Phippen 1
Emma B. Phippen
FRPG 188Y
Kara McLuckie
April 26, 2012
Background Paper 1st Draft
Organically Farmed Animals vs. Factory Farmed Animals
Americans eat around two hundred pounds of meat per person per year, and most
do not know where their meat is coming from (Food Inc.). American’s do not fully
understand the food industry, and that when they eat factory-farmed meat they are
supporting the abuse and unethical treatment of animals. Even though organically farmed
meat is more expensive, in the long run it is better to support organic meat rather than
factory farmed, because the animals are free range and grass-fed, they are better taken care
of, and the animals are butchered in healthier and safer conditions. Factory farms are also
called feedlot-raised animals; these animals suffer from the day they are born to the day
they are brought to the slaughterhouse. Abuse, stress, poor living conditions are only a few
of the bad things about farms that raise animals in abundance (Meet your Meat). There are
not enough organic farms in America; as a result people rely on the factory-farmed meats
mostly because there is a plentiful amount of meat produced, so it is very cheap. While
organic meat is healthier, it is also more expensive and harder to come by in a convenient
place. Not only is organic meat healthier for the consumer, it is better to support because of
the ethics behind producing the final product.
Organic farms play a large role in the food industry; their meat produce is healthier
and safer for the consumer compared to factory-farmed meat. On organic farms animals
have healthy and safe living conditions for both the animals and the farmers. Bittersweet
Farm is located in Heuvelton, New York the farm is owned by the Bennett family. Brian and
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Ann are the brains behind their sustainable and certified organic farm. At Bittersweet Brian
and Ann have cattle, pigs, chickens and turkeys. They mostly slaughter their pigs and
chickens in their main farmhouse, which is right next to the areas that the animals live in.
The animals at Bittersweet farm are grass fed and are fed packaged grains along with their
natural diet of grass and water. The grains that the animals are fed are healthy and safe for
the animals, unlike the corn that is fed to factory-farmed animals. Brian tends to the
animals and takes care of them in the best ways possible. Compared to factory-raised
animals, he treats his animals like royalty. Because of the kind treatment of the animals at
Bittersweet they live a stress free life and one that is full and fair.
Organic farmed meat results in a healthier product because the animals have grown
naturally, have been exposed to natural germs, have lived off of grass and water and lastly
they have been better treated by farmers. Animals that live off of grass and water are
healthier and grow at a normal rate, so when slaughtering and collecting the meat the
farmer has a lean cut of meat that is less fatty that factory meats (Health Benefits of GrassFed Products). Organic meat has fewer calories because it is less fatty; some farmers try to
marble the meat, so that the product is more like meat that consumers are used to. Even
when farmers try to make their animals more fatty, the final product is still less fatty
compared to the factory-farmed meat. Animals that are farmed are higher in nutritional
value and have more omega-3’s. Because there are more omega-3’s in the organic meat
compared to the factory meat, alpha-linoleic acid is present. This acid has been proven to
prevent breast cancer (Health Benefits of Grass-Fed Products). The healthiness of the meat
is a perfect example of how an animal’s healthy diet affects their body and the product that
their meat is, and ultimately affecting the consumer buying and eating the meat.
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Organically farmed meat is a very healthy, safe and it is an ethical choice of farming
to support not only because of the treatment of the animals when raising them, but during
slaughter as well. Farmers on organic farms are sure to kill the animals as quickly and
painlessly as possible. The farmers respect the animal enough to treat it fairly during its
like and slaughter because they will be collecting the final product and making an income.
On organic farms, the farmers usually slaughter the animals on site, like at Bittersweet
Farm. In the documentary Food Inc. Polyface Farms is seen and the owner Joel Salatin
explains how the FDA tried to shut his farm down because they said his slaughtering area
was infested with germs and dirty. Joel Salatin explains that his farm is not dirty just
because of the open windows, but in fact that the factory slaughter houses are germ
infested and unsuitable for packaging meat because there is not fresh air (Food Inc.). On an
organic farm the farmers are taking their time and making sure that nothing harmful
happens to the meat. The farmer preparing the animal for packaging is using their hands,
so this ensures that the preparation is perfect.
Factory farmed meat may be cheaper and easier for the consumer to get a hold of,
but because of the poor conditions of the farm and the factory where the meat is packaged.
