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Effect of water pollution and their effect essay
Industrial Importance of Agriculture
Effect of water pollution and their effect essay
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Most people take for granted the wide array of products available to them at the supermarket but seldom do people stop to think of where their food came from. And while most food has at most, economic consequences in its farming practices, the meat that is available for purchase at your local supermarket was most likely produced in unethical and inhuman conditions. For example, many people look for labels that say “Organic” or “Free range”, thinking that they are buying a more ethical product. These can often be misleading, and often don’t tell the whole story of the products origins. The current practices of mass farming in the United States, and particularly that of animals, carries serious ethical and environmental consequences and should …show more content…
For example as seen in a documentary titled, If slaughter houses had glass walls everyone would be vegetarian, The documentary highlights many of the horrid acts committed in slaughter houses across the United States. Images of live pigs stung up by their feet having their throats slit only to fall to the ground and struggle as they bleed to death. Other acts include beginning the butchering process on animals who are still alive and hitting sick piglets on the ground repeatedly to kill them. If these acts were committed by an individual who was not involved in the farming industry, people would be calling it animal abuse and calling for charges to be filed on the individual. But many either choose to remain ignorant of the truth or have simply not seen what really happens in large scale slaughter …show more content…
This environmental issue pertains to water usage as well as the pollution of water sources by large scale meat packing plants. A 2015 report by the Food and Water watch on factory farming illustrates just how dangerous the pollution of water sources by the farming industry is. The runoff from factory farming has polluted an estimated 20,000 miles of rivers and streams as well as an estimated quarter of a million acres of lakes, reservoirs, and ponds (Food and Water Watch). All this pollution can have serious impacts on the communities of organisms and animals who use these rivers and lakes as their main water sources and humans are also affected by this pollution, as these rivers and reservoirs provide drinking water for many
It is not just the animals who are being treated wrongly. The workers are vulnerable and suffer from injuries on a daily basis. This workforce requires so much protection, such as chainmail outfits to protect themselves from tools. From cuts, sprains, to amputations, “ The injury rate in a slaughterhouse is about three times higher than the rate in a typical American factory.” (238). Many immigrants come to the states, some illegally. Companies give their supervisors bonuses when they have little reported injuries as a reward for a spectacular job. Regardless, these supervisors do not make attempts to make the work environment safer. They threaten the employees with their jobs. They will put injured employees on easier shifts to heal so it will not look suspicious as to why they are in pain. Next to failing to report injuries, women in the slaughterhouses suffer from sexual assault. Male coworkers pressure women into dating and sex. Reported cases include men using animal parts on them in an explicit manner, making work another kind of nightmare. All this corruption and lack of respect for workers is all for a cheap meal people buy when they have the
...urkholder, J., Libra, B., Weyer, P., Heathcote, S., Kolpin, D., Thorne, P., et al. (2007). Impacts of waste from concentrated animal feeding operations on water quality. Environmental Health Perspectives, 11(2), 308–312. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1817674/pdf/ehp0115-000308.pdf
Monsanto employs over 20,000 employees dispersed throughout their facilities within 69 countries. John F. Queeny, founder of Monsanto, started the company in 1901, which at first manufactured saccharine. Later, John son Edward directed the companies into the agriculture industry. The company is best known producing Round up, an herbicide, and for developing genetically modified (GM) through biotechnology. “Monsanto developed G.M. seeds that would resist its own herbicide, Roundup, offering farmers a convenient way to spray fields with weed killer without affecting crops” (Barlett, D. L. & Steele, J. B, 2008). Since the start up the company has encounter several lawsuits, patent issues and critics. The company also faces many concerns about the
We care so much about what the food is and how it is made that we overlook about where the food had come from. According to the reading selection, “Killing Them with Kindness?” by James McWilliams, an American history professor at Texas State University, states “animals raised in factory farms have qualities that make them worthy of our moral consideration…[and yet, we] continue to ignore the ethical considerations involved in eating meat” (311). This exhibits that when Americans are so engrossed in healthy eating, our morals about animal rights are neglected. Most of what we eat are animals, and animals like we do have emotions, interests, and possibly goals in life. We pay no heed of the animal’s interests and it should not be that way since our interests are no more important just because we are more superior, intelligent beings should not give us the right to perceive animals in such a manner. In addition to paying notice of the origin of where the animals come from, we need to be aware of what killing animals will do to the earth. In the TedTalk, “What’s Wrong with the Way We Eat,” Mark Bittman states “10 billion animals are killed each year for food and they represent 18% of the harmful greenhouse gasses” (Bittman). This reveals that our careless consumption would not only lead to the suffering of animal deaths but the suffering of our world and our imminent death. As we increase our progression with our unhealthy obsession over healthy eating, there will not be any positive effects for the body, the animals around us, or the world. If we were to be conscious about the source of our food and the consequence of eating then we will be able to eat healthily and
The next time you go to sit down and enjoy a nice juicy steak, take a moment to think about how that piece of meat came from a cow and became your rib eye steak. Many people in our nation have no idea where their food comes from, what exactly is in the food they consume, and the effects it has on their health and the health of our environment. This is largely due to the industrialized, factory farming way of producing our meat and poultry. It has left our bodies sickened and our earth battered but with an elimination of animal products and an addition of a more plant based diet we can begin to restore …..
