We live in a world where the population grows each day and the needs of an ever-growing world population increase as well. As a result of this growth the requirements to support, as well as to properly plan for future needs, cause one to consider the natural resources necessary to facilitate the essential support of human food requirements. As population increases and land availability decreases, we have to ask the question as to "how" we manufacture and provide food for so many lives. One solution brought forward was the idea of factory farming where animal production was maximized using a host of techniques. Overcrowding, diet modifications by the introduction of artificial hormones, and genetic tampering seem to answer the cry of empty mouths. However, although we have begun to produce more food with less, the question must be asked as to the "cost" or standard by which we as a human race we operate food production. The issue at hand is the right and proper treatment of animals and the standards health and sanitation needed in today's production requirements. Factory farming, specifically the farming of hogs, chickens, and cows, is cruel and an inhumane treatment of these living creatures which has multiple influences outside of the actual farm. Because of these influences, there needs to be a more moral-based approach in solving our societies food production issues. 

The concept of factory farming began back in the early 50's as a result of the success of modern industrialization. The term factory farming "refers to the application of production line methods ... whose flesh and internal organs will be part of average citizen consumer" (Winthrop 1). Manufacturing techniques became automated, process streamlined with increased efficiency, and the introduction of new materials created by synthetic process evolved in the United States and worldwide. The industrial growth stimulated the economy by providing jobs for mass production, created new communities where land was developed for production needs, and fostered trade outside of the community. In a similar fashion, factory farming was developed to produce greater amounts of food in a streamlined production model. "The animal food industry is quite simply unacceptable due to its effects on humans, the environment, and animals raised for food" (Pluhar 456).  Far from the flowing green pastures as advertised on television, animals are herded into smaller areas of cramped containment subject to abuse, neglect, and proper care all while being feed food that has been infused with hormones and synthetic proteins to stimulate accelerated muscle production. It was recently found that "each year, an estimated 9 billion broiler chickens, 113 million pigs, 33 million cows and 250 million turkeys are raised for our consumption in dark, filthy, pestilent barns" (Solotaro 1). Sadly, the feeble bones and weakened heart give way in order for more meat to be produced for meat-hungering economy. Also, from a religious aspect God says, "Be masters of the fish of the sea, the birds of heaven and all the living creatures that move on earth" (Zuworsky 181). These farms of mass production have been challenged by political, socio-economic, and environmental influences that makes one consider the heart of the matter, i.e., the right and proper treatment of animals regardless of their end.

The political bearing on factory farming seems to be a legal dispute that allows the USDA to use large corporations as an instrument to provide food for its citizens. There are many companies throughout the world that devote millions of dollars to develop additives and hormones that stimulate rapid muscle growth in a very short period of time. Farm Sanctuary writes, "Since the 1950's, antibiotics have been used on factory farms to increase the rate of growth in animals. Today, an estimated 70 percent of the antibiotics used in the U.S. are given to farm animals for non-therapeutic purposes." These non-therapeutic purposes produce more meat per animals and "creates a microbial vacuum in the animals' intestines" thus increasing the supply for the food at an acceptable demand rate and creates a resistance to antibiotics (Robbins 3). USDA funded research provides viable alternatives for food production and has turned a blind eye to not only the animals in which it is used, but also to the consumers and environments in which the USDA was meant to serve (NHES 1). Moral standards should be present from start to finish when considering use of money lent to companies that develop and produce animal dietary feeds and supplements.

Another aspect of the political influence are the loose regulations as to the standards of factory farming. There are minimal or no limitations regarding the housing and boarding of animals for a specific space, mutilations, and immediate waste disposal of animal excrement. As an example of a factory farm, "The fate of those chickens selected to provide meat is little better. As many as 50,000 or more are crammed into a single shed to stand in their own excreta for the six weeks of their obscenely short lives" (Waddle 1). Pork production, likewise is a further example of a needed regulated environment. The following quotes shows specific instances of animal cruelty as pertaining to hog farming. The pigs lived a life with "No bedding, no enrichment, [only] filth and squalor and absolutely nothing to do," having "cut off ...  tails and [their teeth] crush[ed] without anesthetic," and "[spent] their entire lives encased in metal [that are] little wider than their bodies," making it impossible to "lie properly" (Waddle 1). The above examples demonstrate the evidence that certain factory farms participate in extreme forms of animal cruelty. While a Pro-Factory Farm supporter may say an "animal has no rights" and they feel no pain, they are wrong (Clement 48). Every living thing deserves to be treated fairly because it was fearfully and wonderfully made. 

