However, there have been many concerns about animal treatment, public health, and environmental harm. Because these factory farms are so large, they produce enormous amounts of waste, which contributes to pollution in the water and air.1 Antibiotics used for animal disease prevention can also aid the creation of bacteria resistant to antibiotics, making it easier for humans to get new forms of infections.1 This is a very recent method of mass-producing food, and though it has benefits, many small farm owners, environmentalists, public health advocates, and neighbors of these CAFO’s question if the benefits outweigh the costs. Smaller, organic farms often practice agricultural methods that are thought to be safer and less harmful to the animals and to the surrounding environment. To account for these improved conditions, the cost of their food products increase, and the production rate is typically much lower than factory farms. Many of these organic farms are forced to use industrial agriculture techniques to keep up with the high demand for their products.
It encourages a wider range for plants and animals, this leads to a healthier eco system (Johnston). People who farm produce that isn’t organic use many chemicals and pesticides without care, and they let it soak into the soil and the air. It is making animals leave the area, and it doesn’t allow plants to grow back (Jhonston).One other benefit, is when organic foods does not contain hydrogenated fats, in which processed foods do contain this fat (Johnston). Hydrogenated fat actually causes an increase in people’s chances of heart disease and heart attacks (Thorn). Cons of organic: Due to the lack of artificial preservatives
I am an animal lover, so to me the most upsetting part of all of this is that ruminant animals, specifically cows, have such amazing digestive systems and are able to turn grass into protein but instead of being able to utilize that function that are just treated as future food and they are fed species inappropriate diets to fatten the up faster for slaughter. Cows are herbivores, they really do not need to have corn in their diet, and yet most cows are fed a diet that consists mostly of corn because it is cheap and because it makes them fat. It is not good for the cows and, moving on to my next point, it is not good for the people who are ending up eating them. So, my next complaint is that now that we have found such a cheap, fast way to produce beef it is becoming more prevalent in our diets and it is full of hormones and additives that are fattening us up and killing us just as surely as they did the cows before us. However, in these economic times some people can only afford a cheaply made hamburger from a fast food restaurant, whether it is
Plowing or tilling the ground before planting seeds and watering them has been what most farmers do to their land. This practice of over cultivation, however, is one that is also destroying the soil that they feel they are helping. By plowing the soil it leaves it exposed to the elements such as wind that carries this same soil away because of the looseness caused by plowing. With the top soil being removed with major nutrients it can eventually cause the soil to become unfertile. Another cause of soil erosion comes from the overgrazing of land no longer being used to grow crops due to not rainfall.
In David Suzuki’s “Food Connections”, the view of urban supermarkets is portrayed as a major dysfunction, disconnecting the consumer from the land. Suzuki contrasts wealthy people against those from less fortunate areas of the world. He states that those less fortunate are benefiting from their more traditional style markets with organic products and that people with access to supermarkets are losing there connection to the earth and being sold genetically modified products. Developed countries around the world have the technology for copious amounts of refrigeration. Allowing the consumer access to fresh fruits and vegetables from many regions worldwide.
Because a saint would be a great thing to be” (16). The reason I bring this up is not to praise Paul Farmer, but to talk about the ideals that he graciously spreads around like jam on a planet sized piece of toast. The phrase “Every man for himself” seems to have little relevance in the world. Since the early civilizations with hunter-gatherers, humans have worked together as a community, and taken care of each other if need be. So why are there millions of men, women, and children who are sick and starving in our world, while many of us thrive on excess?
Such as inventions and technology; neither of which would have been possible if humans had remained solely focused on tailing a herd of bison or looking for edible berries. Agriculture has also altered human history when it became more technologically advanced. With the usage of pesticides and fertilizers, crops grew in an abundance and lead to things such as inflation of population. This also made plants more likely to survive and, in some cases, made larger and more nourishing for whomever ate them. With more crops grown and the likeliness that they carried disease now almost nonexistent, this allowed the human race to flourish and focus on things other than food.
Corn illustrates how American consumption’s affecting the environment and the health of the consumers because Americans eat massive amounts of food without knowing where it comes from, how it’s produced and what chemicals are in it. The way our nation consumes and views our food is a major issue. Wendell Berry wrote that “Most urban shoppers would tell you that food is produced on farms.” (100) People don’t really know where food comes from; they just assume their food comes from a farm. People don’t know what farms their food’s produced on or where these farms are. People just buy food off the shelves without knowing what’s in it.
Comrades, Napoleon and Squealer have been lying to you; Squealer says that getting your ratio decreased is for a good cause and that it’s your way to help Animal Farm. In reality your ratio decrease means more food for the pigs and more profit for the farm. Is that what you want, having the pigs control everything and not having a say in what happens on the farm? NO comrades, it isn’t what we want; we want to be able to say what we want and to keep all the food that we produce. We have been misled comrades and we have to fix it.
Overgrazing- with less rain fall than normal, animals graze and consume more vegetation that what is being produced. This results in the land becoming barren because there are not enough nutrients to support vegetative growth. Overgrazing can lead to soil erosion and desertification on the land. To reduce these practices people can be more responsible be following a grazing management schedule. Some grasses grow well during the summer and some grow well during the cooler months.