Are Factory Farms Inherently Unsustainable? The Environment at Risk
SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 30, 2012
Photo: NDSU Ag Communication
Summary:
My article that I chose talks about factory farms and their sustainability through the future. Factory farms produce 99% of the meat we consume, and if these are not here in the future they could cause a huge problem. There are very serious environmental concerns besides the slaughtering of many animals. These animals are kept together and produce a lot of waste. Cows release methane as a waste product and are contributing 28% of our methane emissions. However, factory farms feed them diets that stop the production of methane, so instead they release nitrogen. This could turn into acid rains and could cause major problems for the environment and even for humans. When these farms obtain manure, they don't use it as fertilizer but dump it in lagoons. This contributes largely to the global warming crisis as these gases are released into the atmosphere and help destroy the o-zone layer. With all this happening, the biggest part of this crisis is that this is not sustainable. These farms run almost entirely off of fossil fuels and there is a limited supply of these. When temperatures change and supply's begin to limit, there is no way that we could sustain these farms.
Opinion:
In my opinion, we should not get rid of factory farms now, but experiment with other ways that could be much better in the future. As stated in the article, 99% of the meat we consume comes from factory farms. That right there tells you that you can't get rid of them entirely. However, we have to change soon, because the detrimental impact they are having on the environment could be one that we can't fix. We should have more people working on developing new ways to run these farms because just like the article said, these run almost entirely on fossil fuels and those are limited. I for one know that I eat meat freely, but if we can't develop new ways to mass produce meat, everyone would have to eat it sparingly. This would have a loss in jobs in steakhouses, and a limiting of food choices. I can't tell you what exactly has to be done, but I can tell you something has to change; big time.
Questions:
1. What would you do to change this mass production system?
2. Do you think we should continue this process now even with it's negative impact on the environment? Why?
3. What rules or regulations could be set to change factory farms for the better?
http://www.theinternational.org/articles/258-are-factory-farms-inherently-unsustainabl
http://www.theinternational.org/articles/258-are-factory-farms-inherently-unsustainabl
I picked Charles P Woloshuk because he majors in Genetically modified animals and he has published in a couple of books and magazine articles about his research.
ReplyDeleteHere is the email:
Hello,
We are a group of high school students and we are doing blogs for our class. We are in Environmental science. This blog are about Genetically modified animals factories and i thought you would be a good choice for this project. Please comment if you can!
Here's the link
http://sciencepeoplez.blogspot.com/2012/12/are-factory-farms-inherently.html
This link is ver informational about how terrible the lives are of animals, specifically pigs,are. It brings into concern of how little humanity is given towards these animals and how their lives are lived as well as what happens in their lives.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_vqIGTKuQE
Opinion: I think that factory farming has to go. Even though it brings us much of our meat, we still need to find a way to make it better for the environment. Maybe if we could modify the places that these animals are then maybe we can keep these farms. I think we need to find another way to make these farms better for the environment, because if we don't o something we could be in a whole different mess.
ReplyDeleteNew Questions:
Do you think that there is a way we can keep factory farms?
Do you think that family farms can get the job done?
Do you think we can modify the farms to make them better for the environment?
1. What would you do to change this mass production system?
ReplyDeleteI would make regulations that say the amount of space per capita so the animals would be happier and more sanitary.
2. Do you think we should continue this process now even with it's negative impact on the environment? Why?
No, I believe the system can be changed and should be, so that we still produce a large amount of meat and make a profit, while keeping the animals safe and healthy.
3. What rules or regulations could be set to change factory farms for the better?
I would make it so that they had to quarantine some sick animals and see if the disease really needs antibiotics and only give it to those sick animals.