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Carson Bakker
Mrs. Shaut
English 1000
29 Nov. 2012
Agribusiness in the United States’ Meat Industry
We live in a world in which meat is more available than ever before, and the price of beef
costs 30% less than it did in 1970 (“Modern Meat”). On the surface this appears to be great;
cheaper food that is easily accessible is good for our society; however, there are many problems
with how the U.S. is currently obtaining inexpensive meat. The United States meat industry has
become extremely centralized, as a few giant corporations have slowly made their way to total
domination of the business. This new system of industrialized farming has led to cheaper meat
but has also introduced tons of new risks. Agribusiness is the United States is a dangerous
industry that is solely focused on maximizing production and profit. For the sake of humans,
animals, and the environment, the U.S. should break away from industrialized farming and revert
to a small-scale, diverse style of farming.
One of the key components in the drastic change of the United States meat industry was
the influence of corn, which in turn has created serious problems for our people, animals, and the
environment. Genetically modified corn is the fuel that keeps the meat industry engine running,
while also creating countless problems for the public. Until roughly thirty years ago, cows fed
solely on grass. This was their natural diet, and grass-fed cattle were extremely healthy. Cows
have an incredibly evolved digestive organ known as the rumen, which can digest grass and turn
it into very rich protein (“Modern Meat”). Currently, the majority of cows spend their lives
eating nothing but corn. Livestock, mostly beef cattle, consume 60% of America’s commodity
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corn (Pollan 10). The corn monoculture in the United States has led to an overwhelming
presence of corn in the American diet. However, the corn being produced is packed full of
genetically modified organisms, pesticides, and other harmful chemicals. Industrialized farms
began feeding this genetically modified corn to livestock because it is much more calorie dense
than the cows’ natural diet of grass. Not surprisingly, cows that feed on this unnatural, chemical
filled corn often become extremely sick. Therefore, the cows are pumped full of antibiotics so
that they can continue to eat chemical induced corn that caused their sickness to begin with.
Years ago, cows would grow to ages of four and five before they were eaten, and now that time
has been reduced to 14 months (“Modern Meat”). Cows are being taken out of the fields and
away from grass as soon as possible and being thrown into crammed quarters and fed nothing but
corn until they are extremely fat, as well as sick. Ecologically, it makes absolutely no sense to
take an animal away from its natural diet and force it to consume a product that will cause it to
become sick (“Modern Meat”). The antibiotics used to treat these sicknesses don’t just disappear
either. They will still be present in the meat by the time it arrives on the shelves of our
supermarkets. This is only one of many serious threats that agribusiness poses on human health.
The United States meat industry is so concerned with efficiency and maximizing profits
that regard for human health has gone out the window. The antibiotics that are being put in to
cows to keep them healthy don’t just disappear. Humans are consuming these same antibiotics
each time we eat meat that comes from industrialized farms. This practice creates new and
deadly strains of antibiotic-resistant bacteria that can cause serious problems for human health.
Remember that massive H1N1 (Swine Flu) virus that everyone was so terrified about a few years
ago? That virus was produced on an industrial feedlot in Mexico owned by Smithfield Farms,
the largest multinational pig farming business in the world (Marrero). Factory farms confine
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way too many animals in too small of an area, leading to tremendous amounts of waste. The
worst part of this is that factory farms aren’t required to process waste at sewage treatment
facilities. In their natural environments, cows can consume grass, and their waste can fertilize
the fields in which they live. In factory farms, cows stand knee-deep in their genetically
modified waste. Every second, our nation's factory farms create roughly 89,000 pounds of waste
(“Other Health”). The toxic gases and bacteria from this waste enter into our air and are carried
around by the wind. People living in close proximity of factory farms are constantly at risk of
contracting serious illnesses that could be fatal. Research has shown that living in close
proximity to a factory farm can cause brain damage and birth defects for infants (“Other
Health”). While factory farms may pose some serious threats to humans, the result for animals
in factory farms is always the same, and it isn’t pleasant.
Factory farm animals spend an entire lifetime crammed into a tiny room, never stepping
foot outside, being forced to consume a product that makes them extremely sick, all while
standing knee-deep in their own waste. Animals raised in factory farms spend their entire lives
in miserable conditions. Animals are no longer viewed as living, breathing organisms, but
instead they are viewed as industrial commodities. There is nothing natural about the way
animals are treated on factory farms. Massive corporate farms have discovered they can make
more money by cramming animals into filthy, windowless spaces, and they could care less about
the treatment of their animals. In order for people to eat meat, animals have to die; however, no
living creature should be modified to become fat, crammed in a space so small that it can’t turn
around, then thrown in a truck to be brutally slaughtered. Chickens are debeaked, and pigs have
their teeth and tails removed in order to increase efficiency and safety. Factory farm workers are
advised to view these animals as machines (“Putting Meat”). Dairy Cows normal life span
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exceeds 20 years, but most are killed around the age of five and six because their milk
production rates begin to decrease (“Modern Meat”). The way animals are treated in factory
farms is disgusting and inhumane. The competition to produce cheap meat products has led
corporations to completely disregard how animals are treated, while simultaneously destroying
the environment in which we live.
