Meet your Meat: The secrets behind America's Meat Industry
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By Sophie Rotstein - 11th grade
Hamburgers, fried chicken, bacon, turkey, ham. There is one thing that all have in common: They are all meat that is farmed, slaughtered, then shipped. This process is known as the meat industry. The way most corporations do it all? The use of factory farming.
The factory farming system is a complex, layered, and debated topic globally. With high demand for low priced meats, and our population growing exponentially, we need to produce meat at fast, cheap, and efficient rates. But what exactly is factory farming? Factory farming is the mass production of meat and dairy products. It is a way of macro farming with a focus on maximizing profits and doing whatever possible to keep costs low. Animals are often kept in unsanitary and inhumane conditions, and the process has detrimental effects on the environment. These corporations have one goal: Make money, and therefore have to sacrifice animal welfare and sustainability.
Let's be honest, meat is delicious. So much of our protein comes from meat, and it tastes amazing. But exactly where does the majority of our meat come from?
“99% of meat in America comes from factory farms,” reported PETA in 2023. These farms are giant warehouses or areas of land, where animals are crammed in extremely tight, unsanitary quarters or cages, and are treated terribly. Animals, such as cows, are typically fed ground up corn, and are forced to eat either through trapping their head between two bars, or inserting feeding tubes. To reach their desired weight for slaughter, they must gain 400 pounds within 90 days. Chickens often have their beaks clipped off with zero pain killers. Pigs are confined to small pens, where they are not able to turn around, walk, or socially interact with others. The vast majority of animals will never see the grass, sun, or feel any sense of happiness in their lives. Their life is the concrete floor and the walls of their gate. Cows will sometimes be kept iSadly, this is the case every year for 10 billion animals in the US alone, more than our entire global population. In just one day, 900,000 cows are slaughtered globally, along with 202 million chickens.
“99% of meat in America comes from factory farms,” reported PETA in 2023. These farms are giant warehouses or areas of land, where animals are crammed in extremely tight, unsanitary quarters or cages, and are treated terribly. Animals, such as cows, are typically fed ground up corn, and are forced to eat either through trapping their head between two bars, or inserting feeding tubes. To reach their desired weight for slaughter, they must gain 400 pounds within 90 days. Chickens often have their beaks clipped off with zero pain killers. Pigs are confined to small pens, where they are not able to turn around, walk, or socially interact with others. The vast majority of animals will never see the grass, sun, or feel any sense of happiness in their lives. Their life is the concrete floor and the walls of their gate. Cows will sometimes be kept in CAFOs, Sadly, this is the case every year for 10 billion animals in the US alone, more than our entire global population. In just one day, 900,000 cows are slaughtered globally, along with 202 million chickens.
While these disheartening conditions are a large concern, there are also environmental effects.
Cows release a lot of gas due to a digestive process called enteric fermentation. When they burp and fart, they let out a toxic greenhouse gas called methane. “Cows and other livestock animals are responsible for about 40% of methane emissions,” states pbs.org. The large amount of cows that are needed to sustain the meat needed for Americans, creates these high percentages.
Water is also a major environmental concern. Massive amounts of water have to be driven by trucks, as well as used to water corn crops – cows' most common diet. Almost half (41%) of the land in America is dedicated to pastures for cows or to growing crops to feed cows” states sustainatlanta.com – all a result of the ever growing demand for meat and fast food.
Meat is also a human health concern. Meat, specifically red meat, has been detected as a Group 2A carcinogen by the World Health Organization. Furthermore, they mention how “Many national health recommendations advise people to limit intake of processed meat and red meat, which are linked to increased risks of death from heart disease, diabetes, and other illnesses.”
Antibiotics are also commonly used in the meat industry, to protect infections from the bacteria and disease that can be easily spread – especially in these high stress conditions. Eating meats in high quantities increases antibiotic resistance. As a result, your body's cells may adapt to the antibiotics, leading to them not working when you have an infection.
So what should we do? While being vegan and vegetarian can certainly make a difference in your carbon footprint, many people (including myself) struggle to completely eliminate it from our diets. Just being conscious and aware about the issues, and maybe thinking about personal meat intake and how you can change some habits, can make a difference. Supporting local farms, and purchasing free range products can also help – however some “cage free” or “free roam” may not always be as humane as they state to be; it’s important to research the company. Just because a package may have happy cows in a grassy field on their packaging, it doesn’t always mean those are the true conditions.
As technology advances, new scientific research has been conducted on creating lab meat from animal DNA, and in the past few years alone we have seen an increase with meatless meat products such as impossible meat, beyond meat, soy based products, veggie burgers, etc.
As awareness is raised for these issue, and more environmental protections are beginning to be advocated, we can hope for a brighter future for both animals, our earth, and ourselves.
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