The laws that are in place are there to protect the interests of the consumers and producers, but not the animals themselves. The ASPACA states, "The U.S. has no federal laws protecting farm animals while they're actually on the farms." Yet, "Two federal laws cover farm animals during slaughter." This shows that these two laws are specifically protecting the human transporting the animals instead of the actual animal itself. Overall, it appears that there is more emphasis on protecting humans than protecting the animals, who they will later consume. This mismatch needs to be re-evaluated based on morals that consist of equality between humans and livestock. As animals are not moral entities, their life is a life that should be treated with respect and humane handling. 

The socio-economic impact of factory farming seems bright on the surface yet dismal when considering the "cost" necessary to achieve this success. Pro-factory farming supporters rest on the fact that greater returns exist with less. Spiked says, "reducing the amount of time and effort needed to create each unit of a product [is easier]." This idea that pro-factory farming supporters have, seem to be convoluted and deceptive. Before we can really grasp the bigger picture, the social and economic influences must be examined independently before being considered as a whole. Factory farming, by concept must originate in a place that can support the operation in both start up and continued manufacturing. When a food factory starts up, land is purchased and developed with the promoted idea that the local economy will be the direct beneficiaries of growth and prosperity. Initial impact is the purchase of local commodities such as timber, concrete, aggregate, and building supplies for offices, animal pens, slaughter, and environmental waste control. Sadly, a local community can only support so much that the factory farm must resort to outside support " ...  [factory farms] typically purchase everything from outside of the region while paying their workers a very low wage. Because local residents are rarely willing to work for the dismal pay CAFOs offer, these facilities encourage low-wage workers to move into communities" (SRA project 1). So, after the initial stimulus, a local community cannot continue to support the factory farm without the assistance of outside labor and natural resources. The local economy is bogged down with the influx of cheap labor, low wages, and the need for outside commerce. The days of self-sustained farming communities vanish in the sounds of overcrowding animal pens and the stench of the grounds around them. And statistical data supports this decline as according to the Department of Census of Agriculture. They state, "during the 70's there were approximately 900,000 farms in the US and by the end of the century there were only 139,000 farmers accounted" (Organic Consumer 2). Also on this behalf, Sapontzis says "the number of animals we slaughter every year [is] at two to three times [the] rate" of what our population is now. Small business is being snuffed out by mass production and industrial efficiency. These statistics beg further examination as to how this decline has come forth and the why the economic prosperity has occurred at these small traditional farm's expense.  A 2003 survey of rural towns indicated that the construction of pig factory farm in their area was less desirable to them than that of a prison, a solid waste landfill, a slaughter plant, or a sewage treatment plant. 

Money is best made when the expense is to produce and the good is exceeded. Basic economics teaches that profit occurs best when demand is high and costs to produce a good are relatively low. So, the premise of factory farming is to supply the greatest amount meat, for example, from an individual unit (animal) possible. In order to do this, feeds are modified with hormones and antibiotics which stimulate rapid muscular growth and development in a compressed period of time. More product is readily available for an ever demanding market. Organic Consumer states, "Fifty million pounds of antibiotics are produced in the United States each year of which twenty million pounds are given to animals [which] is used on livestock to merely to promote more rapid growth." This shows where the antibiotics are actually going and how detrimental this could be. Animals are fed modified grains enhanced with antibiotics, hormones and chemical additives such as gasoline and petroleum derivatives in order achieve greater mass, thus greater profit per "unit". Katie Couric from CBS, spoke on behalf of families that were effected by this. She says, "Shots don't help, because its so infected" (Couric). The effects of these drugs and hormones are devastating on these animals. Animals develop at such a rapid rate that their skeletal systems cannot support the rapid growth, their bodies produce pathogens that are quite often resistant to human antibiotics (such as H1N1 Swine flu virus) and their excrement affects their natural living conditions. Side effects of these drugs often require factory farmers to mutilate and disfigure the animals in order to prevent hostilities while penned. "Studies have consistently shown that approximately 26-30% of broiler chickens suffer from difficulty walking because their skeletons have trouble supporting their rapidly growing bodies. This can also lead to deformities and lameness" (Farm Sanctuary 1) "Factory farming is the number one cause of animal cruelty in the world" says Make It Possible. Someone opposing my argument may say "that since animals do not know their ultimate fate, they suffer less" which yes is true but still does not change the fact that what humans are doing are morally wrong (Leder 76). With very little legislation affecting the protocol of the care of the animals and the dismal affect that factory farming has on the local community as well as the commodity the farm is promoting, the final aspect we will examine is the dismal effect that factory farming has on the environment. 