Factory-farmed meat is also cheaper because the owners of these farms spend as little
money as possible, and that results in cheap meat. The process from birth to slaughter is so
fast that not much money is needed. Factories spend the most money on the transportation
of the animals from one place to another. Paul McCartney explained that 40% more
greenhouse gasses are produced in transportation of meat (Glass Walls).
Cattle and poultry are raised in half the amount of time today compared to animals
in the 1950’s (Food Inc.). The animals are also growing twice as large due to the hormones
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that farmer’s give to the chickens and because of the corn based diets. Large meat
packaging companies like Tyson produce a lot of product on a small amount of land and at
a small price. Another reason why non-organic meat is so inexpensive is because there is a
large supply of meat all the time because the production rate is so rapid.
Not only are the animals unhealthy, but also they are treated very badly. For
instance when cattle are born they are separated from their mothers, castrated and
dehorned (Glass Walls). Some of the calf’s will grow to be used for milk, or will be sent to
be auctioned off for slaughter. The cattle are also brutally beaten when factory workers are
moving the animals for slaughter. During moving of the cattle they are covered in their own
manure, so the remnants of that are present while slaughtering sometimes resulting in E.
coli being present in the final meat product (Food Inc.).
Chickens are also a type of factory farming that is very controversial; in the video
‘Meet your Meat’ chickens are described as the most abused animals on the planet. Like
cattle, chickens grow abnormally large and towards the end of growth they cannot support
their bodies and their bones break or they die of heart attacks before being slaughtered. A
large number of the chickens will die because of starvation because they are so large they
cannot move towards the food or water in the jam packed chicken houses. Vince Edwards,
a Tyson grower said that chicken farming is “not farming, just mass production like in a
factory” (Food Inc.). The farmers no longer have control over their farm because the
companies are controlling them.
Consumers play a large role in supporting the two kinds of farms, depending on
which meat the consumer buys they are supporting one farm or the other. Consumers who
buy and eat organically raised meat have a healthier lifestyle and a more ethical one. Most
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of the organic farms that sell their meat are local to the consumers area, so the
environmental aspect is friendlier than purchasing the factory meats. Consumers who
support organic meat are also more likely to have a healthier diet, because of the nutrients
and proteins found in this particular meat.
Consumers who buy and eat factory-raised meat are supporting animal abuse, land
depletion and environmental threats. People who consume the factory-raised meat are not
getting the most out of the meat they are eating compared to the organic product. People
who eat the factory-farmed and packaged meat can suffer from obesity and heart diseases
because of the high cholesterol in the meat and because of the fatty structure of it. People
buy factory-farmed meat because of the availability and the low prices. Consumers may not
know the process of the meat industry and that is why they buy this type of meat.
Depending on what type of farming consumer’s support, they are going to benefit
while at the same time not benefit. Organic animal farming is healthier for the consumer
and more ethical, but at the same time it is more expensive. While factory farmed meat is
cheaper, and the factories are involved in cruel treatment towards animals, but the final
product is not as healthy and ethical as the organic alternative.
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Works Cited
Food, Inc. Dir. Robert Kenner. Perf. Michael Pollan, Eric Schlosser. A Robert Kenner
Film, 2008. DVD.
"Food, Inc. News." News, Lifestyle, and Social Action on TakePart. Food, Inc. Web. 11
Apr. 2012. <http://www.takepart.com/foodinc>.
Glass Walls. Perf. Paul McCartney. Peta, 2011. YouTube.
"Health Benefits of Grass-Fed Products." Eat Wild. Eat Wild. Web. 25 Apr. 2012.
<http://www.eatwild.com/healthbenefits.htm>.
Meet Your Meat. Perf. Alec Baldwin. Peta, 2012. YouTube.
Nestle, Marion. Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health.
Berkeley: University of California, 2002. Print.
"The Organic and Free-Range Myth." Peta. Peta, 2012. Web. 25 Apr. 2012.
<http://www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-food/free-range-organicmeat-myth.aspx>.
"Peta." Peta. Peta. Web. 11 Apr. 2012. <http://www.peta.org/>.
Pollan, Michael. In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto. New York: Penguin, 2008.
Print.
Schlosser, Eric. Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal. Boston:
Houghton Mifflin, 2001. Print.
"Slaughterhouses and Processing, Industrial Meat Production - The Issues –
Sustainable Table." Sustainable Table. Sustainable Table, Sept. 2009. Web. 26
Apr. 2012. <http://www.sustainabletable.org/issues/processing/>.