Zach Balk
ENG 111
10/15/09
Mega Farms
Beginning with the bacon and eggs at breakfast to the turkey sandwich at lunch,
all the way to a hamburger at dinner, we rely on animals and animal by-products for
sustenance. Animals have been farmed for this purpose for over 15,000 years, starting
with the animals or “livestock” in East Asia and increasing now to mega farming, or mass
farming, which has spread all around the world. Farming of animals is necessary for the
survival of mankind as a whole, and as people have advanced, culturally, so have
techniques for the farming of animals for food. The methods that are now used are both
harmful and inhumane, yet reliance on this massive means of farming increases. Mega
farming has spawned to produce the huge quantities that the world demands at
competitive market prices; however, both small family farms and defenseless animals end
up suffering in order to save a dollar.
Pigs in mega farms, for example, will spend most of their life in a dark, enclosed
area, fed to capacity in order to grow as fast as possible. They are kept in cages with
partially solid floors, slatted compartments which allow waste to pass through. While
this helps to “cut costs”, the pigs are then forced to inhale ammonia from their waste all
day long as they wait to be slaughtered, thereby contributing to the unhealthful
conditions. During transport, thousands of pigs a day are put through extremely stressful
situations such as over-crowding and extensive amounts of idle time just to be moved to a
new farm to be fattened for the slaughterhouse. Never exercised much, they simply lie in
wait for the end of the line.
Cows suffer a similar fate. Most, including dairy cows used solely for their milk,
often only live to be four years old. Under normal instances on an outside farm, a cow
can live to around thirty years old (www.animalfreedom.org); however, the strong
demands put on the cows to produce milk has caused the cows to grow at a rate too fast
for their body to keep up and, thus, they die early. A small percent of dairy cows won’t
even leave their stables for their entire life, except when their small stalls are hosed out
once in a while. In order for the farmers to get a maximum yield from the cow they keep
it virtually motionless, hooked up to milking machinery round the clock. The bacteria and
potential disease threat from the monstrous piles of manure become intensified should
they ever drain into a water source.
Chickens, too, are pre-destined for suffering. As soon as a chicken is born its
future is determined: if the chick is a female it is kept to lay eggs for collection; however,
if the chick is a male, then it is killed and disposed of. The hens that make it to maturity
are sent to a shed where they will live the remainder of their life eating grain and
producing eggs, trapped in a cage. As a precaution, the mega farms break or burn the
female’s beak so she cannot stab at a farmer trying to take the eggs or hurt other hens in
the close quarters where she exists.
Many turkeys, as well, are kept in a small space filled with thousands of others
awaiting commercial harvest. Due to the intensity of turkey farming, it is not uncommon
to find that as many as 40 percent of turkeys can die within the first week of life
(www.animalfreedom.org). Since there are so many turkeys in a mega farm, turkeys
cannot reproduce naturally so the females are artificially impregnated, a process which is
very invasive and obviously unnatural.
Within Ohio, mega farm numbers have increased rapidly in the past years, not
only causing harm to the animals that are farmed but also negatively impacting the
surrounding small farmers. To date, there are about 77 mega farms or CAFO’s, otherwise
known as Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (www.organicconsumers.org)
scattered throughout Ohio. The farms are not as the once were-family owned, small
businesses. Rather, the farms have turn into multi-million dollar operations called
“factory farms” and are slowly taking over the small farmers and producing goods and
products at the most competitive prices forcing small farms to take on debt and often lose
their land.
With an ever-changing global economy, increasing population, and vast world
hunger, it would appear the huge demands for livestock is not likely to disappear. Our
reliance on industrial farms is ingrained and established. However, with these demands
must come the responsibility to protect and respect the process and the animals; to raise
them in conditions which benefit both their health and ours; to nurture processes that will
help to sustain a dietary supply for our future.
It’s time for us to stand up and voice our opinions, not only for healthful
conditions, but for the support of our local farmers. Local farmers lose business because
these massive industrial farms can produce the same goods cheaply. What makes our
nation great is the “mom and pop” cottage industries which built this country. Mega
factories and huge corporations allow no room for the small businessman and bankrupt
the entrepreneur, yet these are the foundations of our country.
It is estimated that 90 percent of our current goods come from these mega farms,
when not long ago these farms didn’t exist. Global food demand and food shortages have
lead to the development of these mega farms.
Mega farms need to be stopped or they will continue to grow, and if people are
still willing to pay for the goods they produce then the farms will continue to flourish. It
is time to take a stance against mega farms and stand up for animal rights and small
farms. There are ways to stop these mega farms through protesting those which abuse
animal rights and by properly legislating and advocating to those in the positions to make
laws. The harsh reality is that mega farms may never disappear because they are able to
produce low cost goods on a larger scale than small farms can.
Overall, those disgruntled with the mega farms and their treatment of animals can
effect change. Instead of trying to destroy these huge corporations, investigate, analyze
and activate. Through voicing our opinions and being actively aware of the origins of the
products that we purchase, we can make educated decisions on which companies to
support. In this way, the companies will realize that people will not stand for animal
abuse through mega-farming and the destruction of small farms. The best way to be
active in sending this message to the mega farms is to refuse to buy a product from a
company that does not honor animal rights. Put your money where your mouth is and
people will listen.
Works Cited (MLA)
"13abc.com: Mega-farms follow-up 5/25/06." ABC Owned Television Stations. 18
Oct. 2009
<http://abclocal.go.com/wtvg/story?section=resources&id=4201732>.
"Support Family Farms, NOT Mega-Farms - The Petition Site." Create free
petitions - write a petition at thepetitionsite.com. 18 Oct. 2009
<http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/465476667>.
"The worst abuses in factory farming." Een internationale site met duizenden
artikelen over dierenrechten en met alternatieven voor de bio-industrie.
18 Oct. 2009
<http://www.animalfreedom.org/english/information/abuses.html#turkeys>
.
"WBGU-PBS: Mega Farms NW Ohio Journal." WBGU-PBS. 18 Oct. 2009
<http://wbgu.org/community/local/MegaFarms/MF_index.html>.
Zwoof. "Mega-Farms, Pollution and Rural Voters." Organic Consumers
Association. 15 Oct. 2009
<http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_10623.cfm>.