Why Have Factory Farms Become Our Primary Source Of Food And Produce?

Factory farming has expanded drastically over the years. Taking over jobs provided by small farms, torturing animals, and endangering human health, it is no wonder why these industrialized plantations are getting a bad reputation. So, why has society allowed factory farms become our primary source of food and produce? It is because these farms have not been exposed of their inhumane ways. Society has been taught to believe that factory farms are the most productive way to feed an ever growing population. In reality though, "small farms could be fully capable of producing the quantities of food needed for the world's population." Less workers are needed to work in factory farms so many farmers are out of a job. Being that "most ordinary family farmers have been driven out of business", the unemployment rate has gone up, which leaves many farmers left struggling to support themselves and their families. Trends by consumers have helped some farmers out because they are willing to pay more for well treated animals.
Some animals are "force-fed until their internal organs burst" and chickens are "starved to make them lay eggs nonstop." The inhumane treatment does not end there; poultry is confined in "battery cages" or cages that are "too small for birds to spread their wings." The use of "battery cages, gestation crates, and confining stalls prevent exercise and other healthy activities." Farm animals "annually consume an estimated seventy percent of all antibiotics used in the United States" and are injected with growth hormones which are harmful to