99.9% of all livestock in the United States is raised in factory farms, according to Our World in Data. The cruel reality of agricultural production is purposefully concealed from American consumers because if animal production corporations were honest about their inhumane practices, they risk a decrease in profit. Children innocently draw pictures of farm animals lying in the grass with the sun beaming down on them, but the reality is that most of the animals on our plates never got a chance to walk in grass or express their natural instincts.
Our society is insensitive towards the harms of factory farming because most Americans are never exposed to agricultural practices or farm animals. While taking the first bite of a perfectly medium-rare steak, most people don’t think about where their food came from or how it was treated. Consumer ignorance allows corporations to carry out abusive farming practices.
The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) states that 9.5 billion chickens, turkeys, pigs and cows are slaughtered every year in the U.S. Still, most Americans don’t see farm animals often. This is because the animals are hidden from the public eye in cages that they can barely turn around in. However, cage confinement doesn’t even scratch the surface of the trauma that farm animals experience.
According to the Animal Welfare Institute, workers at factory farms are allowed to perform tail docking, dehorning, hot-iron branding, castration and debeaking on animals without anesthesia or pain relief. Furthermore, humans have developed a preference for soft meat, which means that farm animals are genetically selected to grow faster. As a result, farm animals experience immense pain because they have difficulty holding up their own body weight, and their organs and bones can’t keep up with the rate at which they are growing.
A common justification for these harmful practices exercised by factory farms is that farm animals are less emotionally aware and intelligent than other animals, such as cats and dogs. However, the International Aid for the Protection and Welfare of Animals (IAPWA) states that pigs are the fifth-most intelligent animal in the world, making them as smart as human toddlers. Cows are able to form lifelong bonds with their loved ones to the point where they mourn deeply when separated, and chickens are extremely social and have incredible memories. Even though these farm animals have similar behaviors and display a similar or even higher intelligence level compared to dogs and cats, they are the victims of abuse.
Many Americans have a pet in their house that they bond with every day and see as another member of their family. It is why we cry when watching videos of injured cats and dogs or feel intense emotional stress when our own pets die. Why don’t we feel the same level of empathy for farm animals? The lack of connection between consumers and farm animals results in society viewing farm animals as unfeeling objects whose only purpose is to sustain humanity.
Some may argue that without factory farming, the human race would fail to survive. However, taking the initiative to improve the well-being of animals would benefit not just the animals but the consumer too. According to the National Library of Medicine, crowding animals together makes them stressed and harms their immune systems, which makes them more vulnerable to diseases. The surge in bird flu cases in recent years, which has resulted in 71 human cases according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, was caused by unsanitary practices in factory farms. Additionally, the World Animal Protection states that meat and dairy factory farms produce more greenhouse gases than all global transportation combined, and they result in polluted water sources and a loss of biodiversity in the surrounding area. Therefore, it is critical that society stops justifying factory farming for its own selfish reason of saving a dollar.
In order to eliminate the abusive practices of factory farms, it is essential that consumers open their eyes to the atrocities of factory farming and urge corporations to end the torture of farm animals.
