SUBJECT: In this chapter of The Omnivore’s Dilemma, titled “The Feedlot: Making Meat”, Michael Pollan discusses the use of Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO), and the factories where countless cattle are being mistreated day in and day out.…
Reading this makes me surprised that we have supported and invested our money into fast-food restaurants that did not even take care of their employees and was not benefitting individuals with all the growth hormones that were put into their animals for such a long time. When the McNugget came out it was a huge success but it wasn’t enough for Fred Turner, he wanted more McNuggets and bigger ones, this then lead to getting a new breed of chickens, according to Eric Schlosser they were had “unusually large breasts” (140). But not only were the animals treated poorly, their own employees who worked hard were being treated as working animals. Right here in Greeley, Colorado, we have and still have a slaughter house where animals go to be cut into chunks of meat so we can cook and eat them. There are plenty of slaughter houses located all around the United States. Back around 1979, a worker named Kenny was working at the Monfort slaughterhouse in Grand Island, Nebraska. In the shipping department, where Kenny was positioned in, there were boxes that weighed over 100 pounds and one day a box fell from above where Kenny caught it with one arm. This incident ended up having him get severely herniated disks but the worst part about this was that the company doctor told Kenny that all he had was a pulled muscle, after months of…
Next time you buy meats or vegetables from a corporate supermarket just think it may be loaded with antibiotics and/or harmful bacteria that may cause you to get sick or may even take your life, not to mention the inhumane or unhealthy conditions that the animals are kept in which in return pollute our air and water.…
Over the last few decades farming animals for food has grown and evolved into a highly efficient, streamlined industry known as factory farming. Factory farms are owned and operated by big corporations, and despite the fact they make up only a small percentage of farms in the United States, they are responsible for most of the meat and eggs we consume here (Sierra Club, 2005). In factory farming, baby piglets are castrated without anesthesia and thrown into a pen, where they huddle in a corner writhing in pain. Egg laying chickens are crammed four or five to a cage (45x50cm) for their entire lives. They cannot spread their wings or stretch out in any way, and they never see daylight. To prevent them from pecking at one another, their beaks are brutally burnt or sliced to a stub. To produce veal, newborn calves are confined in small crates and restrained to allow a minimum of movement until they are slaughtered at just five months old. Factory farmed animals are treated like non-living commodities, suffering horrendous cruelties to produce the maximum profit at the least amount of cost. In recent years public awareness about factory farming conditions has grown, and so have concerns over animal cruelty and public health. The general public should not tolerate animal cruelty in the factory farming industry because it is extremely inhumane to animals and it represents a growing health hazard for human beings; instead, consumers should put pressure on the industry to change the way animals are treated and to ensure farms do not pose a threat to public health.…
The film, Food, Inc., argues that our food system has been corrupted by corporate interests; as a result, we are put in danger by very items that should guarantee our survival. We should reclaim our right to health by eating more locally produced organic food and ensuring all people have access to such food. The film wants the viewers to think negatively of the business of mass production of the foods that we eat on a daily basis. The logical fallacies allow the film to capture the attention and emotions of its audience by giving a reason for their concerns, but without any legitimate statistics or facts to back up their claims. The use of these logical fallacies in the film help strengthen its arguments by making the audience feel as if the corporations are exploiting the farmers and their traditions, causing families to go through avoidable obstacles, and making the companies and government look like the “bad guys” in this web that is called the food industry. However, the reality is that the food industry isn’t as evil as depicted by the fallacious arguments in the film.…
By operating worldwide, Costco is subject to a variety of risks related with legislative and judicial factors specific to the locations in which it operates. A multitude of factors, including but not limited to; changes in accounting standards, additional income tax liabilities, changes in the enacted tax rates, negative outcomes in connection with income tax audits, and a change in earnings attributable to the various jurisdictions in which Costco operates could have an adverse effect on Costco. The company is also subject to a broad assortment of federal, state, regional, local and international laws and regulations associated to the use, storage, discharge and disposal of hazardous materials, hazardous and non-hazardous…
In the documentary, Food Inc., we are given access into the world of industrialized American food production. Because of our modern agricultural farming practices and policies, the quality of food being massed produced in our country has taken a toll on consumer’s health particularly those in lower income brackets. The idea the McDonald brothers put forth on the delivery of fast food by standardizing large volumes of food production is now proving disastrous. I saw this documentary a few years ago when I was working on changing my dietary lifestyle to improve my health. The most compelling things I learned then had to do with the realization that there are only a handful of companies controlling the majority of our food supply with limited regulations and being exempt from serious consequences.…
Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO) is facilities designed to raise animals such as swine, until they are the right size to be slaughtered. There are roughly 257,000 CAFO’s in the U.S. and each one slaughters approximately 27million hogs in a year. Hogs live by the thousands in warehouse like barns, in rows of pens. Workers put so many hogs in one pen that they trample each other to death. In the barns there is no sunlight, fresh air, straw, or earth for the pigs. Temperatures in the warehouses can reach up to ninety degrees and the air is polluted so much that it can become lethal to the pigs. These things are not the only inhumane things happening at CAFO’s.…
The documentary Food Inc. provides an eye-opening glimpse on the mass production of food and the process in which it reaches consumers. Personally, when I go to the supermarket, I never think about how the chicken, beef, or eggs I’m buying, actually got there. I was oblivious of the whole process. For instance, baby chicks are being modified to grow within 48 days compared to three months. Chickens are put in dark and overcrowded coops and some die daily because there bodies cannot handle their enlarged body parts. Cows are being feed corn instead of their natural food, which, is grass because they have to be fattened up. Lastly, the animals live in overcrowded and unsanitary conditions. Not to mention, the conditions of the workers are horrible.…
Ever wondered where the food you eat came from? The documentary Food Inc. does exactly that. This film is made by Robert Kenner and Eric Scholosser about the food industry here in America. It focuses on the food industry being a few giant corporations who control everything we eat. The main argument the film brings is that the food industry is very immoral and the government is not doing everything they can to maintain quality, which is putting the public safety at risk. The different views add perspective and each individual is experienced and credible. Their knowledge of the food industry and its inner workings are evident. This increases the likelihood of the audience believing everything said and shown in the film. Food Inc. reveals that companies only care about the profit, not the animals, consumers, workers, or environment. The film attempts to get the audience to feel sympathy for their cause, and call for action.…
Some people say fracking destroys the environment but fracking provides jobs, energy to the U.S. and, it is a good way to get energy. So now fracking is not so bad it provides so much to the U.S. and to the U.S. citizens. In the end, fracking for natural gas is not a bad idea yes it has some problems but gas coupons are trying to resolve the…
AGREE: Mass production of meat, grains, and vegetables is a terrible system that is in today’s society. Large companies that follow this system want a better and cheaper way to produce their meat. This leads to unsanitary production and inhumane ways of handling their cattle. These companies are starting to use corn as a source of food for their cattle because of how cheap it is. Feeding cows corn causes mutation in E. Coli and once one cow is affected by E. Coli, then the other cows can get E. Coli as well. These actions lead to…
Alongside the growing failures of manure lagoons, the manure carries bacteria and viruses that are harmful to humans if they come into contact through consumption of contaminated water. Also, according to Columbia University, "run offs from CAFOs are believed to have contributed to the dead zones in the Gulf of Mexico, Chesapeake Bay and other East Coast estuaries" (Cho). Some of the many reasons that CAFOs are causing dead zones in large bodies of water is that they can affect the life of both the humans and life in the water that is contaminated. When the water is contaminated by CAFOs there is not only a contamination of viruses and bacteria, but also of chemicals, antibiotics and hormones used in the production of meat. According to Columbia…
CAFO’s are undoubtedly less earth friendly than methods of traditional farming in more ways than one; the transport they require is a hefty waste of fossil fuels and the waste that these plants produce can cause massive environmental issues are just the tip of the iceberg. Another issue that can plague large CAFO’s is the threat of bacteria. Living conditions and animal health in this type of environment is not monitored very closely, which can lead to weakened animal immune systems, and eventually to risks for consumers of these meat products. Aside from health drawbacks, people also seem to be weary of the societal impacts of large scale agriculture. Studies have shown that increasing specialized farming in large communities has consistently led to a decrease in population, employment and income. In favour of the industrial method, some argue it is cheaper and more efficient to feed America’s appetite this way. What we don’t see are the hidden costs to the heavily manufactured, seemingly cheaper options: subsidies that our tax dollars account…
Even though 94% of Americans say that animals used in food production for humans deserve to live free from abuse and cruelty, 10 billion farm animals are in conditions that are lower than low, often leading to a painful death (Farm Animal). Animal rights refers to the philosophy that animals as a whole should maintain the right to live a life without human exploitation, suffering and hurting, and dying young. The chicken production system seems good when all people see is advertisements with happy chickens in a field on grass free roaming to their hearts content. But if dug just a little deeper, you will see the layers of abuse no one will ever want to wrap their head around. There are many different processes of…