...every other production process in this country, our food system has been industrialized to produce maximum food calories for the American people at minimum cost. This industrialization of our food system has allowed for population increase and higher standards of living. But there are significant problems with the industrial food system. Caught up in a drive to maximize production and profit, the industrial food system has grown to an unsustainable size. As food production has become increasingly industrialized, concern for the environment and the animals we eat has taken a backseat to expansion. Specialization, rather than integration, has become Forman 2 the hallmark of America’s farms. Rather than having chickens, hogs, corn, and hay all on one farm, all these things now reside on separate, much larger farms. There is, however, another, very separate food system that supplements the industrial food system: the local food system. Local food systems cater to people who believe that it is better to “buy local” or from a smaller, usually family-owned farm rather than from a...
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...Corn Fed vs. Grass Fed Have you noticed how there’s an increasingly wider selection of types of beef to be purchased? Which option is healthier? Which one is least expensive? There has been an ongoing dispute over which choice of beef we should be consuming. While both may seem to have their own advantage and disadvantage; ranging from being cost-efficient, to more beneficial nutrients. Both contribute to the eco-system, but in completely different ways. While grass-fed beef is the healthier alternative, it can prove to be a bit pricey, nonetheless, grass-fed beef provide us with more nutrients; they’re higher in Omega-3 fatty acid and vitamin E. Corn-fed beef, on the other hand, is relatively more affordable. The million dollar question should be, it’s affordable, but at what cost? What makes corn-fed beef so much cheaper than grass-fed? Corn-fed cattle go through a process, almost like an assembly line. The first step, the cow and calf live in a cow-calf operation. Here, the cow is artificially inseminated for the sole purpose of reproduction. For the first 6 months, the calf stays with their mother, once they’re old enough they’re taken to a pen, where they’re introduced to corn. To make a long story short, the calf is finally moved into a CAFO (confined animal feeding operation). From this point on, they’re all confined to small caged in areas. These facilities house hundreds, even thousands of farm animals. From this point on their diet is strictly corn, protein, vitamins...
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...Cattle CAFOs Need To Be Banned The average cow can live up to twenty years. But, actually if those cows are put with a Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations(CAFO) their expected lifespan is about five months. This is why CAFOs need to be banned for cows. Although Concentrated animal feeding operations are an efficient way to raise animals, they need to be stopped because it’s inhumane and the living conditions are poor for the cattle. The inhumanity these cows through is not normal. One reason why this is because, “These animals have evolved to eat grass, but in CAFOs they’re forced to eat corn”(49). This shows that the operations don’t care about what the cows eat but they care about them just eating in general. Another reason that the CAFOs...
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...The pseudo images pictured on dairy packaging and meat cutlets of cows roaming open, green fields are nothing more that advertisement ploys to convince the buyer that they are purchasing something healthy and less processed. Broiler chickens that are raised in CAFOs are injected with hormones that make them grow much larger than their natural size to produce more meat; these chickens are confined by the thousands in compact, dark, warehouses where they often cannot move due to lack of space and lack of strength to support their abnormally large size. This is only one example of the appalling treatment of animals inside CAFOs and AFOs. A few other abusive methods of control are the removal of the horns of cattle, docking cows’ and hogs’ tails, or castrating bulls; all of which are done without anesthesia (Heinzen and Russ 3). Eisnitz states that, “In slaughterhouses, where the average kill rate is 400 animals per hour, the assembly line is not necessarily stopped even if the animal remains alive after being ‘stunned’.” This kind of unfair treatment can continue without consequence because it has become increasingly difficult to regulate what happens inside animal feeding operations...
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...Imagine not being able to move, communicate or interact, but have to stand in your own feces, for a minimum of a year. CAFOs, also known as feedlots, are tightly confined areas where copious amounts of animals are held and fattened up for 12 to 15 months before being sent for slaughter. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that there are around 15,500 CAFOs in the United States alone. There are different types of feedlots, many of them abundant of pigs and cattle. Cattle CAFOs should be more closely monitored by the government because of the antibiotic resistance being built up by humans from the meat and the inhumane ways the animals are treated. First off, the antibiotics used on the animals in CAFOs should...
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...Erroneous Prescription: Using Antibiotics to Make Meat Daniel Gordillo Rodríguez DeVry University Erroneous Prescription: Using Antibiotics to Make Meat Have you ever wondered where does the meat you purchase in your local supermarket is produced? If a package is not marked organic or free range, you can assume that the meat comes from a factory farm or Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO). A CAFO functions as an industrial plant and its only purpose is to produce meat products as rapidly and as lucratively as they possibly can. A CAFO is an agricultural operation that congregates animals, feed, manure, urine, dead animals, and production operations on a small land area. The production methods used in these operations is the cause for measurable damages across a wide range of environmental, biological, and economic factors. (Institute of Science, Technology, and Public Policy, 2008) One of these factors is a public health one. The extensive use of antibiotics in livestock CAFO’s, especially for non-therapeutic uses such as growth promotion contributes to the development of antibiotic-resistant microorganisms that are more difficult to treat and are causing food-borne diseases in humans. It is important to identify and reduce the unnecessary use of antibiotics on these animals in order to prevent the creation of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Some of the Difficulties For decades, antibiotics such as Tylosin and Monensin have been used for the treatment...
