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1-Page Summary of Farmageddon

Overview

Agriculture has evolved tremendously since the beginning of time. The simple methods used by our grandparents are no longer adequate in today’s world, where industrial farming is more prevalent than ever before.

When you go to the country, what do you see? Big farms. These places ensure we have enough food, but they’re ugly and cruel.

These key points show you how agriculture has evolved and the consequences that our planet and its people now face. In these key points, you will learn about water consumption for beef production; asthma in California’s Central Valley; as well as what individuals can do to counterbalance the unfortunate popularity of factory farms.

Big Idea #1: Factory-like, “mega” farming of meat, milk and eggs is replacing traditional methods.

When you think about farms, it’s easy to imagine a pastoral wonderland full of animals that roam around in the sunshine and grass. However, traditional farms have been replaced by industrial agriculture.

Over the last few decades, farming has changed dramatically. Human labor is mostly replaced by machinery and farms that employ farmhands are almost gone. What’s more, only 8% of England’s farms raise more than one type of animal. However, this doesn’t mean that all farms have disappeared; most are now factory-farms where animals are raised in tight spaces with lots of drugs to maximize profits. At this point two thirds of the world’s 70 million farm animals live in such conditions.

In addition to meat, factory farming is also used for milk production. In these dairies, cows are kept in confined spaces and milked using industrial methods. A typical dairy can contain up to 10,000 cows.

Not only are these mega-dairies popping up all over, but they’re also getting bigger and more profitable. In 1994, the first mega-dairy was built in California. Now there are 1,620 dairy farms in that state alone housing a total of 1.75 million cows and producing six million dollars worth of milk per year.

What about eggs?

Most eggs come from factory farms. These chickens are stuffed into tiny spaces and raised to produce as many eggs as possible so they can be sold at a low price.

Big Idea #2: Factory farms pollute both the water and the air.

Factory farming is a relatively new way of producing food. However, its environmental effects have already been exposed. For instance, it pollutes the water because industrial farms produce tons of animal waste and all in one place.

For example, a dairy of 10,000 cows produces as much waste as the population of Miami. Similarly, all the mega-dairies in California produce about as much fecal matter as the entire population of Great Britain. That’s about 70 million people. So what do farmers do with all that waste?

The problem is that these lagoons leak and contaminate the water supply. In fact, a survey of water supplies showed higher concentrations of E. coli bacteria near mega-dairies.

Not only do factory farms pollute water, they also pollute the air. That’s because industrial farming produces large amounts of greenhouse gasses that contribute to climate change and global warming. These noxious gasses come from the same animal waste lagoons that contaminate our water supply.

The air around factory farms is unhealthy and pollution-related illnesses are much more prevalent in areas surrounding these farms. For example, the Central Valley of California has three times as many children with asthma compared to national averages.

Factory farming is affecting the environment in a bad way. It’s polluting our water and air, but it also has other harmful effects on the environment.