Homework Help | What are some of the economic, environmental, and ethical issues related to the modern system of meat production?

Consider the practice of factory farming. What are some of the economic, environmental, and ethical issues related to the modern system of meat production? Should the government increase regulation of factory farming for the benefit of animals?

MODEL ANSWER

Factory farming is environmentally unsustainable. It results in adverse effects on the environment in various ways including air pollution, deforestation, and water | PLACE YOUR ORDER NOW AT writtask.com | results in air pollution in that methane emanating from it accounts for over 35% of methane, which is a greenhouse gas with a global warming potential greater than that of carbon | PLACE YOUR ORDER NOW AT writtask.com | farms release harmful compounds such as hydrogen sulfide and ammonia which are hazardous to human life (Richards & Richards, 2011).

Deforestation occurs when huge tracts of forest land are cleared to pave way for the cultivation of livestock feed on an industrial | PLACE YOUR ORDER NOW AT writtask.com | significantly to global warming as carbon sequestration by the forests is compromised.

Water pollution is also another negative effect of factory farming. Large amounts of water are used in production processes in | PLACE YOUR ORDER NOW AT writtask.com | farms produce millions of tons of manure every day which is stored in large open-air lagoons. The lagoons tend to leak and spill over into local water sources, particularly during flooding. This results in contamination in ways such as the growth of toxic algal blooms which are deleterious to aquatic life (Richards & Richards, 2011).

Economically, factory farming is wreaking havoc to the rural economy as this practice is dominated by huge corporations such as Tyson, Smithfield, and ConAgra among others hence denying rural farmers a source of income. The overreliance of factory farming on advanced technology rather than on human labor renders millions in communities jobless (Richards & Richards, 2011).

Ethically, factory farming in many ways goes against animal rights. By such actions as cramping thousands of animals in jam-packed sheds, using antibiotics to make animals grow faster and survive in unsanitary conditions, genetic manipulation of animals to increase productivity, transporting animals over long distances without food and water among others are acts of cruelty against animals. Besides this cruelty to animals, it is also affecting human wellbeing as consumers are forced to feed on meat products contaminated by pesticides, hormones and antibiotics injected into the animals thus compromising human health (Morris, 2000).

From the above discussion, the government should increase regulation of factory farming not just for the sake of animals but for the sake of the economy, environment, and human wellbeing.

References

Morris, M. C. (2000). Ethical issues associated with sheep fly strike research, prevention, and control. Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics, 13(3-4), 205-217.

Richards, R. J., & Richards, E. L. (2011). Cheap meat: how factory farming is harming our health, the environment, and the economy. Ky. J. Equine Agric. & Nat. Resources L., 4, 31.