Health hazards from food industry
In America today, massive factory farms are needed in order to meet the demand of the large population. These large farms are overcrowded, causing disease that spread throughout the farm due to the tight living arrangements of the livestock. To prevent disease from spreading inside the farms, the farmers inject large amount of antibiotics into the infected livestock. These antibiotics prevent the livestock from getting sick and allow the farmers to make a living but unfortunately, they create antibiotic resistant disease that have a potential human health impact.
Factory farms keep animals in close proximity to one another and if one of these animals was to contract an infection, it could destroy an entire farm. To keep the farms running, the farmers place antibiotics into the animals’ feed. The major health concern is that many farmers are over-using the antibiotics allowing antibiotic resistant bacteria to make it into the food chain. These disease-causing bacteria have the ability to mutate and infect the human population. H1n1 was likely to have originated from pig farms in Mexico. The disease was a basic pig flu that mutated and jumped to humans causing the deaths of 5000 people in 2009.Another major disease that jump from animals to humans was the Spanish flu. The Spanish flu was the major pandemic that struck the world after WW1, infecting people around the world from remote pacific islands to the arctic. The flu infected 500 million people and killed 50 to 100 million people. It is considered the worst pandemic to ever be seen on earth, probably having a higher mortality than the black death. The Spanish flu is thought to have originated from birds at first, it then was transmitted to pigs. It is hypothesized that the pigs that caused the outbreak were kept on the front lines of WW1 battlefields, the virus then mutated to humans. The close quarters of the trenches of WW1 allowed the disease to spread to the soldiers, who then brought it back to their home countries, causing the disease to travel to every corner of the world. The close corners of the soldiers in WW1 can be compared to the animals in farms today. They are in such tight conditions that diseases just spread at such a rapid rate. If another disease like the Spanish flew arises, it has the potential to spread through a factory farm like a wildfire, potentially affecting the people who work there and contaminating a large amount of meat.
Super bugs and antibiotic resistance
Factory farms keep animals in close proximity to one another and if one of these animals was to contract an infection, it could destroy an entire farm. To keep the farms running, the farmers place antibiotics into the animals’ feed. The major health concern is that many farmers are over-using the antibiotics allowing antibiotic resistant bacteria to make it into the food chain. These disease-causing bacteria have the ability to mutate and infect the human population. H1n1 was likely to have originated from pig farms in Mexico. The disease was a basic pig flu that mutated and jumped to humans causing the deaths of 5000 people in 2009.Another major disease that jump from animals to humans was the Spanish flu. The Spanish flu was the major pandemic that struck the world after WW1, infecting people around the world from remote pacific islands to the arctic. The flu infected 500 million people and killed 50 to 100 million people. It is considered the worst pandemic to ever be seen on earth, probably having a higher mortality than the black death. The Spanish flu is thought to have originated from birds at first, it then was transmitted to pigs. It is hypothesized that the pigs that caused the outbreak were kept on the front lines of WW1 battlefields, the virus then mutated to humans. The close quarters of the trenches of WW1 allowed the disease to spread to the soldiers, who then brought it back to their home countries, causing the disease to travel to every corner of the world. The close corners of the soldiers in WW1 can be compared to the animals in farms today. They are in such tight conditions that diseases just spread at such a rapid rate. If another disease like the Spanish flew arises, it has the potential to spread through a factory farm like a wildfire, potentially affecting the people who work there and contaminating a large amount of meat.
Super bugs and antibiotic resistance
The wastes from the factory farms also pose a major risk to human health. The waste produced by factory farms is incredibly hazardous to human. When animal wastes leaches into the water supply nitrate levels rise, nitrates cause algal blooms to occur creating dead zones. The algae also poisons the water forcing people to drink bottled water if a algal blooms occurs in areas where drinking water is taken from. The CDC has plans in place to prevent people from swimming in lakes that have algal blooms because they can indeed kill people. It amazes me how the CDC has plans in place to prevent people from dying from algal blooms but they do nothing to stop it at the source. It’s not an easy fix but something needs be done to protect people health. The animal waste can also affect a person's respiratory health. People who live near factory farms have to breath in the gases produced in these farms. Many harmful gases come from manure piles. These gases are very dangerous if breathed in and can cause major respiratory problems, skin infections, nausea, depression and in some cases, death. The risk to human health, due to the wastes produced by factory farms, is far too great and no one should die to get cheap steak in the grocery store.
Factory farms are the primary source of food production in America. Though these farms feed the population of America the practices used on them leave the population at risk. Close quarters and high antibiotic usage is driving antibiotic resistant bacteria to grow and spread in large number, potentially leading to the next great pandemic. The wastes produced by the farms also are causing people to become ill and die in some cases. I think it’s time for the country as a whole to sit down a question is cheap meat really worth our health.
Factory farms are the primary source of food production in America. Though these farms feed the population of America the practices used on them leave the population at risk. Close quarters and high antibiotic usage is driving antibiotic resistant bacteria to grow and spread in large number, potentially leading to the next great pandemic. The wastes produced by the farms also are causing people to become ill and die in some cases. I think it’s time for the country as a whole to sit down a question is cheap meat really worth our health.