The environment must be considered when contemplating a health world view on human treatment of animals when used as food sources. Factory farming for the most part has had a negative impact on the surrounding environment in particular and the regional eco-system as a whole. "The balance of nature is kept in check by recycling the animal waste and using it as fertilizer" which is unsanitary because of all the toxins it produces (Stop Factory Farming). With numerous loop-holes in legislation regulating waste management, statistics show that excrement and dung, which produce methane and contaminated sewage (largely in part to the enhanced diet of animals) are polluting our natural sources. For example, "in order to prevent the spread of disease in the crowded filthy conditions of confinement operations, and to promote faster growth, produces feed farm animals a number of antibiotics. Upwards of 75 percent of the antibiotics fed to farm animals end up undigested in their urine and manure" (Farm Sanctuary 1). Because of this, humans are getting sick due to the pollutants in our water ways. Not only are waterways being contaminated but our air quality is diminished as well. Factory farms producing chickens, pork, and cattle deal with every increasing methane emission as well as increased ammonia concentrations in both water and air mediums. The USDA reports that animals in the US meat industry produce 61 million tons of waste each year, which is 130 times the volume of human waste  --  or five tons for every US citizen" (Organic consumer, 2). The net effect of the pollutants is death in the ecosystems, human illness due to toxins present in animal products, and biological impact not yet thoroughly understood. 

This paper hit the major areas on the effects that factory farming has on political, social, economic, and environmental arenas. I have demonstrated that government oversight is minimal, social impact is for the most part dismal, economically the cost for consumption has at a greater cost the quality of life of the animal providing the commodity, and the environmental footprint is less than healthy. These events have occurred at the expense of a greater influence on factory farming: a lack of a proper ethical approach in developing advanced food production methods.

I was raised in a home that taught me the ultimate work of man was to exercise godly and proper control over that which was created. Respect was given to all living creatures, and to the human race. Second, I was taught that righteous men have regard for the beast in so much that as a food source respect to the well-being and care of the animal was important as it was right. Fundamentally speaking, a heartless practice and philosophy has emerged in agriculture that has debased the animal of necessity to a beast worthy of minimal or no respect. Laws are no where to be found that protect the decent treatment of an animal we deem necessary to supply our needs. Economics prostitute the natural ability of an animal to produce in a manner that creation originally intended a hormone and preservative free life. Factory farms herd animals unnaturally and foster an environment that concentrates environmental impact instead of proportional dispersing in an eco-friendly manner. In a matter of speaking, we have thrown the baby out with the bath water: I.e., we have lost sight in the proper treatment of animals even though their estate was created to serve our needs and interest. Legislation must be renewed that reflects that mankind is the higher more noble creation in order and that laws reflect noble consideration to the lesser created in their service to man's end. Subsequently, when a uniformed consideration is set forth towards animals of agriculture, the moral battles will ensue to promote economic prosperity that maximizes profits without expensing the natural created being of the animal being farmed. Finally, as we consider the environment in light of a proper ethical respect of the animal, when we humanly treat these animals we will see that failure to respect their natural waste products is a failure to respect ourselves and the eco-system we exist. If we as humans fail to grasp these ideas, then ironically, the paralysis of our thinking is no better than the barbaric practices and outcomes set forth in this paper.