America’s habitual complacency coexists with its lack of inquisitiveness. People used to know where their food came from because they asked. They knew the country, state, and most likely the farm as well. Currently, society is so far removed from the entire food process that their knowledge of its origin is limited to the grocery store it came from. This disconnection not only creates a lack of appreciation for the source, but a lack of interest in conditions, treatment, and final product too. People’s common “ignorance is bliss” attitude has led to animals’ torturous inhumane treatment, slaughter, and conditions. They are also pumped full of a plethora of preemptive drugs intended to sustain their lives without a physician’s attention.
Unfortunately, most people do not see the connection between consuming meat and encouraging animal abusing. Animal abusing is described generally as any act or omission that causes unnecessary or unreasonable harm to an animal. The animals like chicken, pigs, cows and turkey are confined in tightly packed cages for twenty four hours a day without fresh air and sunlight. In the cages, animals are brutally attacked and tortured by the factory workers (PETA). The cows are repeatedly impregnated after every four months and boosted with hormones, so they can provide more milk. Most of the animals often experience stress, various diseases and contamination in their living sheds due to the congested area. The chickens are pumped with hormones that cause their body mass to grow rapidly, but their muscle does not grow as much as the body mass. As a result, chickens cannot stand or walk properly and are unable to compete with others to get the food; resulting in death. Additionally, when cows are useless, they are brought up to the slaughterhouses where their throats are incised with the knife, while they are still conscious (PETA). The animals are experiencing all these abuses for the taste of our mouth. Most people do not think about these inhumane practices while purchasing meats from the
Each year, 10 billion animals, not including fish, are raised and killed each year for food, but did you know that an overwhelming 99% of them are raised and killed on factory farms? A factory farm is a place where animals are packed into spaces so tight that they can hardly move. They are forced into cages so small that the animals can’t even turn around. Many of these animals have no access to the outdoors and they spend most of their lives in cages or pens. This type of treatment can cause severe and mental distress. Many would agree that this type of treatment is animal cruelty, but why are there so few laws to protect these animals? Every year, animals raised for meat, dairy and egg industries are among the most abused in the United States. Many of the abusive tactics used on farm animals would be illegal to do to dogs or cats. These farm animals are inhumanly slaughtered, tortured and killed. In some cases before these animals get to the slaughter house they suffer brutally cruel treatment that has been legal for the most part. One of these practices is of shoving a pipe down the throat of a duck or goose to force feed the animal several times a day. One example of the abuse that goes on inside these factory farms is a practice called 'debeaking'. It is a process that involves cutting or burning through bone, cartilage and soft tissue to remove the upper beak of chickens, turkeys, and ducks. These animals are not even given anesthetics. These farm animals are also deprived of exercise so that all their bodies’ energy goes toward producing flesh, eggs, or milk for human consumption, fed drugs to fatten them and keep them alive in conditions that w...
There is much to be said about how exactly meat is being produced. In the present day, there are hardly any farms out there that still practice the traditional and environmental - friendly way. Animal agriculture is widely used all over the world and greatly contributes to climate change. Meat production leads to global warming because of the combination of carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. The process of raising animal is the major source to these harmful gases. It is vital to save the world from the worst impacts of climate change by reducing meat consumption. However stopping this meat eating system is extremely difficult, given that we had been consuming meat ever since our ancestors domesticated animals for that purpose. Over the decade Animal agriculture has been getting worse and worse. In 1973 when the Secretary of Agriculture Earl Butz announced ‘’ what we want out of agriculture is plenty of food’’, overproduction was encouraged and lowering the price of meat was carried out; this originally started when there was a massive increase in corn (Wolfson). In order to keep up this mass production of meat, multiple pounds of grains are fed to livestock. Livestock industries depended on corn and soy based food and used over half of the artificial fertilizer used in the United States (McWilliams).