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...in favor of CAFOs knowing anything about them, which is why most proponents of CAFO do not argue that CAFOs practices are ethically acceptable but that they are economically necessary. One of the biggest grounds on which the CAFO argument stands is that CAFO’s have managed to produce enough meat at a sufficient enough cost to keep relative meat prices down thus making it more affordable to the poorer American population who would otherwise be unable to afford it (Sherman 14). They also boast that thanks to the CAFO system America has become one of the world’s largest exporter of meat, especially beef, becoming the 4th highest ranking exporter of beef in the world. With more than half of U.S agricultural revenue coming from livestock and poultry production in amounts exceeding $100 billion per year (USDA 2015) CAFOs, being the predominant operations, can certainly be accredited for stimulating revenue flow into the U.S economy. Moreover, CAFO proponents seek to bring to light some of the hidden realities of pasture farms whose obscurity, they believe, leaves many people under the impression that raising livestock to feed nations could be pleasant. Proponents of CAFO point out that inhumane practices are a given in the realm of animal raising and meat production. Advocates assert that the stipulation of the “grass-fed” label are scant and that practices such as poultry debeaking, livestock castration, and tail docking without anesthesia which are prevalent in CAFOs are just as commonplace...
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...assets or leaving the occupation. Then, the industrialization of the swine market to the CAFO model in the 1990’s as well as the lowest commodity prices ever being paid for hogs in 1997 and 1998 brought about another flux of individuals leaving the profession and independent weight stations drying up. Farmers struggled to provide the capital needed to compete with large pork integrators, like Tyson Foods, Cargill, and Smithfield Foods. These integrators offered on option of contracting with farmers to raise pigs and was typically seen as a way for producers to circumvent the volatility of the market. In these agreements, the integrator owned the pigs while the farmer retained possession of the building and land – an agreeable arrangement in the eyes of Iowa’s citizens. Increasingly, however, large pork industries are moving away from the contract model and buying...
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...1: Practice Essay Industrial agriculture has shaped American society greatly through intensive farming. To keep up with the supply and demand, farmers must resort to extreme measures to ensure their farms are operating not only to the standards of the FDA, but also to the standard of the companies they are supplying. During the 1970s, there were thousands of slaughter houses that balanced production, while more recently there are only thirteen that controls the majority of the meat processed in the United States. Industrial production of meat and grains have proven to be economically and environmentally unsustainable. Large number of animals raised on limited land, usually inside of confined animal feeding operations or CAFO, are being used...
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...both are influenced by lawmakers and lobbying from the agricultural private sector, primarily the poultry and beef industries. In 2012, the EPA withdrew two important rules that pertained to the industrial farming industry, “One would have gathered basic information from all factory farms. The other proposed rule would have expanded the number of such farms required to have a national pollution discharge permit. Fewer than 60 percent do now.” A State issue is Ag Gag laws making it illegal to film inside of factory farms in seven states, including Iowa, one of the biggest agricultural centers. The consumer deserves to know how their food is being made. Proposed Solutions • -The 2014 FARM Bill- Addresses Subsidies to Agriculture, Especially Corn The bill completely overhauls agricultural subsidies. It ends guaranteed payments that farmers receive regardless of their harvest quality or crop prices. Ending direct payments are a positive for the taxpayer, but could have effects based on the market. The substitute for the direct subsidies were payments for crop insurance. The government makes cheaper crop insurance which covers less than previously. Though it makes farming risky, the risk shifts to the federal government, which are more responsible if crop prices plummet or if a disaster hits. Good for average farmers, but risky for the economy. Consumer Awareness The bill, in terms of the animal agriculture industry, took an incremental step in the right direction toward the consumer...
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...well as to the health of the earth. Next, to the climate change which contributes to the extreme weather that loom protect food supply. “ For instance, the consumers , and the employees of the corporations, they make the decision about the foods being sold, which gives us the way to create, process, conveyance, and use foods. Also the United States as well as other countries, has a great deal of support from the government for commodity crop such as “wheat, corn, and soy production this also goes through the use of government subsidies. The government support for commodity crop has successfully made farmers ignore, more healthy crops; furthermore, a great deal of industrial crops grown here in the United States are being used for animal feed in “concentrated animal feeding operations ( CAFOs), also better known as factory farms.” With the support of the government the industrial crop production has increase in corn, as well as soy-fed animals, this also increased production for foods that use corn that is high fructose corn syrup; this ultimately contributing to the commonness of health problems for instance, heart disease, obesity as well as type 2 diabetes. This connection between food and our health is indisputable. While relationships are hard and very confusing, but the continuous stream of scientific research the media exposure for food and nutrition- has one thing to be sure of: and that is choosing sustainable food is a no “brainer” to attaining optimal health. “Sustainable...
