The Price of Meat

By Lap Nguyen / Fall 2019

For millions of Americans, meat is the main source of protein and a staple part of their diet. The food system involved in creating this common resource consists of practices and infrastructure that produce, process, transport, and eventual consumption of that resource. Within this system, factory farm institutions are responsible for creating almost 95% of the meat that Americans consume. However, if we begin to closely inspect this institute, we can see that it is one of the worst, most disgusting, dirty, awful, cesspools of despair that prioritizes money over people and the planet. Every day there are new testimonies on how inefficient, wasteful, destructive, unhealthy or cruel the meat industry is. Factory farms are industries where animals and the products they generate are mass-produced. The animals are not viewed by these corporations as individual beings but as meat, milk, eggs, etc. Since factory farms are a business, the goal of this institution is to maximize production and profit while minimizing costs. As such animals are seen merely as commodities where they are bred, confined, fed, and genetically modified to lay more eggs, have more offspring, and grow with more meat on their bones. The consequences of this agribusiness are mechanized animal cruelty, community and environmental destruction, and health hazards. Factory farms are a violence against animals, humans, the ecosystem, and the planet because they prioritize wealth over wellbeing.

The urgent problem present in this social system is the violence directed towards the animals and consequently the environment. Factory farms operate in the dark and hide their practices from investigators and the public alike. The reason for this is because they do not want people to uncover the horror and cruelty that these animals go through.  Factory farm animals are born into confinement and spend their whole lives in a cage. Chickens are genetically manipulated to have such enlarged breasts and thighs that their legs often break. The overcrowdedness of their enclosure leads to fights so their beaks and toes are cut off without anesthetic. Piglets have their tails cut off and teeth clipped to prevent biting. Cows live in crowded feedlots and forced to produce 10 times more milk than normal (LCA). The horrific treatment of animals owes to the industry’s profit-oriented refusal to apply animal welfare standards. Almost all of these animals are often unsuccessfully “stunned” before they are hung conscious and struggling as their throats are sliced. To make matters worse, massive amounts of antibiotics are used to make animals grow faster and compensate for the unnatural and unhealthy conditions.

To boot, growing millions of animals requires massive expansions of land. The environment involved with these farm lands are heavily polluted since the raising of life-stock comes the waste and factory-farmed animals produce more than a million tons of manure every day. The online article “Factory Farming and the Environment” points out that this waste often contains undigested antibiotics and farms are often unable to store the excess manure and have to put it in the lands surrounding the farm or fills up lagoons with animal waste. This, in turn, brings illness to our country as it forms nitrates, spreads pathogens, and generally brings about other forms of pollution. It also creates “dead zones”- areas where pollutants from farms create algal blooms that kill or disperses marine life. The excrement also causes toxic gases that can be fanned over a wide area by the wind. Cows also burp out methane, an infamous greenhouse gas that affects our climate and continues to multiply by the number of animals raised to feed our growing country. When a factory farm moves in, the surrounding local communities deteriorate, the economy declines, and the value of homes near the factory farms decreases.

Factory farm violence is not just against animals and the planet; they are also an act of violence towards communities of people. The unethical treatment and suffering on beings in the factory also extend to the laborers who toil in these horrific environments. It is estimated that about 40-70% of factory farm workers today still come from outside of the U.S., have undocumented status, and come from low-income families. One Green Planet article reports, “48 percent of farmworkers do not have legal authorization to work in the United States and only 33 percent are U.S. citizens.” This means the ever-present threat of deportation keeps them silent and disempowered so they endure long hours, harsher conditions, and very little pay. They are subjugated to respiratory issues, muscular disorders, constant injury, disease contractions from handling animal carcasses, and exposure to harmful airborne bacteria. Women, especially immigrant women, are the most marginalized based on race, ethnicity, gender, and class. They face sexual harassment and assault from their superiors that they dare not report for fear of deportation.

