Factory Farming

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A factory farm is a large-scale industrial operation that houses thousands of animals raised for food—such as chickens, turkeys, cows, and pigs—and treats them with hormones and antibiotics to prevent disease and maximize their growth and food output. Factory farming is not only inhumane to the animals, it is harmful to our environment. This is why I have chosen to bring awareness to this topic through my capstone project. Egg-laying hens are sometimes starved for up to 14 days, exposed to changing light patterns and given no water in order to shock their bodies into molting. It’s common for 5% to 10% of hens to die during the forced molting process. Animals are fed corn, wheat and soy that are grown through intensive industrial farming that use large amounts of pesticides, which can remain in their bodies and are passed on to the people who eat them, creating serious health hazards in humans. I understand that with our population growing at an outrageous rate farming practices have had to change, but A typical supermarket chicken today contains more than twice the fat, and about a third less protein than 40 years ago. Farming practices have spiraled out of control to feed our population. The environment is being damaged as well. Hog, chicken and cattle waste has polluted 35,000 miles of rivers in 22 states and contaminated groundwater in 17 states. If we don’t change our eating habits and how we get our food, we are facing impending doom.

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