purchases(Farrell 1). The author explains how small farms require more money to invest in the
animals whereas factory farming takes a small portion of money to do so. Although it is
beneficial to society it can also be a terrible experience for the animals.
In these factory farms, animals are mistreated and live in a disgusting environment.
Animals are limited to a lot of things such as sun light and enough room to move comfortably
around. Hypothetically speaking that would be as horrible as being in a space that is designed to
fit four people comfortably, but instead ten people are forced into that limited space. This is
exactly what these animals must face constantly. In an article called Factory Farming Misery for
Farming they mention how harsh the living conditions are for these animals. Theyre often
given so little space that they cant even turn around or lie down comfortably. Egg-laying hens
are kept in small cages, chickens and pigs are kept in jam-packed sheds, and cows are kept on
crowded, filthy feedlots (Factory Farming Misery for Farming 1) Not only do they have a
small space to be kept in but cattle, pigs and chickens live within their own feces. Farm animals
live very stressful lives and usually show signs of fear or mistrust until they are finally
slaughtered. Meat prices can be very affordable but farm animals have to go through all of this
mistreatment to make it affordable. The manner in which these animals are raised in is a big
problem for the animals and also for society.

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Factory farms are great at meeting the demand of meat for society as well as providing
sufficient amounts of dairy products and eggs. With the average adult in the US eating about .36
pounds of meat a day ( Molla 1) 1,996 pounds(Aubrey 1) of diary a year, and 6.91 billion
(www.aeb.org 1) egg shells produced a year. How do these farms keep up with producing

massive amounts of meat, diary, and eggs? The United States itself slaughtered about 3 billion
animals (ww.humanesociety.org 1) in the year 2015. In the United States there are
approximately 318 million people living there. Thats approximately 9 farm animals for each
human in the U.S for a year. They are raised and slaughtered so quickly by using antibiotics and
hormones to increase growth and weight. Cattle themselves are given hormones to increase milk
production and are impregnated every so often to keep the milk production successful to meet
demands. In an article called Factory farming and human health they explain how Cows in
the dairy industry can be given growth hormones in order to increase their milk production. Once
their productivity declines, these cows are slaughtered for beef.( www .farmsanctuary.org 1)
The only animal that isnt injected with hormones or antibiotics but is fed a chemical are
chickens despite their ability to reproduce really quickly. On a website called Farm Sanctuary
people are informed about what the current conditions these animals are forced to go through
such as chickens. Arsenic is added to the feed of approximately 70% of the broilers raised each
year because it is believed to promote growth.( www.farmsanctuary.org 1) These inhumane
farmers feed the chickens arsenic which makes them grow rapidly. This affects the chickens
because they grow faster than their bones can handle which can lead to problems such as not
being able to walk properly. For humans it is unhealthy to eat these chickens that are fed arsenic
because its known to give cancer as a dangerous side affect.

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Although factory farming can deliver a massive amount of food products such as meat
and dairy to the public, they are not as healthy to humans as perceived. Chickens are fed food
with arsenic in it so that they can grow bigger quicker which leads to problems like cancer. In an
article called Chickens used for Meat they explain, 55% of uncooked chicken purchased
from supermarkets contained arsenic, which is known to cause cancer in humans.
(www.farmsanctuary.org 1) The manner in which chickens are forced to reproduce and grow
poses a threat to the health of many people with extreme consequences of even cancer. Although
many families rely on factory farm meat, organic meat compared to factory meat is not only a lot
healthier for humans but the chickens are raised organically and stress free.
There are many solutions to renovating or stopping factory farming. Although factory
farming can produce massive amounts of products for society and keeping them at a cheap prize
the animals suffer and its unhealthy for humans. If you are a true meat eater switch to organic
meat its healthier and the animals dont go through all that suffering of being mistreated and
living in tight spaces. Although factory farming is very cheap it should be renovated to treat the
animals better, instead of keeping them concentrated in small spaces they can let the animals
catch some fresh air once in a while. They should also stop there practices of using arsenic
chemicals in there chickens. The biggest solution I find to ending animal cruelty in farms and
people becoming sick because of these products is to not consume meat or dairy products that
come from factory farming, what else is better than vegetables for nutrition. Veggies all the way.

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Works Cited
Aubrey, Allison. "The Average American Ate (Literally) A Ton This Year." NPR. NPR. Web.
22 Feb. 2016.
Factory Farming and Human Health." Farm Sanctuary. Web. 22 Feb. 2016.
Farrell, Robert R., and Stacey L. Palm. "Factory Farms Are They Good for Consumers?
Factory Farms Are They Good for Consumers? Web. 17 Feb. 2016.
"Industry Overview - American Egg Board." Industry Overview - American Egg Board. Web. 23
Feb. 2016.
"Factory Farming: Misery for Animals." PETA. Web. 19 Feb. 2016.
Molla, Ranni. "How Much Meat Do Americans Eat? Then and Now." The Numbers RSS. Web.
21 Feb. 2016.