The other community impacted is the neighborhood inhabited by these and other groups of people. While pollution is everywhere, there are communities where the burden of pollution and contaminants are more disproportionate compared to other areas. Black, brown, and low-income communities house more industrial polluters such as factory farms, landfills, trash incinerators, and waste dumps. It becomes an environmental racism and an environmental classism issue as colored and poor communities not only suffer the direct environmental impact of these farms, they are also more likely to eat meat high in fat, calories, hormones, and antibiotics. Factory farms are responsible for both air and water pollution and these colored and impoverished communities who live near these farms are often unwilling victims. It is often connected to poor rural areas since the land there is cheaper. The article by Erica Hellerstien, summarizes the words of Mark Dorosin of the UNC Center for Civil Rights who, citing research, explained that “the proportions of African Americans, Hispanics and Native Americans living within three miles of industrial hog operations are 1.5, 1.39 and 2.18 times higher, respectively, than the proportion of white residents.” That is to say that housing segregation, financial differences, and the way race plays in the zoning, development, and redlining are all fundamental aspects of environmental racism towards these communities.

While factory farms are viewed by the public as a negative impact on all aspects of life, it is virtually impossible to address the issues created by the institute. Ag-Gag laws are in place and are designed specifically to protect large corporations in the food industry (Sentient Media). Since food executives from the agribusiness industry do not want the public to know the horrors that happen at their farms, ag-gag laws are used to silence whistleblowers and animal rights activists. There are places in the U.S. where ag-gag law consequences range from imprisonment for years to terrorist charges simply for exposing videos of what happens on the farm.

Besides these facts, many Americans are aware of ‘FF’ (Factory Farm) practices but are indifferent due to either psychological or financial reasons. A new poll conducted by the nonprofit Sentience Institute (SI) found that nearly 50% of Americans support a ban on factory farming of animals, 47% support a ban on slaughterhouses, and 70% are uncomfortable with the way animals are used in the food industry. While most Americans are trying to address the problems with factory farms, it is a very difficult obstacle to overcome. They know the facts but turn a blind eye because they don’t want to give up meat. They choose to be willfully ignorant and as a result, a majority of Americans don’t choose to address the problem. Another obstacle is the capitalism and financial aspect. Capitalism prevents people from buying “organic” meat as it is generally more expensive compared to the ‘FF’ mass-produced meat. Mattypin in an article says, “It would cost a fortune to feed a family of five or six with all organic and healthy foods. Because of this, factory farming is sadly a necessity. If factory farming were to become no more, the price of meat and even other foods would skyrocket and almost every middle-class family in the United States wouldn’t be able to feed themselves…” (Mattypin). This shows the reader that without factory farms, it would be impossible for an average Joe to buy any kind of meat in the market. Capitalist’s profit-oriented practices mean ‘FF’ are the only source of cheap meat products and they will do anything to remain this way. The truth is, no matter how negative factory farms are viewed, they are the only economic choice we have when it comes to buying meat.

While the obstacles that prevent us from addressing this problem seem extremely difficult to overcome, there are a few solutions available to us. To fight laws you can create restrictions to its power, to address mentality you can educate, and to resist capitalism you need to establish interdependence. Honestly, the first, quickest, and most easily achievable solution to factory farms is to go vegan, albeit it is not an easy first step. By not eating meat at all, you don’t contribute to factory farming or the slaughtering of animals for consumption. Another way to address ‘FF’ is through Christine Chemnitz, who offers two legislative regulations to improve ‘FF.’ One would be to prohibit the imports of genetically modified feed, and requires farmers to produce half of their feed on their own farms. This would help eliminate imbalances in nutrients and excess manure could be used to fertilize the farmer’s own land to produce feed. The second fix would ban the unnecessary use of antibiotics which will force farmers to treat animals individually for illnesses. A second way to address the mentality of eating meat is to research. If you realize the horrors of ‘FF’ but still don’t want to change then researching for farms that use sustainable, ethical, and environmentally-friendly practices to raise their animals might ease your conscience while eating their meat. This leads us to our third alternative to ‘FF’ which is the community-based grassroots support of these “natural” farms in order to remain a viable option. According to the article “Alternatives to Factory Farms,” we need to support the linkage between “producing high quality foods for consumers seeking to support farmers who produce healthy, environmentally friendly meat using humane methods.” This creates a circle of interdependence in which socially responsible food production, processing, and distributions helps nourish a community and offer naturally grown animals on farms that are “cruelty-free.” While this sounds good on paper, we need to remember that this will cost more resources and ultimately make the meat more expensive. However, I believe this would promote a reduction in meat consumption over time as the community might create strategies for only eating meat on certain days. From the article on HealthTap, going meatless, just once a week, would help lower your risk for cancer, improve your health, help you lose weight, contribute to environmental health, and save money.

