Another form of intensive farming
is “factory farming”. Factory farming is the raising of livestock in extremely
limited space. There are many negative effects of factory farming. The first
being animal welfare. Animals are often times treated horrifically and have a
very low quality of life. WATCH THIS VIDEO!
There are also negative effects on
the consumers eating these animals. There is a greater risk of the consumer
getting ecoli when eating factory-farmed animals versus grazing animals.
Factory farmed animals are also given steroids to make them larger. When humans
eat these animals they are also ingesting the steroids and these can have
negative health effects. It is proven that these steroids can cause cancer in
humans. From the article, Hormones:
Here’s The Beef, “At
the time, McLachlan's own studies at the National Institute of Environmental
Health Sciences (NIEHS) used animal models to investigate why DES fostered the
development of cancer in daughters of women treated to avoid miscarriages.”
This is the same hormone animals have been given. More studies are being done
and a deeper explanation of them can be given at the Science News website: http://www.phschool.com/science/science_news/articles/hormones_beef.html
The environment really suffers from
factory farming as well. When getting rid of the animal feces surrounding land
can be polluted. Nitrogen pollution of surrounding land and water can occur
around factory farms. An article was written by the Natural Resources Defense
Council named, Livestock Pollution and
Public Health. The article sates that cows are causing the pollution of groundwater
in California, “California
officials identify agriculture, including cows, as the major source of nitrate
pollution in more than 100,000 square miles of polluted groundwater.” This can
be very destructive to the environment because this groundwater can get into
streams, rivers, and lakes which will result in the polluting of all the water.
The website also provides other
areas that are suffering from nitrogen pollution: http://www.nrdc.org/water/pollution/ffarms.asp
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