American Food Industry: Factory Farming

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Food is an integral part of our survival as species, as it is to every other organism. Therefore the food production industry is among the most important and the most crucial sector of the human society. The food industry is fundamental to our continued existence. The advances in agriculture particularly the development of machines for agriculture in America and Europe were instrumental in the significant growth of human population in the ninetieth and twentieth century (Gilbert, 2005). Without these, it would have been impossible to support a few million of our population. At present, with the ever-increasing global population, the pressure on the food production sector to produce greater quantity of food and supply the markers is enormous. Technological and scientific advances are being decisive factors allowing the food production industry to cope up. Among these progresses are the development of fertilizers to enhance soil fertility, pesticides and herbicides to reduce damage to agricultural crops, genetic modification of seeds to allow better resistance to pests, as well as improvement of antibiotics and growth stimulators for livestock. The system of production had similarly evolved. In addition to becoming largely mechanized, the inputs to the system and the methods in the system are also changing.
The term ‘factory farming’ had emerged to be a popular metaphor to the intensive methods in agriculture particularly in livestock rearing in America (Lavin, 2009). In the documentary film, “Food, Inc”, factory farming was identified as among the major faults in the American food industry system (2009). Factory farming is usually implied to refer to farms where a large number of animals are raised in a small area, usually indoors...

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...produce more. Technological and scientific advancement will be critical to respond to this demand. But these advancements must be properly considered such that it provides solution to our current crisis but not produce greater ones in its place.

Works Cited

Gilbert, G. (Ed). (2005). World Population (2nd Ed). California: ABC-CLIO Inc.
Lavin, C. (2009). Factory Farms in a Consumer Society. American Studies Vol. 50 (1/2): 71-92.
Factory Farm. 2014. In Merriam-Webster.com. Retrieved March 13, 2014, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/factory%20farm
Daniel, C.R., Cross, A.J., Koebnick, C. and Sinha, R. (2011). Trends in meat consumption in the United States. Public Health Nutr. 14 (4): 575-583.
Pohlad, W., Skoll, J., Schorr, R. and Weyermann, D. (Producers), & Kenner, R. (Director). 2009. Food, Inc. [DVD]. Los Angeles, CA: Magnolia Home Entertainment.

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