Environmental Harm

            Factory farms infect more than just the animals; it infects and consumes everyone and everything.  Factory farms have a choke hold on the environment and the environment is losing air quickly.  How does it affect the environment, one may ask?  An obvious reason, these large factories need to be built somewhere, causing the destruction of healthy habitats.  It has been described as, “…’the major driver of deforestation, as well as one of the leading drivers of land degradation, pollution, climate change, overfishing, sedimentation of coastal areas and facilitation of invasions by alien species,’” (Pearce).  A second cause of environmental harm is water pollution.  “According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), factory farms produce approximately 500 million tons of manure annually…and yet…‘the management and disposal of animals wastes are poorly regulated,’” (Boris).  Factory farms use the manure on soil, but this mass amount of waste is not compatible with fewer amounts off soil.  This, in turn, creates a run off and many chemicals and nutrients take over the water (Boris).   A third effect on the environment is air pollution.  According to Boris, “’…greenhouse gas emissions from all livestock operations account for 18% of all anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, exceeding those from the transportation sector.’”  She also states that this occurs from uncovered manure tanks, spraying manure that gets picked up in the wind, and from the naturally occurring digestion of these animals (Boris).  Together these three environmental harms also cause global warming.  All of the major causes of global warming that are discussed in politics fail to acknowledge factory farming as a huge issue.  As stated earlier, these mass amounts of animals are creating a large output of air pollution, water pollution, and biodegrading.  Being more aware of these issues can bring great light to the vast darkness.  Should we be allowed to live like this?  It isn’t just a question if allowing animals to live in poor conditions is moral, it involves more.  It involves our everyday.  We cannot allow owners of factory farms to control how we, and our non-English speaking friends behind those closed walls, live.

 

Sources:

Boris, Lynn M. "The Food-borne Ultimatum: Proposing Federal Legislation to Create Humane Living Conditions for Animals Raised for Food in Order to Improve Human Health." Journal of Law and Health 24.2 (2011): 285. Academic OneFile. Web. 20 June 2013. <http://go.galegroup.com.libproxy.howardcc.edu/ps/retrieve.do?sgHitCountType=None&sort=DA-SORT&inPS=true&prodId=AONE&userGroupName=colu91149&tabID=T002&searchId=R1&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&contentSegment=&searchType=AdvancedSearchForm¤tPosition=7&contentSet=GALE%7CA280091955&&docId=GALE|A280091955&docType=GALE&role=>.

Pearce, James I. "A Brave New Jungle: Factory Farming and Advocacy in the Twenty-first Century." Duke Environmental Law and Policy Forum 21.2 (2011): 433. Academic OneFile. Web. 20 June 2013. <http://go.galegroup.com.libproxy.howardcc.edu/ps/retrieve.do?sgHitCountType=None&sort=DA-SORT&inPS=true&prodId=AONE&userGroupName=colu91149&tabID=T002&searchId=R4&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&contentSegment=&searchType=BasicSearchForm¤tPosition=11&contentSet=GALE%7CA280092018&&docId=GALE|A280092018&docType=GALE&role=>.