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Keir Crawford

Ms. Holland

Honors English 11

22 April 2024

The Downfalls of Factory Farming

In modern America almost all of the animal products we consume are farmed in CAFOs,

or Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations, these are large-scale industrial farms that are

notorious for their inhumane practices and unnaturally proportioned meats. The meat products

produced by CAFOs are pumped full of antibiotics and hormones that have been proven to

degrade your health. I remember my dad telling me the story of how the tradition of hunting in

my family started with my great grandmother who immigrated from Ireland to become a

Pioneers Woman in America. Factory Farming is directly related to the decline in the health of

millions of people by its cheap methods of producing animal products, and disregard for the

environmental impact in local communities. As factory farming has become the main source of

food in our world, it has caused the rise of zoonotic diseases; diseases spread between man and

animal, contaminated waters, and held low-income communities in a choke hold.

A major health risk related to factory farming is the increase in drug-resistant bacteria

contaminating the meats provided by these farms. These “Super Bugs” came to rise due to the

overuse of antibiotics on farmed animals and are now causing premature deaths across the

country. In the article “One Million Human Deaths Linked to Factory Farming, Set to Double by

2050.” published by Agricultural Week, a publication agency focused on providing the most

recent developments in the agricultural community, they state that the cause of these deaths are

because of the lack of regulations put on industrial farms use of these medications and gave some
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statistics to back their claims, “Around three-quarters of the world's antibiotics are used in

farmed animals”. This just shows the extreme overuse of drugs in this industry, and explains

how these bacteria have evolved a resistance to them. Due to antibiotics no longer keeping

bacteria out of America's food, people are beginning to experience declines in their health due to

their consumption of these products, “...superbugs common in factory farming… were linked to

975,000 human deaths and 35 million illnesses in 2019. That's more deaths than some common

cancers like colon or liver cancer, HIV/AIDS, or malaria”. As the title of this article implies,

these numbers are anticipated to double in just a few years. This means that by 2050 at least .6%

of the American population will die of factory farming related causes every year and 21.02% of

the population will suffer from illnesses of the same cause (Agricultural Week). This shows the

vast number of people that are currently, and will be, affected by the overuse of antibiotics in the

farming industry.

Beyond the scope of just the effect of factory farming on Americans, people across the

globe are suffering the consequences of cheap, improperly sourced meats. The western dietary

patterns, which began as a result of large scale farming operations, are preying on the

vulnerability of low income communities, in countries such as Brazil, causing them to be more

susceptible to diseases spread from animal to man, also known as zoonotic diseases. Brian

Katema wrote an article on this topic, “In Low-Income Countries, Meat isn't the Problem.

U.S.-Style Animal Agriculture is,” published by Fast Company, Kateman is a professor of

environmental science and sustainability at Kean University and is a co-founder of the

Reducetarian Foundation. In his article, Kateman discusses the impact that large scale farming

has on smaller communities as well as on the environment. In regard to the risks factory farming

poses, Kateman states, “They increase the risk of zoonotic disease, antibiotic resistance, and
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contamination.” Bacterial issues have become a common theme in cheap meat, but Kateman

also elaborates on how the potential for contaminated meat products is a common risk in these

facilities. Expanding on this, Kateman discusses how large meat companies scavenge for cheap

forested environments to build their factories and expand their local impact on the surrounding

people, “...JBS and Cargill are among the biggest culprits behind deforestation in the Brazilian

Amazon and Cerrado, destroying protected land to raise livestock.” These are two of the largest

suppliers of food in the world that preach on nourishing the world, yet are the biggest

contributors to destroying said world. The way that people are currently consuming and

producing meat products is slowly destroying not only this planet but the health of families

internationally.

Although the negative impacts of factory farming are in-arguable, some stand that there

are benefits. In the article, “Criticism of Animal Farming in the West Risks Health of World's

Poorest” by The Guardian, who is a left leaning publisher who works to say reliable with facts

and analysis in their reporting, they claim that Factory Farming can be incredibly beneficial for

low income communities due to how it allows for an abundance of available and affordable

animal products for those who cannot afford to buy from their local ranchers and suppliers. In

these poorer countries there isn't any surplus of food like in The States, or other Western

countries, and thus their health is impacted from not having Industrial Farms there to provide

them with the necessary nutrients and proteins to live a healthy lifestyle, “The average European

consumes 69 kg of meat every year, the average African 10kg… In 2020, 149 million children

under five were stunted by malnutrition.” This shows the stark difference in nutrition and health

in communities with available, cheap meat provided by these industrial grade farms and the areas

that have no access to this level of continuous food production. And while it is true that Factory
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farming would diminish the amount of malnutrition and stunted growth in low income areas, it is

not a sure fire solution because it ignores the fact that Factory Farming is the cause of the spread

of dozens of diseases that will only further diminish the health of these communities that The

Guardian believes so desperately need that level of farming. Kateman discussed how detrimental

introducing Factory Farms to smaller communities would be, as it causes various diseases and

targets vulnerable immune systems, but he also introduced a campaign started by Jane Goodall,

a renowned researcher and environmental activist, against animal- gifting programs that calls out

Industrial Farming companies such as Cargill and JBS. This goes to show that we do not truly

need a surplus source of food, just simply food with a natural balance of nutrients.

In short, factory farming can be directly linked to the decline of the health of millions of

people by its cheap methods of producing animal products, and disregard for the environmental

impact in local communities as it destroys forests and damages the local water table. Factory

farming is now the main provider of animal products in our world, especially in the west, it has

caused the rise of zoonotic diseases that target the poor and underprivileged communities, it has

contaminated water leading to parasitic outbreaks, and held low-income communities in a choke

hold as they produce the largest and most affordable products available. Activists around the

world, like Brian Kateman and Jane Goodall, are trying to reverse the spread of this style of

production so that it does not harm anymore homes, they are also trying to find sustainable

alternatives that can provide these families and communities with equivalent benefits.

Unfortunately by 2025 it is estimated that two million Americans will be dead due to diseases

inherited from consuming factory farmed products, whether it be by cardiac damage, vulnerable

livers, or one of the many zoonotic or parasitic diseases that come directly from ingesting these

products. There are currently 333.3 million people living in The United States of America, and
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if 72 people are expected to have a decline in their health, or die, from factory produced meats in

2025 (Agricultural Week) then the likelihood of you knowing one of these people is incredibly

high. The spread of industrial grade farming is a disease plaguing our nation, and threatening to

spill across the world. This is why I believe that the end of factory farming is crucial to the health

of America and the safety of all that call this country home.
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Works Cited

Kateman, Brian. “In Low-Income Countries, Meat isn't the Problem. U.S.-Style

Animal Agriculture is.” Fast Company, 2 February 2022, Impact,

fastcompany.com/90723170/in-low-income-countries-meat-isnt-the-problem-u-s-style-

Animal-agriculture-is.

Naluyima, Emma and Lora Iannotti. “Criticism of Animal Farming in the West Risks

Health of World's Poorest.” The Guardian, 10 September 2021, Opinion,

theguardian.com/global-development/2021/sep/10/criticism-of-animal-farming-in-the-

west-risks-health-of-worlds-poorest

“One Million Human Deaths Linked to Factory Farming, Set to Double by 2050.” Agricultural

Week, 27 April 2023, Gale in Context,

gale.com/apps/doc/A746685567/OVIC?u=onlinelibrary&sid=bookmark-

OVIC&xid=c4ed8f1c.