Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations
Concentrated animal feeding operations Concentrated animal feeding operations, also known as CAFOs, is a farming practice where many animals are fed in a very condensed space. Because of the small amount of space and over crowded conditions, farmers employ the use of heavy antibiotics to fend off diseases, even if the animals are not sick, which is then excreted through the animal 's waste in to nearby water and soil. Hormones and steroids are also commonly used to expedite the timeline from birth to slaughter creating greater profitability for farmers but again, these chemicals are being released into the environment via animal waste. In addition to these hormones, steroids and antibiotics polluting our fresh water and soil, these chemicals
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also impact the actual food we are ingesting.
The American public health is affected by massive food recalls, e-coli outbreaks, air, soil and water pollution and even antibiotic resistant bacteria.
These pollutants cause massive deaths in fish and aquatic environments, putrid smelling air in residential neighborhoods and soil that is unsafe to use for small-scale agricultural needs. The drug and chemical companies producing these toxins are making a huge profit while farmers are being forced into this factory farm industry by corporate buyouts and bullying and the subsidized feed offered by the U.S. government. Why do these concentrated animal feeding operations continue to operate and even expand? Because we have allowed our food sources to be overtaken by just a few corporations who are in very powerful political and financial positions to force the existence of mega farms in order to continue to profit from the sales of their company 's hormones, steroids, antibiotics and …show more content…
feed.
There are many economic, environmental and ethical issues involved in CAFOs. In order for the farming industry as a whole to continue to provide food for Americans, the industry must hold onto the lure of financial profit for would-be farmers. Without financial gain, why would anyone continue to work in this industry? To create the largest possible profit, the farming industry has turned to mass-producing 'mega farms ' and are being subsidized by the U.S. government to do so. Using the justification that the more food that can be produced and provided to the American public at the cheapest cost will allow Americans to feed their families on a livable wage and avoid public assistance, hunger and inflation.
The other side to allowing CAFOs is that while a few large corporations are getting rich, most farmers are just barely getting by. The actual cost of concentrated animal feeding operations comes in the form of pollutants being released, mostly unregulated, into our environments causing fish to die, air pollution, antibiotic resistant bacteria, e-coli and mad cow disease outbreaks and the overall decline in American food safety. In addition, the unethical treatment of animals is barbaric. Overcrowding, force-feedings and antibiotic and hormone treatments are regular practices among CAFOs. The lasting impact CAFOs may have are unknown but in short term data, irreversible damages have already been discovered. Without further regulation, CAFOs could be the next great threat to our planet.
Bibliography
"Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO) - Final Rule." EPA. Environmental Protection Agency, 15 Feb. 2012. Web. 22 Apr. 2012.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) official website provides the exact regulations in accordance to the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) currently in effect as of 2008. There is also a history provided on earlier regulations and the individual court case rulings that impacted these regulations.
Food Inc. Dir. Robert Kenner. Perf. Eric Schlosser. Magnolia Home Entertainment, 2009. DVD.
This film is full of information about where our food comes from before it appears on supermarket shelves and the many environmental, health and financial impacts these production and distribution methods create.
It 's a behind-the-scenes look at why the financial gain has overtaken the quality and over all health of our foods here in the U.S. Shocking at times, it really raises a lot of good questions and sheds light on some of the ugly realities of being so removed from our food source and allowing just a few mega players in corporate America decide the quality and safety of the food we eat and the impact it has on the environment we live in.
Hormones and Pharmaceuticals Generated by Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations: Transport in Water and Soil. Dordrecht: Springer Verlag, 2009. Print.
An examination of how hormones, antibiotics and steroids from CAFOs of cattle, poultry and pigs impact our soil and water. I learned about endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) and what hypothesis currently being investigated as to their impact and methods of distribution. This is a relatively new area of study so the long-term impact of CAFOs and the contamination to our groundwater sources, soil and overall ecology these farming practices may be causing is unknown. This book provides data and statistics of several studies including information on antibiotic resistant bacteria and its relation to CAFOs.
Imhoff, Dan. The CAFO Reader: The Tragedy of Industrial Animal Factories. Healdsburg,
Calif.: Watershed Media, 2010. Print.
These essays describe the filthy and disgusting conditions that CAFOs and animal factory farming create. From the inhumane and unethical treatment of the animals to how government subsidized feeding programs further perpetuate this unsafe practice threatening the health of consumers and the environment. This book 's provides a strong argument for the ethical treatment of animals, even if they are only viewed as a food source.
Kirby, David. Animal Factory: The Looming Threat of Industrial Pig, Dairy, and Poultry Farms to Humans and the Environment. New York: St. Martin 's, 2010. Print.
