Slaughter Houses and Factory Farms Rachel Matt and Gabby

“If slaughterhouses had glass walls… we’d all be vegetarians…” -Paul McCartney

What makes it an ethical issue? Should the human race be able to claim superiority over all other species, or do other species deserve the same rights? Should we have the right to know how the food we are eating is being raised? Should animals be raised in big open fields, or raised in small cages?

What is Factory Farming? Factory farming is the process of raising livestock in confinement at high stocking density, where a farm operates as a business — a practice typical in industrial farming by agribusinesses. The main products of this industry are meat, milk and eggs for human consumption. Factory farms dominate U.S. food production, employing abusive practices that maximize agribusiness profits at the expense of the environment, our communities, animal welfare, and even our health.

Advantages of Factory Farming More Productive Factory farming is vastly more efficient than cage-less farming or traditional farming methods. If the egg industry were to switch back over to conventional methods the cost would increase by 40%. So factory farming in the long run is much more efficient for the agricultural business. It saves land and capital while providing labor. Utilizing larger portion of meat than if handled by smaller organizations- 45-50% is used for food products Economics People who shop at organic grocery stores pay 20% more than people who shop for conventional foods. The average consumer unit spends $6,372 a year on food. If this cost is increased by say 30% (an average of the two numbers concerning the high prices of non-factory farm goods) the average price of food annually for the average consumer unit will be $8283. Factory farms are usually large operations that employ 700,000 annually. Since factory farming is so heavily based upon technology such as machinery jobs in the farm equipment and manufacturing business have subsequently gone up. Crop Yield Since the 1950's crop yields around the world have exploded mainly due to the increased spread of technology and use of factory farming techniques. This increase in food production has also driven down the food prices in the US while providing food for less developed nations.

Disadvantages to Factory Farming According to the Environmental Protection Agency, hog, chicken and cattle waste has polluted 35,000 miles of rivers in 22 states and contaminated groundwater in 17 states. Since 1995, one billion fish have been killed from manure runoff in estuaries and coastal areas in North Carolina, and the Maryland and Virginia tributaries leading into the Chesapeake Bay. These deaths can be directly related to the 10 million hogs currently being raised in North Carolina and the 620 million chickens on the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay The pollution causes respiratory problems, skin infections, nausea, depression and even death for people who live near factory farms Each full-grown chicken in a factory farm has as little as six-tenths of a square foot of space. Because of the crowding, they often become aggressive and sometimes eat each other. Hogs become aggressive in tight spaces and often bite each other's tails, which has caused many farmers to cut the tails off. Concrete or slatted floors allow for easy removal of manure, but because they are unnatural surfaces for pigs, the animals often suffer skeletal deformities.

Disadvantages to Factory Farming Over 80% of US pigs have pneumonia upon slaughter due to the ammonia and other gases that are being release from the buildup of manure Because they are given no room and are placed so closely together, if one animal gets sick with any disease, they all become sick Many animals go mad before slaughter The confined spaces cause the animals to become mentally ill Many develop disease before slaughter due to their limited space Confined to extremely small, metal cages, pigs often receive deep gashes all over their body from rubbing up against the bars These gashes become infected and often cause the pigs to die before they’re taken to slaughter Many get disease from the process of breeding Forced constant impregnation Cows are constantly impregnated in order to produce milk; the calves are taken away from their mother within an hour after birth and the cow is impregnated again almost immediately after No time to rest between births Estimated inputs to produce a pound of: Pork: 6.9 pounds of grain, .44 gallons of gasoline and 430 gallons of water Beef: 4.8 pounds of grain, .25 gallons of gasoline, and 390 gallons of water

Our Position Though there are some benefits to factory farming practices, it is in our belief that many of the disadvantages outweigh the pros. Putting animal ethics aside, we feel that the amount of pollution produced by the process will be increasingly detrimental as the processes continue. Too many resources are put towards them; While organic farms let animals live on the land (eat the grass and thus fertilize the land), factory farms use grains to feed the animals, which is shipped in from other parts of the world. Though other countries produce excess amounts of grain, they ship it off to feed our animals and many go hungry in their own countries. To produce 1 pound of pork, you need to ship in 7x the amount in grains. To bring the position even further, the cruel practices performed on the animals has a negative impact on us as consumers and are completely inhumane.