Thousands of people die each year due to the way our meat products are being handled. Animals are being forced to live in poor conditions and they are given drugs and food that are unnatural. The cow herd size has increase 8 times more than it was 16 years ago and two percent of livestock farms now raise 40% of the animals in the United States (Weaver). These statistics are painting a picture of the industry that the beef market has created. The way that these industries are running is having a negative impact on both the animals and society.
"Water Pollution." Current Issues: Macmillan Social Science Library. Detroit: Gale, 2010. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 5 May 2014.
Factory farms have portrayed cruelty to animals in a way that is horrific; unfortunately the public often does not see what really goes on inside these “farms.” In order to understand the conditions present in these factory farms, it must first be examined what the animals in these factory farms are eating. Some of the ingredients commonly used in feeding the animals inside factory farms include the following: animal byproducts, plastic, drugs and chemicals, excessive grains, and meat from members of the same species. (Adams, 2007) These animals are tortured and used for purely slaughter in order to be fed on. Typically large numbers of animals are kept in closed and tight confinements, having only little room to move around, if even that. These confinements can lead to suffocation and death and is not rare. Evidence fr...
The acts created by the book gave the American public peace of mind, but operating under these century old laws today still causes meat that is contaminated to be distributed to the public, even with inspection of carcasses (Hinderliter). The argument involved in this problem is that it is impossible to inspect every single piece of meat, so spot checking is the only method considered necessary. Despite this fact, Patrick J. Boyle, President and Chief Executive of the American Meat Institute, believes otherwise, as stated in the New York Times. “Meat supply is the safest, most and abundant, and certainly the most affordable in the world,” he proclaims (Boyle). Boyle then goes on to explain bacteria levels and e-coli outbreaks have dramatically decreased, and how thorough and persistent inspectors are in factories. Despite this supposed good news, there are many drawbacks to the meat market. Though packing has evolved due to technological advancement and greater understanding of pathogens, bacteria, and contamination, monetary issues are holding Americans back from the opportunity for to receive the highest quality meat (Hinderliter). Mandatory labeling of meat and all of today’s modern equipment for inspecting meat drives up prices, as does organically grown food. Over the past decade, organically raised food has become increasingly popular due to the fact that it is both
A United Nations report states that land used for animal agriculture, both for grazing and production of crops fed to livestock, takes up an astounding 30% of land on Earth. ("Meat Production Wastes Natural Resources") To meet the industry’s demands, over 260 million acres of forest in the U.S. have been cleared to grow grain fed to farm animals. ("Meat Production Wastes Natural Resources") With that in mind, the meat industry also dumps disease-causing pathogens through animal waste that pollutes water and forces the need for waste lagoons to be constructed, which are susceptible to leaking and flooding. ("Facts about Pollution from Livestock Farms”) Scientists say that about 14% of the world’s greenhouse gases are released by said agriculture industries, which is a growing concern for climate change and global warming. (Silverman) The meat industry uses one-third of all the fossil fuels consumed in the United States. (Moore) There is no question that farming animals has a negative effect on the environment and steps should be taken to mitigate air and water pollution risks and future deforestation. If animal agriculture was phased out, land used for animal grazing could be returned to forest land and some of it converted into fields for cultivating crops for humans. A global shift toward veganism, resulting in the elimination of the meat and animal agriculture industries, would protect the environment from various detrimental effects.
70% of this demand derives from agriculture which shows the influence of water on food supply globally as well as not just drinking water (Sawin “Water Scarcity could overwhelm the Next Generation”). But increasing water use is not just a matter of the greater number of people needing it to drink and eat; it also comes from pollution and misuse of water supplies, by either dumping or runoff of bacteria or chemicals into water. This also “causes other pollutions as well such as soil and air pollution, accelerating wetland damage and human-caused global warming” (Smith and Thomassey 25). According to a UN report, recent estimates suggest that climate change will account for about 20 percent of the increase in global water scarcity in coming decades. One of the main causes of water scarcity is water mismanagement worldwide.