A factory farm , according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary , is defined as “a large industrialized farm; especially : a farm on which large numbers of livestock are raised indoors in conditions intended to maximize production at minimal cost.” The current state of the meat and dairy industry has been found to be both unacceptable and unsustainable. This is due to the negative effects to human and nonhuman animal welfare, and the environment.
The demand for meat and other animal products are at an all time high, it is estimated that if humans killed each other at the rate they kills animals through factory farming the human race would be extinct within 17 days. Extreme living conditions and the utilization of inhumane machines contribute to be able to slaughter so many farm animals with minimal cost. These conditions also contribute to making the argument against meat an issue of morality.
Currently in the US more animals are subjected to the most horrendous conditions than they have ever been anywhere in world history. The images of those small family farms that were once common have become a sort of novelty. This in tandem with farm animals being exempt from laws that prevent cruelty to animals presents to us a heartbreaking situation. If one were to watch a documentary or even a simple video about factory farming there will more likely than not be a graphic images disclaimer beforehand- some sort of ‘viewer discretion is advised’ .The images and videos taken by undercover investigators and researchers have contributed greatly to showing not only the cruel condition faced by the animals that end up on our plates, but the unsanitary and revolting truth about what we put into our bodies when we eat these animals. Some of these conditions include , but are not limited to , the following :
- Most fowl are debeaked through an assembly line (they are fully conscious during this)
- Many piglets have their tails ripped off by pliers
- Dairy cows are kept constantly impregnated to produce the most milk ; their calves are typically taken away at birth to become veale
- Pigs will spend their whole lives in crates so small they can not lay down or turn around
- Chickens (even free-ranged ones) are stuffed into "Battery cages," which provides about 0.6 square feet of living space per hen -smaller than the size of a piece of paper
- In 2011 it was concluded that 80% of antibiotics , along with pesticides, produced was fed to livestock. These can remain in their flesh which is then consumed by humans.
Furthermore, even beyond the moral issues surrounding the use of factory farming, there are negative consequences to the entire environment. One dairy cow may produce about 120 pounds of manure in one day according to the EPA.While in centuries past farmers could use manure to fertilize their soil, when dealing with factory farming far more waste is produced than can be absorbed by the land, which turns the disposal of this waste into a major problem not only for the agriculture industry but for society. Because unlike human waste it still contains pathogens (i.e Salmonella ns E.coli) and volatile chemicals. Also, farmers have been known to spray liquidized manure onto crops being grown for livestock (Another point to be made - most crops are fed to livestock rather than humans) and the rest is stored in open-aired cesspools that hold up to millions of gallons of waste; these methods have been found environmentally unsustainable, and are believed to contribute to the destruction of the ozone layer, thus contributing to global warming. But there is a simple way for you to help, by keeping meat and other animals off your plate. Even if you feel you can not completely give up meat just cutting don really can make a difference. 
