Factory Farming

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Factory farming is a method of mass food production in which animals are kept in very confined areas to get the best possible profit. Factory farming wants to keep production costs low and sell cheaper food to consumers.

Factory farming is a much-discussed issue. Animal rights activists and environmentalists claim that this type of food production is dangerous to our environment and forces animals to live in an unworthy way. On the other side farmers and larger food corporations claim that they cannot produce enough food at reasonable prices without factory farming.

Over the past decades, farms have grown in size and intensity. Farming has become an industry, using modern technology. Today farmers use pesticides, antibiotics, and vitamins to produce as much as they can and to control diseases. Fertilizers make it possible to grow more crops than nature would allow. These factors lead to lower food prices on supermarket shelves.

Those who favor factory farming say it creates jobs and lets consumers buy cheaper food. They also state that it is friendly to our nature because it uses less land to produce the same amount of food.

Critics against factory farming say that it is brutal and cruel to animals. They live in overcrowded cages or boxes without enough space to move around. Chicken, sheep, cattle, and pigs are often kept in such a way. They are given special feed so that they can grow more quickly. Crops sprayed with pesticides are a health risk to humans and have several chemicals in them. They also argue that such large farms ruin smaller ones because they can produce at more competitive prices.

Although products from factory farms are not labeled consumers can buy food from organic production. Some products, like eggs, have labels on the boxes that say they are laid by hens that can move around and are not kept in cages.