This book examines the links between CAFOs and the recent health crises such as swine flu and recalls on contaminated meats and poultry that makes its way into our food supplies. The book gives personal accounts of how these 'mega farms ' impact humans and the earth. From massive river, soil and air pollutions to the actual heath impact these pollutants have on human safety, this book shows how to take a stand and why it is important to do it now before the devastation to the environment is irreversible.
also impact the actual food we are ingesting.
The American public health is affected by massive food recalls, e-coli outbreaks, air, soil and water pollution and even antibiotic resistant bacteria.
These pollutants cause massive deaths in fish and aquatic environments, putrid smelling air in residential neighborhoods and soil that is unsafe to use for small-scale agricultural needs. The drug and chemical companies producing these toxins are making a huge profit while farmers are being forced into this factory farm industry by corporate buyouts and bullying and the subsidized feed offered by the U.S. government. Why do these concentrated animal feeding operations continue to operate and even expand? Because we have allowed our food sources to be overtaken by just a few corporations who are in very powerful political and financial positions to force the existence of mega farms in order to continue to profit from the sales of their company 's hormones, steroids, antibiotics and …show more content…
feed.
There are many economic, environmental and ethical issues involved in CAFOs. In order for the farming industry as a whole to continue to provide food for Americans, the industry must hold onto the lure of financial profit for would-be farmers. Without financial gain, why would anyone continue to work in this industry? To create the largest possible profit, the farming industry has turned to mass-producing 'mega farms ' and are being subsidized by the U.S. government to do so. Using the justification that the more food that can be produced and provided to the American public at the cheapest cost will allow Americans to feed their families on a livable wage and avoid public assistance, hunger and inflation.
The other side to allowing CAFOs is that while a few large corporations are getting rich, most farmers are just barely getting by. The actual cost of concentrated animal feeding operations comes in the form of pollutants being released, mostly unregulated, into our environments causing fish to die, air pollution, antibiotic resistant bacteria, e-coli and mad cow disease outbreaks and the overall decline in American food safety. In addition, the unethical treatment of animals is barbaric. Overcrowding, force-feedings and antibiotic and hormone treatments are regular practices among CAFOs. The lasting impact CAFOs may have are unknown but in short term data, irreversible damages have already been discovered. Without further regulation, CAFOs could be the next great threat to our planet.
Bibliography
"Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO) - Final Rule." EPA. Environmental Protection Agency, 15 Feb. 2012. Web. 22 Apr. 2012.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) official website provides the exact regulations in accordance to the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) currently in effect as of 2008. There is also a history provided on earlier regulations and the individual court case rulings that impacted these regulations.
Food Inc. Dir. Robert Kenner. Perf. Eric Schlosser. Magnolia Home Entertainment, 2009. DVD.
This film is full of information about where our food comes from before it appears on supermarket shelves and the many environmental, health and financial impacts these production and distribution methods create.
It 's a behind-the-scenes look at why the financial gain has overtaken the quality and over all health of our foods here in the U.S. Shocking at times, it really raises a lot of good questions and sheds light on some of the ugly realities of being so removed from our food source and allowing just a few mega players in corporate America decide the quality and safety of the food we eat and the impact it has on the environment we live in.
Hormones and Pharmaceuticals Generated by Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations: Transport in Water and Soil. Dordrecht: Springer Verlag, 2009. Print.
An examination of how hormones, antibiotics and steroids from CAFOs of cattle, poultry and pigs impact our soil and water. I learned about endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) and what hypothesis currently being investigated as to their impact and methods of distribution. This is a relatively new area of study so the long-term impact of CAFOs and the contamination to our groundwater sources, soil and overall ecology these farming practices may be causing is unknown. This book provides data and statistics of several studies including information on antibiotic resistant bacteria and its relation to CAFOs.
Imhoff, Dan. The CAFO Reader: The Tragedy of Industrial Animal Factories. Healdsburg,
Calif.: Watershed Media, 2010. Print.
These essays describe the filthy and disgusting conditions that CAFOs and animal factory farming create. From the inhumane and unethical treatment of the animals to how government subsidized feeding programs further perpetuate this unsafe practice threatening the health of consumers and the environment. This book 's provides a strong argument for the ethical treatment of animals, even if they are only viewed as a food source.
Kirby, David. Animal Factory: The Looming Threat of Industrial Pig, Dairy, and Poultry Farms to Humans and the Environment. New York: St. Martin 's, 2010. Print.
This book examines the links between CAFOs and the recent health crises such as swine flu and recalls on contaminated meats and poultry that makes its way into our food supplies. The book gives personal accounts of how these 'mega farms ' impact humans and the earth. From massive river, soil and air pollutions to the actual heath impact these pollutants have on human safety, this book shows how to take a stand and why it is important to do it now before the devastation to the environment is irreversible.