If normal people adopt these principles then they can improve themselves, but if people of power were to adopt these principles then real change could happen. Communities that recognize the interdependence of producer and consumer connection have created Food Charters (principles that guide food policies in their locales). People within the community typically meet and discuss their concerns and desires towards the food and agriculture policy to create a set of principles. This can cause change by “educating public officials and encouraging them to become actively involved in creating local food systems” (“Alternatives to Factory Farming”). If the community is able to encourage their public officials, then they can have enough power to guide the decision-making council towards supporting local farms or disempowering the ‘FF’ industries in their area. Besides the whole community, we can also focus on educating the younger generation in the community to bring about change. I believe that if we start teaching elementary to middle school students the accurate information about how animals are raised for food, then they can begin to develop their own informed choices about what they eat and to show compassion for the animals they eat. Educators and nutrition programs can make so much more students aware of the effects that their diet has on the world, on animals, and on other human beings (Niall) compared to trying to teach a seminar for people who are interested. Of course, there will be those who oppose this suggestion and believe that children should be shielded from this disturbing information. However, I believe that this method of starting early is more effective and efficient then finding out a third of the way into your life and only starting to change then.

Lastly I want to explain why factory farms are a serious problem that needs to be addressed as soon as possible. Although Factory farms are thought to be an efficient, space-saving way of producing the world’s food, we need to realize the invisible costs involved that are far more profound than profits. There are currently 7.5 billion people living on planet Earth and as the global demand for meat grows, so too will the expansion of industrial agriculture. As time progresses, the expansion of agricultural land puts more pressure on our forests, rivers, and oceans, contributing to deforestation, soil erosion, marine pollution zones and the global biodiversity crisis (Zee). Excessive antibiotic use in these industries have essentially created a biological weapon that cannot be controlled with antibiotics. Factory farms have created new and more dangerous bacteria that the American consumer will eat and acquire. This will cause alarming consequences as hundreds of thousands of Americans will die from infections that were once treatable with common antibiotics. In return for the price of cheap meat, factory farms have endangered the lives and health of its consumers as well as the planet and ecosystems. As the world population grows, the problems mentioned will only continue to multiply. This is why it is important that people who care for the future of our country and planet act to support efforts to solve the ever growing problems of factory farming before it is too late.

Works Cited

“Ag-Gag Laws: Allowing Animal Abuse While Silencing Activists.” Sentient Media, 5 June 2019.

“Alternatives to Factory Farming.” Beyond Factory Farming.

“Factory Farming.” Last Chance for Animals.

“Factory Farming and the Environment.” Farm Sanctuary.

Harriman, Maggie. “ 7 Reasons to Go Meatless One Day a Week (+ a day of meal ideas to get you started).” HealthTap, 31 Oct. 2017.

Hellerstein, Erica. “A Million Tons of Feces and an Unbearable Stench: Life Near Industrial Pig Farms.” The Guardian, 20 Sept. 2017.

Kudia, Mickey. “Teaching About Farmed Animals in Elementary School.” TeachHeart, 16 Dec. 2015.

Mattypin. “Factory Farming: A Necessary Evil.” Animate Object and Inert Humans: A Writing II Course, 27 Nov. 2012.

Patton, Lindsay. “The Human Victims of Factory Farming.” OneGreenPlanet, 2014.

Reese, Jacy. “New Poll Shows Majority Uncomfortable with Animal Farming Despite Eating Turkeys for Thanksgiving.” Sentience Institute, 20 Nov. 2017.

Zee, Bibi. “Why Factory Farming Is Not Just Cruel – but Also a Threat To All Life on the Planet.” The Guardian, 4 Oct. 2017.