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...Why Eat Meat Matt Moffa DeVry University Why Eat Meat Think of it this way, if everyone turned vegan or vegetarian eventually there will be no fertilizer and then eventually no plants. If we were all vegetarians we would have to turn all our livestock covered farm land into edible plant fields, which means no livestock and therefore no fertilizer. Then we would have to invent some kind of chemical fertilizer to fertilize the fields, but then wouldn’t that being hypocritical? People should eat meat because it is healthy to eat meat and there is a good meat. People need to eat meat because eating meat is healthy for the body. The human body gets many consumption of meat that fruits and vegetables cannot give them. Many vegetarians or vegans could argue that you can substitute those nutrients with pills. This is a viable argument, but how do you think they created those pills? Most vegetarians would say that eating a vegetarian diet is healthier then eating any meat. Well how much healthier is it really? Beef, chicken and fish are all extremely high in protein. This protein, which is not found in plants, is said to improve the overall health of the body, repair and building of tissues, the production of anti-bodies used to strengthen the immune system and contains all the essential amino acids. Other nutrients found in meat are iron, zinc and selenium. Iron helps in forming hemoglobin that transports oxygen to different...
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...on the differences of grass fed versus grain fed beef. There thoughts carry you through the beginning stages of both grass and grain fed cows, and the environmental and health issues of both. There main focus is on not only the health benefits of grass fed over grain fed, but also putting emphasis on health of cows and the poor conditions these cattle have to endure during the duration of life. Cacal,j (2013, October 4). The benefits of grain and grass fed beef. Buedel Meat up. Retrieved from http://buedelmeatup.com This article specifically talks about the different feeding methods of both grain and grass fed cattle. They note the difference stating that grain fed cattle in most cases eats a formula of good which is 75 percent corn grain. They reach goal weight at 18-24 months with the help of feedlots which are specifically designed to gather cattle for this purpose alone. They discovered these cattle that were in feedlots were under a great deal of stress because of the animals living conditions. Which...
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...The Facts Behind King Corn The documentary King Corn does an excellent job introducing us to the perils and problems with our industrial food system that are centered on cheap corn. However, it also tends to sidestep the main beneficiaries who drive and thrive off our current farm programs: corporate agribusiness. Why are farmers dependent on subsidies? New Deal Forced Agribusiness to Pay Farmers Fairly. As King Corn outlined, the government during the New Deal attempted to bring supply into line with demand, an approach known as “supply management.” This was accomplished thru the use of conservation set-asides, a price floor guaranteeing a fair price for corn (similar to a minimum wage), and a grain reserve to deal with overproduction. Farmers did not need to rely on the government for a fair income. They received it from the marketplace. Prior to the New Deal, the “free market” approach to agriculture caused economic booms and busts as farmers suffered continued depressed prices for their crops. This led to the rise of the Populist Party and other agrarian movements whose ideas were finally implemented with the New Deal. Agribusiness Had Lobbied for Decades to Allow the “Free Market” to Determine Prices. Beginning in 1973, policy changes promoted by Nixon Secretary of Agriculture Earl Butz deregulated the corn market. He dismantled supply management policies, selling off government storage bins used as food security reserves and implemented “fencerow to fencerow” planting....
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...Dilemma. Through his research, he notes that the 100 million head of cattle breed for food are living on Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (C.A.F.O.) are fed slaughtered cow parts. As a nation, we need to educate consumers on the dangers of consuming corn fed beef, begin pushing for agri-business policy change from the top down, and partake in the benefits of eating healthier meat; if these changes are not implemented soon healthcare rates will soar, along with e Coli and outbreaks of other diseases associated with processing infected beef. The main problems with eating corn fed beef are the dangerous health risks and hidden costs that are passed down to the public. Associated with these problems are the government policies that prevent change. Continuing to ignore these problems will result in increased obesity, heart disease, and other ailments; as well as economic troubles for those in agriculture, business, and consumers. However, if we properly educate people on nutrition, change the way the agriculture and ranching industry treat cattle, and buy grass fed beef, the problems created from corn fed beef can be avoided and resolved. First, we will look at the dangerous health risks when eating corn fed beef. “Calories are calories…protein is protein,” as stated by Michael Pollen in his book, The Omnivores Dilemma, when discussing the industrial...
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