FACTORY FARMING 20151648 윤현식, 20171136 서가람 Thesis statement : There should be an adjustments to the current factory farming regulations as it imposes severe pollution damage on the environment, is immoral and has negative impact on our society. Outline 1. Introdution 2.Body I. Pollution on the environment A. Larger amount of wastes B. Greenhouse emission level II. Moral Issues A. Cruel Treatments i)Cage environment ii)Animal rights movement B. Impact on human society III. Current regulations on factory farming A. Regulations in Republic of Korea B. Regulations in United States 3. Conclusion Factory farming is one of the most controversial topics dealt around the world. Factory farming is an inhumane practice where animals are mass produced to meet the food demands by people all around the world. As factory farming industry wishes to minimize operational costs while maximizing productivity, animals are crammed into small, filthy, confined sheds. Despite the criticism from numerous public health professionals and animal welfare organizations, factory farming industry continues to grow. In fact, 99% of the meat in the United States comes from factory farming (Leader, 2014, pg1). Through this essay, we will point out three main reasons why there should be a big adjustements to the current regulations on factory farming. It causes severe waste pollution damages on the natural environment, the process of factory farming is inhumane and will look into the current regulations imposed around the world The methods of livestock can be roughly classified into traditional farms and intensive livestock farming. In the case of traditional farms, grazing is carried out on a rather large farm site, and unlike intensive livestock production, there is no direct harm to the vicinity of the farm even when the waste is disposed into environment, since the livestock wastes are not highly concentrated. However, in case of factory farming, because of the high density of livestock, it requires more resources and at the same time produces more waste. For one example, “In 2012, the largest factory farms produced almost 13 times more waste than the human population of the United States (Food &water watch (2019))”. In particular, the greater livestock density, the greater the amount of waste produced. “In the U.S. alone, animals raised on factory farms generate more than 1 million tons of manure per day – three times the amount generated by the country’s human population (Farm Sanctuary (2017))”. Furthermore, when waste produced through intensive livestock production is disposed of, it may affect the soil or water resources around the farm, and it is seriously polluted by the high concentration of animal wastes, and odors are generated in water resources such as rivers. Typically, factory farms store waste in a large open lagoon where leaks and leaks are likely to occur easily. Typically, factory farms store waste in a large open lagoon where leaks and leaks are likely to occur. "In 2011, an Illinois hog farm spilled 200,000 gallons of manure into a creek, killing more than 110,000 fish (Farm Sanctuary (2017))”. In addition, intensive livestock farmers add various antibiotics and medicines to prevent the spread of disease among livestock and promote faster growth. In livestock, more than 75% of antibiotics cannot digest and are discharged as urine and manure, pollute water resources, and even be ingested by humans through any route (Farm Sanctuary (2017)). In addition to pollution caused by intensive livestock soils and disposal of wastes for water resources, there is a big problem of greenhouse gas emissions. In terms of the environment, livestock accounts for 14.5% of all man-made greenhouse gas emissions (Greentumble (2019)). This is more than the amount of greenhouse gas that is artificially released when transporting and transporting. According to another study, the amount of greenhouse gas emissions from intensive livestock farmers around the world is close to 90 million tons of carbon dioxide, accounting for 37% of methane emissions (loklok136 (November 30, 2013)). Methane and carbon dioxide are the major causes of greenhouse gas emissions, especially methane, which is known to have a huge greenhouse effect than carbon dioxide. The EPA estimates that pigs and cattle methane emissions increased by 37% and 50%, respectively, between 1990 and 2005 (Farm Sanctuary (2017)) because of the increased amount and concentration of manure in animal wastes storage systems. It can be seen that, except for the greenhouse gases directly originating from livestock, additional greenhouse gases are generated from animal wastes. Factory farming are well known for its cruel treatment on the animals, raising questions on ethical and moral issues. From the book “Eating Animals’, factory farmed animals are genetically modified to meet the production requirements. (Foer, 2009, page 34). Antibiotics are often injected into the animals to artificially enlarge their bodies, so that they produce more meat and dairies than they naturally would. The animals are crammed into dark, confined and dirty cages only to live a short miserable life until it gets slaughtered. In many factory farms, they modify the bodies of animals so that they can fit as many animals as possible in the limited space. Chickens would get de-beaked so that they do not injure one another, Cows and pigs get their tails cut off to prevent tail biting. Luckily, as more people have become aware of such cruel acts, many social movements rose. FFAC (Factory Farming Awareness Coalition) is one of the largest social community that works towards to stop factory farming. They