Factory Farming for the Future
Moon Baby Amy Zhao
Critical Thinking: Farming for the Future
The United States government should subsidize the feed of animals on Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs), because this method of producing food is efficient, cost-effective, and in terms of economics, is favorable overall compared to the traditional idea of a farm. A modern practice implemented since the 1940’s, factory farming has revolutionized the meat industry, producing mass amounts of cheap meat with less land space than is needed for more primitive forms of raising domestic livestock for food. Commonly recognized for its industrial approach to producing meat, the use of CAFOs accounts for the 9.5 billion food animals slaughtered in the United States every year (Cassuto 3). The mass production of such large quantities of meat allow peoples of all economic classes the opportunity to consume animal products and is practical in this day and age.
CAFOs have become a global phenomenon in the past decades and is on the rise, especially in the United States because of government subsidizing. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) supplies “commodity based agriculture subsidies” based on units of output (Eoearth.org). This product based reward system encourages competitiveness between companies and a standard of agricultural production that is “above an efficient level”, thus resulting in cheaper goods (Eoearth.org). The U.S. government should continue to subsidize CAFOs as it currently does, spending $16 million between 1996 and 2002 (Eoearth.org). Another cost effective aspect of factory farming is vertical integration, a process utilized by most large-scale companies which mean they control all aspects of production, including “animal rearing, feeding, slaughtering, packaging and distribution” (Farrell) because it gives the farmer or company more control over costs and creates a more desirable input to output ratio.
In addition, factory farming is necessary in mitigating some
Critical Thinking: Farming for the Future
The United States government should subsidize the feed of animals on Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs), because this method of producing food is efficient, cost-effective, and in terms of economics, is favorable overall compared to the traditional idea of a farm. A modern practice implemented since the 1940’s, factory farming has revolutionized the meat industry, producing mass amounts of cheap meat with less land space than is needed for more primitive forms of raising domestic livestock for food. Commonly recognized for its industrial approach to producing meat, the use of CAFOs accounts for the 9.5 billion food animals slaughtered in the United States every year (Cassuto 3). The mass production of such large quantities of meat allow peoples of all economic classes the opportunity to consume animal products and is practical in this day and age.
CAFOs have become a global phenomenon in the past decades and is on the rise, especially in the United States because of government subsidizing. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) supplies “commodity based agriculture subsidies” based on units of output (Eoearth.org). This product based reward system encourages competitiveness between companies and a standard of agricultural production that is “above an efficient level”, thus resulting in cheaper goods (Eoearth.org). The U.S. government should continue to subsidize CAFOs as it currently does, spending $16 million between 1996 and 2002 (Eoearth.org). Another cost effective aspect of factory farming is vertical integration, a process utilized by most large-scale companies which mean they control all aspects of production, including “animal rearing, feeding, slaughtering, packaging and distribution” (Farrell) because it gives the farmer or company more control over costs and creates a more desirable input to output ratio.
In addition, factory farming is necessary in mitigating some