Too much of a good thing can be bad for us as human beings and the environment. We like to buy the biggest and best of everything. This has turned from buying big cars and big stereos to buying larger hamburgers and steaks. We as a nation have gone from having meat as a delicacy and eating it on occasion to most people eating only meat during every meal. We need to go back to eating more fruits and vegetables and less meat. We also need to find different ways to produce meat in ways that are safer for the animals and the environment. In 1920 factory farming of animals began. Farmers discovered the animals didn’t need essential exercise and sunlight to grow with the use of Vitamins A & D. The …show more content…
“Canada’s largest waterborne disease outbreak, which infected 1,346 people and killed six, was traced to runoff from livestock farms into a town’s water supply. The U.S. Geological survey found antimicrobial residue in 48 percent of the 139 streams …show more content…
400-pound sows are placed in gestation crates that are 2 x 7 foot enclosures, big enough to stand in, but not big enough to turn around or lie down comfortably in. Sows are in these crates for four months of their pregnancy at which time they are moved to farrowing crates to give birth. The farrowing crates are not any bigger than the gestation crates; the only difference is the piglets are in joining cages that allow them to suckle from mom through bars. The piglets are taken away from the sow at three to four weeks and the sow is returned to the gestation crates to be re-inseminated for another pregnancy. This process is repeated for two to three years when the sows body is broken down so badly that they are not able to produce anymore and they are shipped to the slaughterhouse. In addition, gestation crates have been banned all over the European Union, effective in 2013, as well as in California, Colorado, Florida, Oregon and Arizona. In 2007, Smithfield foods, and Maple leaf farms, Canada’s largest hog producer, have announced they would phase out the use of gestation crates over the next ten years. Many of the nations top chefs and grocers have announced they will not purchase