travel around the world to give presentation on factory farming, to aware the people on the ugly scenes of factory farming. Also, there numerous petitions that stands to shut down factory farms. Currently, there are over 2 million supports and currently 41 petitions that support towards to end factory farming in the United States (Change.org, 2019). Factory farming also brings negative impact on our society. As its hard for traditional farmers to mass produce at individual level, their operational costs are higher and that their products are more expensive compared to factory farmed products. According to United States National Agricultural Statistics, more than 300 farmers wrap up their business as they cannot compete with the mass production from factory farms (USDA.2019). Naturally, more factory farm produced dairies entered into market and caused numerous negative health conditions. There have been reports of death incidents due to E.coli contaminated meats, skin infections and mental disorders, which were all from consumption of factory farmed dairy goods (Deane, 2004) Animal husbandry regulation is the restriction of livestock industry by various laws and regulations. In Korea, there are various types of animals husbandry regulations, such as site regulation, water quality regulation, environmental regulation, and facility regulation (Yi Hyun L., (December 2017)). However, regulations on Korea livestock industry can not find any restrictions on factory livestock industry itself. There is no regulation that tells about factory farming such as management law of livestock farmer, regulation about waste disposal, and the surrounding environment to build farm. Although there are regulations on animal husbandry in many countries for factory-type livestock and livestock industry, in Korea, there is no proper livestock regulation for intensive livestock production, and there is a focus on waste management and stability of neighboring livelihoods. There is a movement to be more subdivided, rigorous, more relaxed and replaced by other regulations. USDA is the primary federal agency group regulates animal food production in the slaughter industry within United States. However, as of 2019, there are currently no federal laws that set humane care standards for factory farms. Its really a shame that federal laws that are to protect farmed animals are useless. In accordance to Humane slaughter act (Nhes, 2019), the regulations on humane slaughter only applies to pigs and cows. This means that chickens and fishes virtually have no protection from abuse. Quoted by Vox, “The US government has never really enforced these humane slaughter standards. There are inspectors, but FSIS (Food Safety and Inspection Service) rarely issues more than a slap on the wrist to even egregious offenders.(Alt, 2015)” In conclusion, factory farms have many serious problems described above, despite these many regulations, with only one main reason for being economical. In order to improve such factory operation, regulations on animal husbandry should be improved first. I believe that it would be a good idea to regulate intensive livestock farms directly under the statute by amending the statutes on the operation of factory farms, as opposed to only strengthening regulations on livestock farming. It is also necessary to change farmers' perception of livestock. However, intensive farms still have catastrophic shortcomings. Therefore, there should be adjustments to the current industrial livestock production laws must be prohibited as it immoral, imposes severe harm on environment, society, and for livestock. Bibliography -Alt, Sarah (2015, September), federal Laws That Are Supposed to Protect Farmed Animals Are Useless. Here’s Why:. Retrieved from : https://mercyforanimals.org/federal-laws-that-are-supposed-to-protect -Change.org (2019), End factory farming, Retrieved from : https://www.change.org/m/end-factoryfarming -Deane, Alex (2012, Apr). The Detabase : Factory Farming. United States, IDEA International Debate Education Association -Farm Sanctuary (2017). Factory Farming and the Environment. Retrieved from https://www.farmsanctuary.org/learn/factory-farming/factory-farming-and-the-environment/ : -Foer.Jonathan (2009). Eating Animals. New York.Little, brown and company. -Food & water watch (May 10th, 2017). Ban Factory https://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/campaign/ban-factory-farms Farms. Retrieved from : -Greentumble (October 26, 2016). Advantages and Disadvantages of Intensive Livestock Farming. Retrieved from : https://greentumble.com/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-intensive-livestockfarming/ -Leader, Jessica (2014, March). 9 facts about factory farming that will break your heart. Retrieved from: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/factory-farmingfacts_n_4063892?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_ref errer_sig=AQAAAKHwGIw8CRyJvUSJi_gJdykwwVTWjSYBHe_zGMQ2OW6vk2auwfdi7p32SGXFhNemblHROUMkh4itMnWX_tk3NHPQZ1ZXBfvDqmagJG9OVSBkMjThO4Xe9t_AKC2GwF8uJf0Qg8gcXkbCD39BouKkW6YaOvx2hWW1ytFgpQzNf -Loklok136 (November 30, 2013). Should Factory Farming Be Banned?. Retrieved from : https://loklok136.wordpress.com/2013/11/30/argumentative-essay-should-factory-farming-be-banned/ -The National Humane Education Soceity (2019). Governement regulations on factory farming. Retrieved from : https://nhes.org/3372-2/ -United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). National Agricultural Statistics Service. Retrieved from : https://www.nass.usda.gov/ -Yi Hyun L., (2017, December). 축산업 진입규제 현황 및 개선방안 연구, Korea Legislation Research Institute
