Factory Farmers: America's Very Own Bullies

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Factory Farmers: America’s Very Own Bullies

“We take care of animals, and the animals take care of us.” (Rollin 212). The preceding phrase is a policy that American farmers in the old west lived their lives by. Modern farmers live do not live their lives anywhere near to this phrase because they own factory farms, and the whole reason for having a factory farm is to fit as many animals in a small space as possible in order to maximize profit. Factory Farms, or Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO) first appeared in the 1920s, right after Vitamins A and D, because if animals are given these vitamins in their diets, exercise and sunlight are not necessities for the animals to grow anymore (In Defense of Animals 1). The growing number of factory farms is coupled with the decreasing population of rural areas, which means that many people are beginning to factory farm because it yields a higher profit (“Agricultural Sciences” 170). In the 1950s, the average number of chickens on a given egg farm in the United States was 100, but now the average number is a shocking 10,000 chickens (“Factory Farms” 4). The reason for the increase of chickens has to do with new and cheaper technology developed just after World War II. The new technology increased the number of chickens, while it had the opposite effect on dairy and meat cows, their numbers went in the other direction. The number of cows used for milk was cut by more than half between 1950 and 2000, because farmers discovered new and more efficient methods for milking cows (Weeks 4). Many activists for animals’ rights are concerned about the methods used by factory farmers because they confine their animals into tight spaces and since there are so many of them in a small ...

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...3 Feb 2008 .

Morgan, Sally. Chapter 6.1: Feeding the World. The New Encyclopedia of Science: Ecology and Environment. 2003. 21 Feb 2008.

Opposing Viewpoints Series. “Animal Rights.” San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press, 1996.

Philpott, Tom. “How Farm Policy Affects Us All.” Mother Earth News. 01 Jun 2007. 80. 21 Feb 2008.

Roleff, Tamara. “The Rights of Animals.” San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1999.

Rollin, Bernard. “Animals in Agriculture and Factory Farming.” Encyclopedia of Bioethics. Ed. Stephen G. Post. 5 vols. New York: Gale. 2004.

Schwartz, Richard. “Bali Talks Missed Key Issue: Factory Farming’s Horrible Effects.” Wisconsin State Journal 20 Dec 2007: A9.

Weeks, Jennifer. “Factory Farms.” CQ Researcher 17:2(2007). CQ Researcher Online. CQ Press. Glenwood High School Lib. Chatham, IL. 13 Feb 2008 .

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