How Do Factory Farms Affect The Environment

Have you ever wondered what the eat you are eating came from? The answer: factory farms. Factory farms supply approximately 80% of the poultry, beef, and pork consumed in the United States. These large scale farms slaughter around ten billion animals a year. Small, independent farms have become transitioned into huge enterprises with assembly lines and thousands of workers. Many of the farms are considered concentrated animal feeding operations, or CAFOs. Factory farm’s effect on the environment, effect on human health, and lack of animal welfare proves that they are a destructive industry.
An example of how these farms affect the environment is the way they get rid of the animal’s waste. “Factory farms typically store animal waste in huge, open-air lagoons, often as big as several football fields, which are prone to leaks and spills” (Factory Farming and the Environment). When these lagoons spill into bodies of water, manure is what is being released cause all the
“These animals will never raise their families, root around in the soil, build nests, or do anything that is natural and important to them” (Misery for Animals). All animals want to do is live their natural lives, following their instincts. Being stuck in battery cages, or being in an enclosure so tightly packed with other animals that they cannot move. This is obviously terrible for the animal’s welfare because they cannot live the life they were meant to. Animals is factory farms are cramped together with no room to even move around. “About 10 billion land animals in the United States are raised for dairy, meat, and eggs each year” (Facts about Factory Farming). With this extreme number of animals, there is no way they can be given fair treatment or a happy life. The people who run these farms obviously do not understand that these animals are just confused and scared; they are ruining billions of animals lives and could not care