Factory Farms Research Paper

When you eat meat or other animal products such as eggs do you think about how safe they are? There are farms called factory farms that raise a large number of animals for livestock. In order to do this they use small cages put extremely close together in order to be capable of feeding the massive number of people that we have in this country. As a large number of people eat meat or other products, supporters of factory farms must realize that the small cages can raise the number of animals getting sick and that the amount of medicine given to them is making the bacteria resistant which in turn can have negative health effects on humans. One factor spreading disease is the small cages that animals from factory farms are kept in. In the past …show more content…
Some of the illnesses they get are from antibiotic resistant bacteria. The number of people dying from the illnesses is recorded, “The Centers for Disease control and prevention issued a report last month that found that 23,000 people die from antibiotic-resistant infections each year” (Henneberger). The number of people who die from antibiotic-resistant infections is alarming and there are many reasons that the bacteria is becoming resistant. One factor is that medicine is often overused, “Most scientists agree that over prescribing the drugs to humans is the predominant cause for bacteria evolving to outsmart them” (Henneberger). Sometimes people take antibiotics for illnesses that antibiotics have no effect on which can be dangerous, “Taking an antibiotic when it is not necessary can be harmful” (Bren). The bacteria keep getting stronger “...With each passing decade, bacteria that resist not only single, but multiple, antibiotics-making some disease particularly hard to control-have become increasingly widespread” (Bren). The bacteria have evolved so much that the number of antibiotics, it was resistant to was extremely high, “...an outbreak of antibiotic-resistant Salmonella was traced to ground beef. Forty-seven people in five states got sick from this germ, which proved resistant to 11 antibiotics” (How Safe Is That Burger). Another factor in the problem is that animals may also be given drugs that can be used in human medicine. It is also believed that, “Feeding the drugs widely to control and prevent disease in cows, pigs, and chickens… play a role” (Henneberger). Some people would be surprised that records are not kept on antibiotic use on animals nationally, “...the U.S. doesn’t keep national records on antibiotic use in animals, the Union of Concerned Scientists estimates that up to 70 percent of all antibiotics sold in the U.S. are administered to healthy animals to speed growth and