Chad Levin's Article: Factory Farms In A Consumer Society

Factory farming is a system of livestock that uses intensive methods by which livestock are contained indoors under strictly controlled conditions. In the article, “Factory Farms in a Consumer Society,” Chad Levin explains how farmers began to adopt the term, “factory farms”. In the beginning, farmers were trying to industrialize and create the best factory farm in the United States. Many farmers wanted to succeed with new technology presented, they created faster ways to butcher animals, antibiotics to control the criticism of many that did not believe factory farming was the healthiest way to produce food. Factory farming is preferred over other traditional farming methods because it is an efficient way to produce more meat in a shorter time

According to the article “Factory Farming Versus Environment and Society,” animal dung can be used as manure, however, “far too much of it is produced in factory farming… Lethal quantities of ammonia, potassium, hydrogen sulfide or other damaging chemical substances penetrate to ground waters and rivers with rain, thus poisoning them” (Fiut & Urbaniak 4). Animal manure contains toxic chemicals that polluted our water resources. The issue with having animals confined in a tight, restrictive environment is that animal feces leak through the cages and poison various water resources. Not to mention, it also makes the environment that produces our meat and dairy very unsanitary and more likely to increase the risk of transmitted diseases not only from animal to animal but to people who consume the meat as well. Moreover, when the feces contaminates the water, it affects the aquatic environment. In the article, Louis A. Helfrich, Richard J. Neves, and James Parkhurst stated, “nearly 20 percent of our freshwater fishes, 45 percent of our mussels, 48 percent of our crayfishes, and 20 percent of our aquatic snails are imperiled. Of the 230 species of amphibians (90 frogs and toads, and 140 salamanders) that depend on aquatic habitats, 40 percent are disappearing and alarming numbers of individuals are missing limbs; such deformities have been documented in 44 states”(Helfrich, Neves & Parkhurst 1). The pollution caused by factory farms kills the aquatic animals resulting in the declining loss of aquatic biodiversity. When the animal waste leaks from Lagoons, it not only causes toxicity to water but it can also create “dead zones” which the creatures can’t survive in. The nitrogen ends up becoming gaseous turning into a colorless gas with a pungent smell. This creates problems in