There once was a mutually beneficial relationship between the environment and
agriculture; however, the industrial farming system harms the environment in many ways. Prior
to the transition to factory farming, crops were rotated, and animals could graze the land as well
as fertilize it with its waste. Industrial farming ruined this beautiful relationship between
agriculture and the environment. The high number of animals concentrated into one area creates
a ton of waste. On a factory farm with 35,000 hogs, over 4 million pounds of waste are produced
each week. The worst part is that factory farms aren’t required to process waste at sewage
treatment facilities (Socially). Therefore, factory farms are left with a massive amount of toxic
animal waste, so what do they do with it? This waste is commonly mixed with water and held in
pits or sprayed on croplands. However, oftentimes there is so much manure that it ends up
overflowing into our soil and water systems. Also, all those chemicals and antibiotics that were
forced into the cow are still present in the cow’s waste. These antibiotics and artificial growth
hormones contaminate our waterways and seriously harm the plants and animals that live in
them. Factory farms also emit tons of harmful gases such as methane and hydrogen sulfide,
which greatly contribute to global warming. Studies show that between 18 and 51 percent of
harmful greenhouse gases come from livestock production (Lallanilla). Industrialized farming is
a global industry, meaning that animals may be raised in one country, processed in another, then
shipped to another country to be sold. That is a lot of fossil fuels being burned in order for us to
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dig into a hamburger. There is no denying that factory farming allows us access to meat for
cheap prices, but the process is far from being sustainable, and future generations are going to be
in a horrible situation due to the mistakes we are currently making.
Factory farming has caused our agricultural system to become so centralized that other
farmers simply can’t compete. The small-scale, diverse, family-owned farm of 40 years ago that
produced a variety of crops and animals is now a thing of the past (“Putting Meat”). Small-scale
farmers don’t stand a chance against the cheap products of these massive, industrialized
corporate farms. People want food that is cheap and easily accessible, regardless of how it was
made. In the past few years, a movement to eat locally has really begun to get the attention of
the masses. Thanks to documentaries such as Food Inc., people are becoming aware of the
effects of corporate farming, and are beginning to demand to know where their food is coming
from. However, many people are deterred because buying local meat is more expensive. People
must decide whether or not spending a few extra dollars is worth eating meat that they know is
free of antibiotics, chemicals, and comes from an animal that lived a natural life. Recently,
California attempted to pass a bill that would require all food containing genetically modified
organisms to be labeled (Kershen). Massive food corporations fought this bill to its death by
pouring in millions of dollars, and unfortunately, the proposition did not pass. Supporting local
farmers is the best way to take power away from these corporate giants, and to establish the
necessary relationship between people, community, and food.
The United States Meat Industry is on a dangerous path. Yes, it allows people to obtain
cheap food, but cheaper does not always mean better. Personally, eating food full of genetically
modified organisms, antibiotics, and other chemicals doesn’t sound too appealing. It is
important for people to understand how their food was grown, where it was processed, and what
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it contains. Supporting local organic farmers is beneficial to the health of humans and the
environment, and it is the best way to get our agricultural system back on track.
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Works Cited
Kershen, Drew L. “California’s Proposition 37 and the WTO Agreements.” ARE Update 16.1
(2012): 141-5. Web. 4 Dec. 2012.
Lallanilla, Marc. “Green Living; Agribusiness and the Factory Farm.” About.com. About.com,
2012. Web. 20 Nov. 2012.
Marrero, Carmelo Ruiz. “Swine Flu and Agribusiness of Meat.” Organic Consumers
Association. OCA, 19 Jan. 2010. Web. 20 Nov. 2012.
“Modern Meat.” Frontline. PBS, 2012. Web. 27 Nov. 2012.
“Other Health Risks of the Meat Industry.” PETA. PETA, 2012. Web. 28 Nov. 2012.
Pollan, Michael. The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals. New York:
Penguin, 2006. Print.
“Putting Meat on the Table: Industrial Farm Animal Production in America.” PCIFAP, 2008.
Web. 20 Nov. 2012.
Socially Responsible Agriculture Project. SRA Project, 2012. Web. 20 Nov. 2012.